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Trusts have been gradually falling out of favour, according to a recent report. It is thought that the fall of some 4 per cent in trusts submitting tax returns last year (and 30 per cent since 2003/2004) is due to both a lack of understanding of trusts and to tax reforms introduced in 2006 that made some trusts less tax efficient. A recent case shows some of the complexities that can arise with the use of trusts. It involved a woman whose husband passed his estate into various trusts in...

The quality of British justice is respected around the world – but there are inevitably occasions when judges overstep the mark. In a family case on point, a mother had her two young children taken into care after a judge dismissed out of hand the  arguments put forward in her favour. The mother was separated from the children's father and trouble broke out when he failed to return her four-year-old daughter after taking her on holiday for a week. The mother and others went to his home, causing a fracas,...

Clients are reminded that, following the introduction of the Stamp Duty Land Tax (Administration) (Amendment) Regulations 2018, the time limit for the payment of Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) on property transactions has been reduced from 30 days to 14 days after completion, with effect from 1 March 2019. Where the amount of SDLT cannot be determined because the sale price is contingent on obtaining planning permission, an application to defer the SDLT payable must be made within 30 days of completion. There are other consequential changes to the procedure,...

The impossibility of asking a deceased person what their real intentions were makes the value of these being clear before death quite obvious, as a recent case shows. It involved an elderly widow who died in 2016. After her death, her family discovered an envelope containing a copy of a will dated 2008 and an unsigned draft of the will which her solicitors had prepared for her. The original could not be found, however.  She had added a codicil to the will in 2010 and the original codicil was found...