Articles in ‘Wills, Trusts and Estates’ Category

The Telegraph published an article in December entitled “Inheritance tax shocker: Some families will pay 80pc”. Be assured, there is no 80% inheritance tax rate, and this “shocker” only applies in very limited circumstances.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) are due to release their new online Trusts Registration Service imminently. The entire process of registering and updating trust details will go digital this year, replacing the paper 41G (trust) forms, in an effort to crack down on money laundering and tax avoidance as well as to reduce delays and errors through lost paper forms etc.

Over the next 20 years the number of people aged 65 and over is estimated to increase by nearly 50%, a total of approximately 4.75 million people. This means that increasing numbers of families are having to consider the costs of paying for care at a nursing or residential home, costs which are now exceeding £1,000 on average per week.

Executors are responsible for the administration of an estate after the death of an individual. While they may benefit from the Will left by the deceased, or under the intestacy if there was no Will, they carry some heavy burdens whilst fulfilling their duties to administer the estate.

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Data Protection Act 2018 have now been in force for over 2 months. Since the 25th May 2018, our employment and privacy teams have seen a large increase in the number of clients who are receiving subject access requests from both staff and customers.

Owners of furnished holiday lets (FHLs) are often surprised at the seemingly incongruous tax rules which apply to their businesses. Whilst for income tax and capital gains tax purposes, FHLs are generally treated as “trading” businesses and taxed accordingly, the position is very different for inheritance tax purposes.

In our previous article we focused on the uncertain inheritance tax treatment of furnished holiday lets (FHLs) and whether they can be classified as business assets which attract business property relief.

The position in relation to income tax and capital gains tax (CGT) is however much clearer – qualifying FHLs are considered to be trading businesses for both income tax and CGT purposes.

It has long been established that a Will can be challenged on the grounds of undue influence. However the evidential threshold to prove undue influence has been set high by the courts so successful cases are few and far between. This week one of these rare cases has been reported in the context of three daughters contesting their mother’s Will on the grounds that their father and brother pressured their mother to leave her whole estate to their brother.

In the recent case of Cowan v Foreman a widow attempted to make a claim on an estate 17 months after the relevant deadline had passed. The judge refused to give permission for her late claim, suggesting a stricter approach should be adopted by the court in the future. However, a recent decision in the case of Bhusate v Patel, to allow a widow to make a claim over 25 years out of time, suggests that this strict approach may not be adopted for every case.

Hawksmoor’s recent error – accidentally serving a £4,500 bottle of wine instead of a £260 bottle of the same vintage – wasn’t ideal for the restaurant. But if a similar mistake had been made by a wine investor, he or she might have lost out on a tax-efficient return

The Guardianship (Missing Persons) Act 2017 (the ”Act”), also known as Claudia’s Law, came into effect on 31 July 2019. It is designed to provide relief for the families of those who have been missing for 90 days or more. We look at the issues involved, and whether or not it provides sufficient safeguards for the missing.

In England and Wales, there is testamentary freedom. This means that a client of sound mind is perfectly entitled to make a Will for capricious, frivolous, mean or even bad reasons without the Will being invalid.