Legal News

See Q& A: Can a solicitor certify copies of a birth, marriage or death certificate where the document for copying is an official copy of the relevant register? A certified copy is a precise, full and up‑to‑date reproduction—typically a photocopy—of an original record. It does not attest that the original is genuine, authentic or suitable for the purpose for which it was issued; it affirms that the copy is a faithful reproduction of the original shown to the person certifying it (for example, a solicitor or notary). If the item being reproduced is an official birth, death, marriage or civil partnership certificate (‘official certificates’), a copy endorsed by a solicitor or notary cannot be used as evidence of the event to which the document......

Nilsson and another v Jones [2026] EWHC 319 ( Ch) What are the practical implications of this case? Debtor applicants and prospective trustees in bankruptcy should note: even if the statutory criteria for bankruptcy are satisfied, the court may refuse or annul a bankruptcy order where it would achieve nothing or treat creditors unfairly, especially (though not exclusively) in cross-border matters where principal assets sit outside the jurisdiction and cannot be realised the court’s discretion applies equally where an order was made by the bankruptcy adjudicator under the administrative scheme, not only where the court itself made the order the judgment underlines the need for debtors, trustees in bankruptcy, and creditors to evaluate practical enforceability in cross-border contexts and to provide evidence that assets are capable of realisation for creditors’ benefit when seeking to show a different domicile, the party...

NNB Generation Company ( HPC) Ltd v HMRC [2026] UKFTT 316 ( TC) HMRC opened enquiries in 2016 into NNB’s & D allowance claims tied to the Hinkley Point C nuclear project. Notwithstanding NNB’s co-operation throughout, seven years after commencing its enquiry HMRC served an information notice demanding substantial volumes of material. NNB appealed that notice and asked for the appeal to be allocated as a complex case so that, if it succeeded, it could recover its costs from HMRC. The FTT rejected the request to reclassify the appeal as complex, having assessed: the three threshold tests in rule 23(4) of the Tribunal Procedure ( First- Tier Tribunal) ( Tax Chamber) Rules, SI 2009/273 ( FTT Rules) for treating an appeal as complex, namely that the case: calls for lengthy or intricate evidence or a protracted hearing; raises a complex or...

In this issue: Court of Protection UK taxation for Private Client HMRC Manuals revisions Tax avoidance, evasion and non-compliance Private Client regulatory compliance Budgets and Finance Bills Charity and philanthropy Disputed trusts and estates Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland International Question of the week Further 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 Court of Protection OPG publishes updated guidance on solicitor client accounts for deputyship funds The Office of the Public Guardian ( OPG) has issued refreshed guidance setting out its approach to operating client accounts for people under a deputyship order. It outlines the administration of deputyship monies via client accounts and...

See Q& A: Is a Will revoked by marriage, including in respect of property in another jurisdiction? The Will was prepared in England. It is assumed that it was executed by a testator domiciled in England and Wales and that it covers their worldwide estate. Section 18 of the Will Act 1837 ( WA 1837) provides that, on the testator’s marriage, a Will is revoked unless certain exceptions apply......

Outram and another v HMRC [2026] UKFTT 248 ( TC) In 2005–06, the appellants participated in a Montpelier tax avoidance arrangement engineered to create trading losses to set against other income, without any corresponding economic loss at all. HMRC issued discovery assessments in 2015. In making those assessments, HMRC relied upon the extended time limit for tax lost through deliberate conduct (section 36(1A) of the Taxes Management Act 1970). The taxpayers appealed. Before the FTT, the appellants accepted the scheme had failed and that trading loss relief was unavailable, yet they contested the assessments on the footing that their behaviour had not been deliberate. On that basis, the extended time limit did not apply, and the assessments were, they said, out of time. The FTT, finding the appellants 'less than compelling witnesses', determined that their behaviour was deliberate. The Upper......

Smith and others v Campbell and others [2026] EWHC 144 ( Ch) What are the practical implications of this case? This judgment is a highly practical touchstone for those pursuing or facing applications to remove trustees or executors, and for any dispute where trustees are in adversarial proceedings with beneficiaries. It dispels two widely held but not wholly accurate assumptions: First, that trustees can invariably recoup their costs from the trust or estate and are insulated from adverse costs orders. The court confirms that, where the dispute is properly characterised as contentious litigation, the ordinary costs principles—linked to success and the parties’ conduct—will govern. Secondly, and conversely, that trustees must adopt a stance of strict neutrality and should refrain from defending themselves, even when confronted with extreme allegations, merely because there is a faint prospect of ultimate defeat. This...

See Q& A: Where a deed of confirmation for a prior (now lost) deed of retirement and appointment of trustees has misspelt the trust’s name by inserting an extra letter part‑way through, is a formal application to the court for rectification required? The deed of confirmation A deed of confirmation is employed to affirm the contents of a missing deed. In practice, all parties to the lost deed would ordinarily join as parties to the confirming document. Within this context, it matters that the point raised concerns an administrative function, namely the retirement of trustees and the appointment of successors, rather than anything substantive, in this particular administrative and procedural setting......

Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council v EKK (by her litigation friend, the Official Solicitor) [2025] EWCOP 42 What are the practical implications of this case? The ruling reaffirms that the capacity to marry is tied to the ‘act’ or ‘status’ itself, not to a particular ‘person’ or prospective ‘spouse’. Accordingly, when assessing P, the enquiry is whether P can decide to marry at all, rather than whether they can decide to marry a specific individual. Nonetheless, stepping back, the decision may muddy the waters more than it clarifies. Practically, a person might be judged to have capacity to marry on an ‘act’/‘status’ basis, yet lack capacity to have contact with the person they wish to marry, which is a ‘person’ specific assessment. The court was not called upon to resolve how these positions interact, though the judge did note the peculiarity of P having capacity to marry but not to...

In this issue: Probate 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 Insolvency— Private Client Digital assets and cryptoassets 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 Probate Third-party disclosure refused in probate dispute ( Liebenthal v Liebenthal) The Chancery Division declined an application by the first and third defendants for third party disclosure from the Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations Beis Din (the Beth Din), in probate proceedings concerning the estate of Chaye Liebenthal. The claimant, Aron Liebenthal, aimed to propound the 2005 Will, whereas the first and third defendants counterclaimed to advance a 2017 Declaration said to revive a 1990 Will and to overturn the 2005 Will, citing lack of comprehension, absence of knowledge and approval, and undue...

See Q& A: On a later disposal within one year of the date of death, what should be taken as the acquisition cost for capital gains tax ( CGT) in respect of a shareholding in the deceased’s estate where the shares were wrongly sold, against the executors’ directions, by the investment adviser and identical shares were then reacquired by the adviser (still within that first year), with the adviser covering the uplift in price so the estate suffered no loss?......

MWL International Ltd and another v HMRC [2026] UKUT 62 ( TCC) The businesses were trading entities that hired vehicles for directors to use as ‘mobile working offices’. Overnight, the vehicles routinely stayed at one director’s home, which also served as the company’s registered office. Every one of the directors also owned another car privately. No journey logs were maintained at all. In 1993, the Inland Revenue agreed to regard the vehicles as pooled cars under what is now section 167 of the Income Tax ( Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 ( ITEPA 2003), and therefore free from any NICs. The companies continued to depend on that agreement until HMRC determined that the vehicles were not pooled cars and that the companies were accordingly chargeable to Class 1A NICs for the 2015 to 2020 years. Before the First-tier Tax Tribunal ( FTT), the...

In this issue: Wills, Trusts, Court of Protection, Spouses, civil partners and cohabitants, UK taxes for Private Client, HMRC Manuals updates, Tax avoidance, evasion and non-compliance, Regulatory compliance for Private Client, Contentious trusts and estates, Pensions, insurance and tax efficient investments, 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 Wills Delusions and dispositions—testamentary capacity challenge succeeds but fraudulent calumny fails ( Ginger v Mickleburgh) His Honour Judge Blohm KC has delivered judgment following the trial of a contentious probate dispute (first heard in August 2025). The claimants—the Deceased’s four children—sought to overturn a Will, arguing lack of testamentary capacity and, alternatively, alleging fraudulent calumny. The defendants comprised the Deceased’s sister, former partner and nephew. The capacity ground...

Significance and Impact of the Digital Assets Act 2025 The Digital Assets Act 2025: The wording The preamble to the Digital Assets Act 2025 explains that the legislation makes provision concerning the kinds of things that are not barred from being the subject of personal property rights. It is a concise statute. Section 1 provides that a “thing” — including one that is digital or electronic in character — is not disqualified from being the object of personal property rights simply because it is neither (a) a thing in possession nor (b) a thing in action. Put differently, and by virtue of the Act, even where a thing (including one that is digital or electronic in character) does not fit the orthodox property categories — namely, things in possession (items capable of physical possession) or things in action (property claimable or enforceable through court...

Carbon Six Engineering Ltd v HMRC [2026] UKFTT 177 ( TC) In 2022, HMRC issued determinations pursuant to regulation 80 of the Income Tax ( Pay As You Earn) Regulations 2003 ( SI 2003/2682) and section 8 of the Social Security ( Transfer of Functions) Act 1999, in respect of income tax and National Insurance contributions ( NICs) it considered due from the appellant, Carbon Six Engineering Ltd. The accompanying letter, notifying the issue of those determinations, asserted that the additional tax and NICs arose because the appellant was a managed services company ( MSC), and identified its managed services company provider ( MSC provider) as Churchill Knight & Associates ( CKA). In truth, the appellant had never entered into any contract with CKA or otherwise engaged with it. It had, however, dealt with The App Accounting Group ( TAAG), which HMRC also...

See Q& A: What expenses are deducted from income arising in a non- UK resident trust created by a non-resident and non domiciled settlor who died in 2012 when computing the extent to which UK resident beneficiaries are liable to UK income tax on capital distributions from the trust? Are loan repayments (principal and interest) by the trustee on loans owed by the trustee to a company connected with the UK beneficiaries deductible? Under general principles of English trust law, trust income is charged with ordinary, repeating outgoings—such as rates and taxes—and with interest on charges and encumbrances. By contrast, the trust capital bears all costs, charges, and expenditure incurred for the benefit of the estate as a whole. See Carver v Duncan ( Inspector of Taxes); Bosanquet v Allet ( Inspector of Taxes)......

Delusions and dispositions—testamentary capacity challenge succeeds but fraudulent calumny fails ( Ginger & others v Mickleburgh & others) Ginger and others v Robert Mickleburgh and others [2026] EWHC 100 ( Ch) What are the practical implications of this case? Despite Mrs Justice Falk’s guidance in Clitheroe v Bond [2021] EWHC 1102 ( Ch) refining the approach to delusions, there remain relatively few judgments illustrating in practice how the court distinguishes a simple error from a true delusional belief. Reported decisions giving worked examples of the court’s applied reasoning on that divide remain scarce. In this matter, several delusions were plain and highly fact-specific: the Deceased imagined persistent, large-scale, nocturnal harassment by neighbours over many months, clinging to these notions even as companions stood beside him and pointed out that nothing was occurring. Other features have wider resonance: he partly cut his children out because they...

Scott v the Estate of Richard Norman Scott and others [2025] EWHC 2796 ( Ch) What are the practical implications of this case? The judgment is an engaging read, especially for those intrigued by intricate familial and financial structures, though it does not break new legal ground. The key takeaway is the inherent volatility of such claims and the attendant hazards; after the ruling on costs ( Scott v the Estate of Richard Norman Scott and others [2025] EWHC 3502 ( Ch)) the claimant was directed to meet 90% of the defendant’s costs, the size of which can reasonably be presumed to be very substantial. What was the background? Richard Norman Scott died in June 2018. In his lifetime he married twice and had numerous further relationships. In total he fathered at least 19 children from those various relationships. Among them was Adam, his second eldest child....

O’ Brien v HMRC [2026] UKFTT 127 ( TC) In RFC 2012 plc (formerly the Rangers Football Club plc) v Advocate General for Scotland [2017] UKSC 45, the Supreme Court decided that a liability to income tax on earnings arises where an employee’s pay is directed to another person with the employee’s consent or passive agreement. A host of later rulings have adopted this redirection doctrine; see, for example, Sheth v HMRC [2023] UKFTT 368 ( TC). In this matter, the FTT found that the doctrine extended to monies paid into a contractor loan arrangement. Under that arrangement, the taxpayer, a contractor, became an employee of a company in the Isle of Man. The company entered into contracts with, and issued invoices to, the taxpayer’s clients, paying the taxpayer a modest wage and placing the remainder of his remuneration into an EBT. The EBT...

In this issue: Probate Court of Protection Spouses, civil partners and cohabitees UK taxation for Private Client Updates to HMRC Manuals Tax avoidance, evasion and non‑compliance Private Client regulatory compliance Budgets and Finance Bills Digital assets and cryptoassets Disputed trusts and estates Pensions, insurance and tax‑efficient investments International matters Question of the Week Daily and weekly news updates Lex Talk®Private Client: a Lexis+® community New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Latest Q& As Useful information Probate Executor misconduct: injunctions, removal and indemnities ( Re Organ; House v Helme) The court granted an order restraining two executors (one a solicitor) from dissipating Estate assets until the claim for their removal was determined. It then appointed a trust corporation to act in their stead, required them to pay the beneficiaries’ costs assessed on the indemnity basis, and concluded the executors had no right of indemnity for the costs of the proceedings......