fbpx

Out-Of-Date Family Trust Varied to Recognise Same-Sex Spouses

19th September 2016 By Arman Khosravi

Family trusts often date back many years, and those who drafted them could not have been expected to foresee all the dramatic social changes that have happened since pen was put to paper. In one case, the High Court’s intervention was required to vary a trust so that same-sex partners could be recognised as potential beneficiaries.

The trust had been set up in the 1960s to preserve assets which included a stately home that had been owned by the same family for over 300 years. It made provision for spouses of members of the family. The draftsman, however, had not predicted the advent of civil partnerships and same-sex marriages.

The trust enjoyed certain irreplaceable tax management advantages and the option of creating a fresh settlement was therefore unattractive. In upholding the trustees’ application to vary the trust, the Court accepted that it required a much-needed overhaul. There were financial, ethical and moral reasons why the trust’s definition of ‘spouse’ should be extended to embrace formal same-sex relationships. The Court also approved variations which extended the trust’s lifespan by a further 125 years and conferred additional investment powers on the trustees.

For many purposes, the word ‘spouse’ is taken to include civil partners and same-sex spouses. However, in this case, the wording of the trust document was such that a change to modernise it was necessary.

Source: Concious

Latest News

Tenants Can Purchase Freehold When Landlord Cannot Be Found

11th June, 2024 By

The Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 gives qualifying leaseholders the right to join together to buy the freehold of their properties – a process known as collective enfranchisement. A recent case demonstrated that this right can be exercised even when the landlord cannot be found. The leaseholders of two flats in a terraced house wished to purchase it from the landlord, but were unable to ascertain his whereabouts and therefore could not serve notice on him under Section 13 of the Act. They therefore applied for an...

Court Refuses to Set Aside Divorce Order Applied for by Mistake

6th June, 2024 By

While the courts have a range of powers to set aside orders, they will only exercise them in limited circumstances. In a somewhat surprising case that has attracted much comment, the High Court declined to set aside a final order of divorce that had been applied for by mistake. A couple separated in January 2023, after more than 21 years of marriage. In October that year, while financial remedy proceedings were still ongoing, the wife's legal representatives inadvertently applied for a final order of divorce in respect of her instead...

Waiting Time for Grants of Probate Falls

3rd June, 2024 By

Following concerns last year about delays in processing probate applications, recent figures from HM Courts and Tribunals Service show that waiting times for grants of probate are continuing to improve. The average time from submission of a probate application to probate being granted fell to 11.3 weeks in March 2024, a decrease from 13.7 weeks in February and 13.8 weeks in January. This is the lowest figure since March 2023, when the average was 10.8 weeks. The longest waiting time since then was in November, at 15.8 weeks: that month,...

Late Appeal Against Tax Penalties Rejected

31st May, 2024 By

It is incumbent on taxpayers to make sure they fully comply with their obligations to file returns and pay any tax due. The point was illustrated by a recent case in which a taxpayer whose return had not been received by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) failed to persuade the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) that he should be permitted to appeal against the resulting penalties. On the evening of 31 January 2014, the man had completed his 2012/13 Income Tax return on HMRC's website. Shortly afterwards he went to Cyprus, and...