Secret trust meaning

Lorenz v Caruana and others [2025] EWCA Civ 606 What are the practical implications of this case? The ruling underscores that claims premised on obligations said to arise from spoken discussions will seldom be apt for summary judgment. Here, the supposed duty took the form of a secret trust; nonetheless, the reasoning equally touches claims of purported oral contracts more broadly. It serves as a prompt to advisers that, where a case turns mainly on witness accounts, save in exceptional instances the court will be unable to resolve factual disputes ahead of trial. A bid for summary judgment is therefore unlikely to prosper unless the material refuting the existence of any oral bargain is compelling in the extreme, or the asserted obligation conflicts with a settled legal principle, on both the facts and the law advanced. What was the background?...

In this issue Trusts Court of Protection Elderly and vulnerable clients UK taxes for Private Client HMRC Manuals updates Tax avoidance, evasion and non-compliance Regulatory compliance for Private Client Contentious trusts and estates International Question of the week Additional Private Client updates this week Daily and weekly news alerts LexTalk®Private Client: a Lexis+® community New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Latest Q&As Useful information Trusts CTJ update on Commercial Court seminar on equity in commercial law The Courts and Tribunals Judiciary (CTJ) records that the Commercial Court has staged its latest seminar centred on equity in commercial law. Discussions addressed the accountability of fiduciaries, how equity underpins commercial bargains, and the doctrine of equitable rescission. See: LNB News 19/05/2025 45...

In this issue: Court of Protection Older and vulnerable clients UK taxation for private clients HMRC Manual updates Tax avoidance, evasion and non-compliance Digital assets and crypto-assets Charities and philanthropy Disputed trusts and estates Art and heritage property, landed estates and farming families Pensions, insurance and tax‑efficient investments Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland International matters Weekly question Further Private Client updates this week Daily and weekly news briefings LexTalk® Private Client: a Lexis+® community New and revised content Trackers Latest Q&A Useful information Court of Protection Court of Protection holds defendant in contempt for intentional breach of supervised contact and communication orders (CA, In the Matter Of) The court determined that Caroline Grady committed contempt by intentionally violating orders requiring supervised contact and banning distressing communications with CA. Norfolk County Council brought proceedings after Grady accepted multiple episodes of unsupervised telephone contact and...

This Practice Note addresses identifying a fiduciary, fiduciary duties and obligations, the no conflict rule, the no profit rule, a fiduciary's duty of confidence, and the remedies available for breach of fiduciary duty. Who is a fiduciary? There is no definitive catalogue of relationships that give rise to fiduciary obligations at common law in every situation universally. Certain relationships are inherently fiduciary, eg trustee and beneficiary, solicitor and client, principal and agent, business partner and co-partners, together with mortgagor and mortgagee. The obligations of some fiduciaries have been set out in statute; for instance, trustees owe a statutory duty of skill and care under section 1 of the Trustee Act 2000 (TrA 2000), and directors' relationships with their companies are addressed in the Companies Act 2006 too. For guidance on directors' fiduciary duties, see Practice Note: of directors for further detailed discussion. In Bristol and West Building Society v Mothew, Millet LJ explained that a fiduciary is a person who agrees to act for,...

Where two or more people co-own land, they do so under a trust of land. In such a trust, the legal estate and equitable estate are distinct. The legal estate must be held by the co-owners as joint tenants. The beneficial interest may, however, be held by the co-owners either as: joint tenants, or tenants in common If they are joint tenants, each holds an indivisible interest: each owns the whole rather than a defined share. The right of survivorship applies, so on the death of one joint tenant, that person’s interest passes automatically to the other(s). If the beneficial interest is held as tenants in common, shares can be unequal, and a person’s share does not pass to the survivor but forms part of the deceased’s estate. A tenancy in common may arise on the original transfer or conveyance by an express declaration of trust, or where an existing joint tenancy is severed. Requirements for a valid declaration of trust...

Private Client England & Wales glossary A Abatement When, after settling the deceased’s funeral costs, debts and liabilities, the remaining estate cannot satisfy all legacies in full, the gifts are reduced accordingly, unless the Will shows a different intention. In a solvent estate, the order for reduction appears in Part II of Schedule 1 to the Administration of Estates Act 1925. Refer to Practice Note: Payment of legacies. Accruals basis Where income is taxed on an accruals basis, it is attributed to a given tax year by reference to the number of days within that year during which the activity giving rise to the liability accrued. See Practice Note: What is the basis of income tax?. Accumulation and maintenance (A&M) trust A form of non‑interest in possession trust designed to benefit children and young people up to 25, which received favourable inheritance tax treatment between 1975 and 2006. See Practice Note: Accumulation and maintenance trusts—IHT [Archived]. Accredited Legal Representative (ALR) ...