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R (Greyhound Board of Great Britain Ltd) v Welsh Ministers [2026] EWHC 670 (Admin) What are the practical implications of this case? The ruling reinforces the constitutional divide between the courts and the legislature. It explains that the scheme and framework of the Government of Wales Act 2006 (GWA 2006) embody that separation of powers, and that any judicial attempt to recognise and enforce a common law obligation on Welsh Ministers to consult prior to introducing legislation in the Senedd would trespass upon that boundary. This is not a departure from established principle; case law has already upheld comparable rules for lawmakers in Scotland and at Westminster. However, this is the first express confirmation of the position for Welsh lawmakers, and the first time this dimension of the GWA 2006 has been analysed in such depth. The court examined earlier
The solution arrived through the United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC), a quasi‑judicial body handling mass claims, created under UN Security Council Resolution 687. By addressing environmental harm—most notably via its ‘F4’ claim class—the UNCC set a seminal benchmark shaping how international law and contemporary arbitral panels allocate financial responsibility for wartime ecological devastation. With present-day wars in areas such as Eastern Europe and the Middle East bringing dam breaches, strikes on chemical facilities, and the burning of farmland, the UNCC’s legacy endures as an essential reference point for states, global investors, and companies engaged in post‑conflict arbitration. The F4 claims: Quantifying the unquantifiable Prior to the 1990s, mechanisms in international law for war reparations overwhelmingly favoured property loss, foregone earnings, and bodily injury. The natural world was commonly treated as a mute, non-compensable victim of armed hostilities...
Understanding the farming business as a business Many farms still use long-standing structures that arose by habit, not strategy. Sole traders, informal partnerships and outdated partnership deeds are common. While once effective, such setups can cause major issues around succession, tax planning and involving the next generation. A corporate team can take a fresh, business-led view of the farm, asking: Who owns the land and other critical assets? Who manages daily operations? Who carries the risk and who enjoys the return? What is the enduring plan for succession? From this review, the team can confirm whether the current setup is fit for purpose or if an alternative — for example an updated partnership agreement, a company, a limited liability partnership, or a blended model — would better meet the family’s aims. Tax efficiency through joined-up advice Tax sits at the centre of most
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See Q& A: In broad terms, companies incorporated under the Companies Acts are able to hold land, and a legacy or devise can be made in favour of a registered company. Where an individual plans, via an English will, to gift land in England to a UK company owned by his adult children, the issue is whether the company must be set up in advance and named in the will, or whether incorporation can occur after the individual’s death. As you have highlighted, Practice Note: Contents of Wills—beneficiaries who can take under a Will notes that, in general, companies registered under the Companies Acts have the capacity......
Proposals to levy tax on unspent pension pots and death-related pay-outs from April 2027 are set to create a wide range of very significant and complex difficulties, the Society of Pension Professionals ( SPP) has warned. The trade body said these may include sizeable and prolonged delays to paying benefits, bringing needless financial hardship for some beneficiaries. Chancellor Rachel Reeves unveiled the measures in October 2024 as part of her first Budget. It further noted that what falls within the scope of the plans remains very unclear at present and warned that the timetable is 'unrealistic and impractical'. Pension savings up to £1,073,100 have, until now, been outside inheritance tax. However, the new regime states that recipients of lump-sum pension assets worth over £325,000 from a deceased person’s estate will......
In this issue Probate Court of Protection UK taxation for private clients Updates to HMRC Manuals Family businesses and ownership structures Insolvency— Private Client Digital assets and cryptoassets Charity and philanthropy Contentious trusts and estates Question of the week Daily and weekly news alerts Lex Talk® Private Client: a Lexis+® community New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Latest Q& As Useful information Probate Mo J publishes response to consultation on storage and retention of original Will documents The Ministry of Justice ( Mo J) has issued its response to the consultation on the retention and safeguarding of Wills and related papers lodged with applications to administer deceased persons’ estates. Running from 15 December 2023 to 23 February 2024, the exercise invited views on how original...
See Q& A: How does abatement apply where a testator has left £50,000 to trustees on discretionary trusts and £50,000 to a family member, but there are insufficient funds to settle the legacies in their entirety? Whether abatement operates hinges on how the legacies are characterised, which itself follows from the construction of the Will in question. Legacies fall into three classes: general, specific, and demonstrative. A general legacy is......
Malik and others v Messalti [2024] EWHC 2713 ( Ch) What are the practical implications of this case? The emphasis under IA 1986, s 423(3) lies on the transferor’s subjective aim, rather than the consequences of the disposition. A transfer for less than full value can be impugned under IA 1986, s 423 where the transferor’s broad, abstract intention is to keep assets out of creditors’ reach, even without contemplating any specific existing or prospective creditor or class. There is no requirement for the transferor to know of any, or all, actual or potential creditors at the time of the transfer. A gift, or a declaration of trust, is only vulnerable if the prohibited purpose is proved (though it need not be the sole reason for the deal). The transferor’s awareness (or lack of awareness) of particular creditors may inform the factual inquiry into...
Bridgecom International Ltd v HMRC [2025] UKUT 3 ( TCC) The FTT informed BIL’s agent, Accura Accountants Ltd ( Accura), that the case had been placed in the complex category, giving BIL 28 days to opt out of the costs‑shifting regime. BIL contends that this notice was ineffective, with the result that the costs regime did not apply. Its submission is that the FTT ought to have notified BIL directly, rather than Accura, because Accura’s appointment had not been validly notified to the FTT... Rule 11(2) of the Tribunal Procedure ( First‑tier Tribunal) ( Tax Chamber) Rules 2009 (the Rules) states that where a party appoints a representative (other than a legal representative) the party must send or deliver written notice of the representative’s name and address to the FTT. In reality, Accura, which was not a legal...
What is the background to the proposal? Since estate duty arrived in the late nineteenth century, agricultural reliefs have been central to limiting upheaval and enabling farmers to make long-term commercial and environmental choices in this vital, often multi-generational, industry over successive generations. Farmers who are asset-rich yet commonly cash-poor are especially exposed to inheritance tax ( IHT), and, without full agricultural property relief ( APR) and business property relief ( BPR), many would be compelled to dispose of land, fragmenting long-standing family enterprises to settle the tax due. In recent times, however, APR has been viewed as something of a loophole, with many ultra-wealthy individuals acquiring farmland to sidestep IHT. Facing a £22bn gap in the public finances, the government has therefore unveiled changes to both APR and BPR with effect from 6 April 2026, asserting that the IHT regime will be fairer and more...
In this issue: Court of Protection UK taxes for Private Client HMRC Manuals tracker Tax avoidance, evasion and non-compliance Budgets and Finance Bills Charity and philanthropy Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland International Question of the week Additional Private Client updates this week Daily and weekly news alerts Lex Talk®Private Client: a Lexis+® community Dates for your diary Trackers Useful information Court of Protection Mo J issues factsheet on claiming payment from a fund after a Court of Protection client’s death The Ministry of Justice ( Mo J) has released a factsheet ( CFO 401) that explains how to seek payment from money held by the Court Funds Office when a Court of Protection client has died. The guidance, which applies in England and Wales, specifies the form to use, the accompanying documentation required, and the steps for arranging payment of inheritance tax and funeral expenses. See: LNB News 24/12/2024 10......
See Q& A: Is interest due on the late payment of a nil-rate band legacy paid after the end of executor's year? Numerous commentators describe a nil rate band gift as a pecuniary bequest (for example, a sum matching the deceased’s unused IHT nil rate band). Still, indeed, the question remains whether or not......
JTC Employer Solutions Trustee Ltd v Garnett and another [2024] EWHC 3128 ( Ch) JTC Employer Solutions Trustee Ltd served as trustee to two arrangements: the 2005 Henderson Family Benefit Trust and the 2011 Henderson Group plc Employer‑ Financed Retirement Scheme. Both trusts were intended to deliver benefits to employees, ex‑employees and their families. The defendants, Mr Garnett and Mr Sekhon, appeared as representative beneficiaries and raised no objection to the relief the claimants pursued. The claimants asked the court to rescind a number of deeds establishing sub‑trusts for named beneficiaries and their relatives. Their rationale was that, under section 86(1) of the Inheritance Tax Act 1984 ( IHTA 1984), employee benefit trusts avoid the relevant property regime only where the beneficiary class comprises ‘all or most’ employees or office‑holders (see IHTA 1984, s 86(3)(a)). HMRC’s position was that the exemption was...
Following Donald Trump’s re-election in November 2024, EU policymakers have indicated they will press ahead with a digital taxation fix regardless of US backing. The European Commission, the bloc’s executive arm, appears willing to brave another trade dispute with the US to achieve this. Meanwhile, under its new Polish presidency, the Council of the EU has pledged 2025 tax policy updates, including tougher rules on information exchange. Here are key European tax developments to watch in 2025. Digital services taxes A renewed US– EU standoff over the EU’s approach to taxing the digital economy looks likely. Rasmus Corlin Christensen, an economist at Copenhagen Business School, told Law360 that the EU will push for digital services taxes ( DSTs), with the US countering by threatening trade sanctions. Previously, that dynamic has triggered another round of talks, which have proved difficult to conclude, and a similar cycle is easy to...
In this issue: Private Client Highlights 2024/2025 Probate Court of Protection HMRC Manuals updates Tax avoidance, evasion and non-compliance Budgets and Finance Bills Insolvency— Private Client Contentious trusts and estates International Question of the week Additional Private Client updates this week Daily and weekly news alerts Lex Talk®Private Client: a Lexis+® community New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Latest Q& A Useful information Private Client Highlights 2024/2025 This is our last Weekly Highlights of 2024. The first Weekly Highlights of 2025 will appear on 9 January 2025 and be emailed to customers on 10 January 2025. To keep up with the latest updates on a daily and weekly cadence, see: Daily and weekly news alerts. From the whole Private Client team, we wish you a joyful festive break and a Happy New Year. Probate HMRC updates form IHT100f— HMRC has issued a new edition of the IHT100f, the form used to inform HMRC about events affecting property that benefits from an...
See Q& A: Does the inheritance tax exemption for transfers between spouses apply where both spouses are non- UK domiciled and make a transfer of UK situs assets between them? Inheritance tax applies to chargeable transfers—refer to section 1 of the Inheritance Tax Act 1984 ( IHTA 1984)......
Hirachand v Hirachand and another [2024] UKSC 43 Background This appeal addressed whether an order for financial provision under the I( PFD) A 1975 can encompass a sum reflecting the success fee under a Conditional Fee Agreement ( CFA) owed by a successful claimant to their solicitors. A CFA is an arrangement between a client and their solicitor under which fees become payable only in specified situations, most commonly if the client wins. Such agreements often include an uplift on the solicitor’s base costs where the client is successful; this uplift is termed a success fee. Although a prevailing party in civil proceedings will usually recover reasonable legal costs from the losing party, section 58A(6) of the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990 bars a ‘costs order made in proceedings’ from requiring payment of a success fee. The factual setting was that...
In this issue: Trusts Court of Protection UK taxes for Private Client HMRC Manuals updates Tax avoidance, evasion and non-compliance Family businesses and ownership structures Pensions, insurance and tax efficient investments Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland International Question of the week Additional Private Client updates this week Daily and weekly news alerts Lex Talk®Private Client: a Lexis+® community New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Latest Q& As Useful information Trusts High Court grants rescission of deeds of appointment executed for EBTs on grounds of mistake ( JTC Employer Solutions Trustee Ltd (as trustee of the Henderson Family Benefit Trust) v Garnett) Proceedings sought to unwind a number of deeds of appointment made under two employee benefit trusts ( EBTs): the Henderson Family Benefit Trust ( HFBT) and the...
Knight (as property and affairs deputy for BJB) v Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and another [2024] EWCOP 59 What are the practical implications of this case? This judgment examined whether the Court of Protection had authority to determine a dispute between a claimant and a defendant, where a compromise agreement named a senior judge of that court as the decision‑maker on whether the claimant, through her deputy, could be released from a reverse indemnity undertaking, and allowed the defendant to answer any such application for release and to be heard. Although HHJ Hilder concluded that the Court of Protection did have that jurisdiction ‘by approved consent’, she questioned whether it was ‘right’ for issues arising in civil litigation to be transferred to the Court of Protection, as the issues in this case had been. The court also considered the correct approach to adopt in such...
See Q& A: Is it appropriate for the manager of the care home where the donor lives to be appointed as replacement attorney in their personal capacity? We are not aware of any explicit bar that stops a care home's manager, at whose facility the donor resides, from being chosen by the donor to act, in a personal capacity, as a substitute attorney if they wish......
HMRC v Colchester Institute Corporation [2024] UKUT 397 ( TCC) The striking aspect of this matter is its close linkage to an earlier case concerning the same taxpayer, where the UT determined that materially comparable supplies across other VAT periods constituted supplies of services for consideration ( Colchester Institute Corporation v HMRC [2020] UKUT 368 ( TCC)), as regards the consideration point. HMRC could not appeal that point because, in the litigation as a whole, it was the winning party, having successfully defended its decision to refuse the taxpayer’s output tax refund claims on alternative grounds. The doctrine of judicial comity indicated that, in practice, the UT was expected, though not compelled, to follow its own earlier determination on the consideration question. Further, there is no ‘leapfrog’ route enabling cases to advance from the FTT directly to the Court of Appeal (whereas such a...
In this issue Powers of attorney and advance decisions Court of Protection Elderly and vulnerable clients UK taxes for Private Client HMRC Manuals updates Tax avoidance, evasion and non-compliance Budgets and Finance Bills Contentious trusts and estates Pensions, insurance and tax efficient investments Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland International Question of the week Additional Private Client updates this week Daily and weekly news alerts Lex Talk®Private Client: a Lexis+® community New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Latest Q& As Useful information Powers of attorney and advance decisions OPG upgrades processing time for LPA applications The Office of the Public Guardian ( OPG) has confirmed that from 2 December 2024 the revised timescale for lasting power of attorney ( LPA)...
See Q& A: An individual ( A) holds a commercial premises that is leased to a third party. A transfers a 90% interest into a life interest for himself, with the remainder to pass absolutely to his adult children. He keeps the other 10% outright. Do the gift with reservation of benefit rules bite? Would the pre-owned assets tax rules be in point if the property were ever sold? This reply does not cover A's personal tax position on settling the rented property into trust. A gift made after 8 March 1999 of an undivided interest in land counts as a gift of property with a reservation unless the following applies: the donor does not occupy the land (section 102B(3) ......
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When evaluating a general damages claim, the practitioner ought initially to refer to the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG)...
This Practice Note This Practice Note reviews mechanisms used in settling litigation. A Tomlin order consists of a consent order paired with a schedule. It operates to stay proceedings on terms that have been agreed. The provisions contained in the schedule may remain confidential. This Practice Note describes the scope of confidentiality attaching to the schedule and sets out how it differs from a standard consent order. Sample wording for a Tomlin order is included, alongside links to precedents, as well as guidance on court approval. It also addresses varying, setting aside and enforcing a Tomlin order, including the considerations the court will take into account when handling applications for each. Further guidance is provided on interpreting and applying the relevant provisions of the CPR; however, some courts and divisions impose very specific requirements for both drafting and approval, and for approaching the schedule and confidentiality issues. Accordingly, you must consider the particular rules and court guide provisions in the forum where your claim is proceeding when drawing up the Tomlin order...
Date [ date ] Parties [ name of Landlord ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Landlord) [ name of Tenant ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Tenant) [ [ name of Guarantor ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Guarantor) ] [ [ name of Mortgagee ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Mortgagee) ] Definitions Within this Deed, the terms below shall be interpreted as follows: [ Annual Rent • the annual sum reserved under the Lease; ] [ Insurance Rent • the Tenant’s share of the Landlord’s costs of insuring the Property (as set out in the Lease); ] Lease • the lease of the Property dated [ date ], entered into between (1) [ the Landlord OR [ name ...
I, [ name ], of [ address ], solemnly and sincerely state that: [ Matters to be verified, set out in numbered paragraphs ] I make this solemn statement in good conscience, believing it to be true, and pursuant to the provisions of the Statutory Declarations Act 1835. DECLARED at [ details ] this [ day ] day of [ month and year ] Before me ................................................................................ [ signature of the person before whom the declaration is made ] A [ commissioner for oaths OR [ solicitor OR [ insert other qualification ] ] authorised to administer oaths ]...
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