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A divorced man who remarried in his late 50s made a new will in 1998, one year after the marriage, which left his entire estate to his new wife. After he died, a home-made will was discovered, made shortly before his death. This left virtually his entire estate to one of his sons, appointing the son and a grandson as executors. The witnesses to the will were the grandson's girlfriend and her mother. The man's widow claimed that the will was a fake. It then emerged that the original of the...

Court orders have to be obeyed and those who defy them can ultimately be sent to prison. Exactly that happened in one 'big money' divorce case in which an 83-year-old businessman repeatedly tried to thwart his ex-wife. Following the end of the former couple's 23-year marriage, the wife was awarded cash and assets, together worth £3.5 million, from a matrimonial pot totalling £9.4 million. The husband was, amongst other things, ordered to transfer to her his 100 per cent shareholding in a property company worth £1.6 million. Following that transfer, the...

When valuing a property for Inheritance Tax (IHT) purposes, is it legitimate to take into account its potential for enlargement or improvement – so-called 'hope value'? In a guideline ruling, the Upper Tribunal (UT) has answered that question in the affirmative. The case concerned a maisonette in an attractive residential area. The property was in need of updating and had potential for extension. After its owner died, HM Revenue and Customs valued the deceased's 88.4 per cent share in the freehold at £1,829,880. The son of the deceased appealed on...

If family members or friends are facing bankruptcy, it may be tempting to assist them in keeping their assets away from the clutches of creditors. The folly of such conduct was, however, strikingly revealed by a Court of Appeal case concerning a family clothing business. Shortly before he was declared bankrupt – and after a petition for his bankruptcy had been presented – a businessman transferred his minority shareholdings in three family companies to his brother. Some of the shares were later distributed to his three sisters. His trustees in...