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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 Sole traders, informal partnerships and outdated partnership deeds are common.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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AH v BH [2024] EWFC 125 What are the practical implications of this case? Peel J adjusted the PMA only to the extent needed to meet the wife’s and children’s needs. He also indicated, in broad terms, the markedly higher award the wife might have obtained had there been no PMA and a sharing claim had prevailed. The court examined differing methods of providing housing when balancing PMA terms against the requirements of the financially weaker party. In this case, the wife was not limited to provision akin to an order under Schedule 1 to the Children Act 1989 ( Ch A 1989). Peel J observed he was unaware of any relevant reported authority where a primary carer of children, lacking significant assets, had not been granted a lump sum for housing outright. What was the background? The wife, aged 40 and brought up in country A,...
In this issue: Probate Court of Protection UK taxation for private clients HMRC manuals tracker Contentious trusts and estates Art and heritage property, landed estates and farming families International pensions, insurance and tax‑efficient investments Further Private Client updates this week Question of the week Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Lex Talk®Private Client: a Lexis®PSL community Dates for your diary Trackers Latest Q& As Helpful information Probate HMRC form P1000 published online HMRC has, for the first time, made form P1000 for death estates available online. See: LNB News 15/07/2024 7. Court of Protection Court of Protection finds it is in the best interests to withdraw clinically assisted nutrition and hydration for a 70-year-old man in a permanent vegetative state ( NHS North West London Integrated Care Board v Z) In NHS...
See Q& A: The Trustees have retained £500,000 for roughly two years. Our client, the life tenant, has received no income to date—only capital payments—owing to a failure on the Trustees’ part to invest the funds appropriately, properly and in accordance with their duties as appointed Trustees. What steps should the Trustees have taken during those two years? Pursuant to section 1 of the Trustee Act 2000 ( TA 2000), Trustees owe a duty of care to manage trust funds properly for the benefit of the beneficiaries......
D’ Angelin v Revenue and Customs Commissioners [2024] UKFTT 462 ( TC) What are the practical implications of this case? The judgment is notable for its treatment of value extraction and the circumstances in which BIR can be forfeited. Inflated pay or private enjoyment of corporate assets will be regarded as taking value out and thus violating the conditions for the relief. Beyond that, the ruling is valuable because it sets out firm direction on interpreting other provisions within tax statutes. The Tribunal examined the legislative purpose, drew on parliamentary materials to aid construction, and assessed whether its reading conflicted with Protocol 1 Article 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights ( Protection of Property) (the Convention). This required weighing the appellant’s ‘right not to be deprived of the money that he will have to pay by way of tax if BIR is...
In this issue: Probate Court of Protection UK taxes for Private Client HMRC Manuals updates Tax avoidance, evasion and non-compliance International Question of the week Additional Private Client updates this week Daily and weekly news alerts Lex Talk®Private Client: a Lexis®PSL community New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Latest Q& A Useful information Probate Donatio Mortis Causa in the digital age—valid death bed gifts of dematerialised assets including online bank accounts, share accounts and registered land ( Rahman v Hassan) The court determined that the Deceased made effective donationes mortis causa (gifts made in contemplation of death) of registered freehold and leasehold property, online bank accounts and shares. Shortly before the death he anticipated, he passed to the claimant copies of a land certificate and land...
What are the practical implications of this case? HMRC began enquiries into the taxpayer’s returns for 2015/16 and 2016/17, and in October 2021 it served an information notice. That notice requested information and documents across twelve categories, including: Bank statements and accounts for a Hong Kong company where the taxpayer had been a director Bank statements for a US account with Chase, together with details of any other overseas accounts Correspondence and information about a loan to the taxpayer used to invest in a company The taxpayer appealed. What was the background? The FTT first examined whether any of the material sought by the notice amounted to statutory records (for which there is no right of appeal). It found that none did. Although certain items had been statutory records originally......
Cooke v Revenue and Customs Commissioners [2024] UKFTT 272 ( TC) What are the practical implications of this case? Cooke (and the earlier authority it followed, Lobler [2015] UKUT 152) is very good news for clients (and advisers) whose paperwork fails to capture their commercial intention because of a mistake. It illustrates the FTT’s readiness to employ, in an indirect way, the equitable remedy of rectification to amend documents to favourable effect, even where the principal outcome is a tax saving. The FTT lacks the jurisdiction to order rectification. Nevertheless, Cooke exemplifies the principle that, if the Tribunal is satisfied that, were appropriate proceedings issued in the High Court, the High Court would grant rectification, then the Tribunal ought to proceed as though such rectification had been granted. The threshold for concluding that the High Court ‘would order’...
Q& A: Property owned by A and B as tenants in common raises a query. Although B retains capacity, they wish A to act on their behalf under a lasting power of attorney, with A appointed as the sole attorney. If a second trustee is brought in, does this amount to a proper disposition and a valid receipt clause capable of overreaching the form A restriction? For the purposes of this scenario, assume A and B are joint holders of the legal title to the property, which they keep as tenants in common. B has named A as their attorney through a property and financial affairs lasting power of attorney ( LPA). The general position is that any trustee functions delegated to an attorney must accord with the requirements of section 25 of the Trustee Act 1925 ( TA 1925)......
The Commissioners for HM Revenue and Customs v Sehgal and Mehan [2024] UKUT 00074 ( TCC)) What are the practical implications of this case? The headline issue here is the method for construing ITA 2007, s 809L. The Upper Tribunal acknowledged that the section was brought in to plug gaps, defects and oddities in the earlier remittance basis regime. Yet it declined HMRC’s argument that this character made it an anti-avoidance measure warranting a more expansive reading than usual. Instead, s 809L falls to be read like any other statutory text: purposively, to decide whether, taking a realistic view, Parliament meant it to catch the transactions in point. On that footing, the pivotal expression, ‘service’, must bear its ordinary sense, informed by its contextual setting. It should not be stretched beyond its natural scope or given a contrived gloss. Had Parliament wanted a broader...
In this issue: General election 2024 Trusts Court of Protection UK taxes for Private Client Tax avoidance, evasion and non-compliance Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland Question of the week Additional Private Client updates this week Daily and weekly news alerts Lex Talk®Private Client: a Lexis®PSL community New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Latest Q& As Useful information General election 2024 General Election 2024—parliamentary process, wash-up and manifesto pledges This News Analysis brings together coverage of the 2024 General Election by practice area. It includes commentary from practice area specialists, Practical Guidance materials, news, analysis and journal articles. For further information, see News Analysis: General Election 2024—parliamentary process, wash-up and manifesto pledges. Trusts Constructive trust and transfer for CGT purposes ( Morgan v Revenue and Customs Commissioners) The FTT examined a dispute about whether a constructive trust arose over a property so that a disposal occurred for capital gains tax ( CGT) in the 2015–16 tax year, or instead whether the...
See Q& A: In 2006, the deceased’s spouse set up a nil rate band trust ( NRB) in his Will, funded by a £285k loan note issued by his wife. The loan note was the only paperwork and the trust was never registered on the Trust Registration Service ( TRS). The deceased’s children want the trustees to appoint the value to their own children. Do charges under the relevant property regime arise for this trust? Should the trustees register the NRB trust on the TRS retrospectively and make disclosures to HMRC? Relevant property trust charges For the ten-year anniversary charge, the available nil rate band ( NRB) forms part of a calculation to derive the effective rate ( ER), which then sets the actual inheritance tax ( IHT) rate applicable to the specific trust. The actual rate equals 30% of the ER. As the ER cannot...
Parliamentary process On 22 May 2024, the Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, asked the King to dissolve Parliament so a general election could take place on 4 July 2024, and the King consented. As a result, Parliament was prorogued on 24 May 2024 and formally dissolved on 30 May 2024. The parliamentary timetable is set out below: 22 May: The Prime Minister asked the King to use the prerogative to dissolve Parliament 22 May: King Charles approved the request and a general election was announced nationwide 23 May: ‘ Wash-up’ period begins 24 May: Parliament is prorogued 25 May: Pre-election period of sensitivity begins (previously known as ‘purdah’) 30 May: Parliament is dissolved 30 May: Pre-election period starts 4 July: General election 17 July: State Opening of Parliament For an explanation of the ‘wash-up’ period and the period of...
Cox and another v HMRC [2024] UKFTT 510 ( TC) A married couple, the taxpayers served as directors and minority shareholders in a company that operated as financial advisers. Each owned roughly 6% of the share capital. In 2018, several shareholders, including the couple, chose to sell their shares to other continuing shareholders. During a meeting between the directors and a representative of the solicitors dealing with the sale, EWM, the representative went round the table to confirm that every director and their spouses would be entitled to entrepreneurs’ relief on the disposal. Afterwards, the directors determined that the sale consideration should be divided so as to better reflect each person’s contribution to the business. Consequently, the taxpayers each gifted part of their shareholding to other shareholders. Those gifts qualified for holdover relief but left each taxpayer with a 4% stake in the...
Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the realistic ( Local Authority v A & Others) A Local Authority v A (by her litigation friend, the Official Solicitor) and others [2024] EWCOP 19 What are the practical implications of this case? Although the courts labelled the facts as ‘extraordinary’ and ‘highly abnormal’, the core lesson for practitioners is simple: do not let the ideal overshadow what is achievable in reality. When deciding what best serves a person who lacks capacity, professionals ought not to pursue supposedly risk-free choices that are unavailable or unreal, particularly where that riskless route most restricts the protected person’s autonomy and human rights. The focus should be on workable arrangements, not on unattainable perfection, especially where absolute safety would come at the greatest cost to the individual’s freedoms. Under the Mental Capacity Act 2005, everyone, including the court, must try to meet their...
In this issue: General election 2024 Probate Court of Protection Spouses, civil partners and cohabitants HMRC Manuals updates Tax avoidance, evasion and non-compliance 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®PSL community New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Latest Q& As Useful information General election 2024 Law360: On 13 June 2024, Keir Starmer said publicly that, if Labour wins the general election, it would usher in a period of ‘national renewal’, with economic growth and wealth creation at its core, firmly steering a manifesto and programme overall notably free of any surprise headline commitments that day. See News Analysis: Labour prioritises wealth creation in election manifesto. Law360: The UK’s third-largest political party pledged on 10 June 2024 to lift capital gains tax for the country’s wealthiest people if it secures victory at the next election, ultimately seeking to raise £5bn in total for the...
See Q& A: Mother and son own a buy to let property 50:50 The rents are split in line with ownership. The mother plans to transfer 25% of her holding to her son, keeping the remaining 25% herself. After the gift, she still intends to receive 50% of the rental income. Although this might look like a gift with reservation of benefit ( GROB), it is thought that the carve-out in section 102B(3) of the Finance Act 1986 applies because: she parts with only a fractional share rather than her entire interest; and she does not live in or otherwise occupy the property. Is that analysis correct......
AP v JP and another [2024] EWHC 1197 ( Fam) What are the practical implications of this case? The court characterised this as an ‘unfortunate’ and ‘unusual’ matter, the intricacy of which justified appointing an advocate to the court to assist. AP’s difficulties in securing legal recognition of his and JP’s ongoing relationship arose squarely from the terms of MCA 1973, s 11 as they applied at two particular moments in time. First, in 2009—the date of their initial marriage ceremony— MCA 1973, s 11(c) expressly provided that any purported marriage between two people of the same sex was void. That statutory bar in turn fundamentally unravelled AP’s first application, issued in 2018, for a declaration under section 55(1)(a) of the Family Law Act 1986 ( FLA 1986) that the 2009 marriage was ‘at its inception a valid marriage’ (emphasis added). In short, the...
What are the practical implications of this case? When preparing Wills that appoint the drafting solicitor or colleagues within their practice as executors, care must be taken to insert a charging clause, alongside an express instruction permitting their firm to be engaged for the estate’s administration. Without both, entitlement to fees may not be recoverable in practice. This is the sole reliable method to secure the solicitor’s entitlement to be paid for carrying out executor duties. Where, after the testator’s death, a solicitor (or any professional) still opts to act without such a provision, they must, before proceeding, secure written consent from every co‑executor—regardless of participation in the grant of probate—authorising remuneration for their work, so as to meet TA 2000, s 29. Relying on the court’s inherent jurisdiction as a fallback to obtain payment would be highly inadvisable. Do not assume the court will fill the...
The Liberal Democrats said they would indeed almost double capital gains tax for the highest earners if they managed to form a majority government after the 4 July general election. Capital gains is a levy on the profit made when an asset is sold. At present, the top rate is currently 24%. The Lib Dems intend to increase it to 45% under their plans. Ed Davey, the party’s leader, told a press conference unveiling the manifesto that it is only right the very, very wealthiest in our country pay more tax, insisting that when our public services are right now crying out for......
At the Manchester manifesto launch, the Labour leader pledged his administration would set up a National Wealth Fund capitalised at £7.3bn ( US$9.3bn) across the next Parliament. Its purpose is to speed the shift to clean energy and support industry while drawing in private co‑investment alongside public funds. The fund’s remit would be clean power and industrial investment, targeting £3 of private capital for each £1 of state funding. A Labour administration would likewise undertake a wide-ranging review of pensions, including measures to lift workplace scheme investment into domestic markets. “ This is a changed Labour Party with a plan for growth,” Starmer told delegates. “ We are pro‑business and pro‑worker — the party of wealth creation.” He added that his party, polling 20 points ahead of the governing Conservative Party, reaffirmed prior commitments not to raise income tax, National Insurance or VAT if...
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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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