Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Standing to bring s 303 IA 1986 applications and effect of trustee’s s 299 release: Ackerman v Leeds suggests release does not bar non-monetary challenges (England and Wales)

Published on: 01 July 2024

Published by a LexisNexis Restructuring & Insolvency expert

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Article summary

Ackerman v Leeds and others [2024] EWHC 1215 (Ch)

What are the practical implications of this case?

No earlier authority had directly examined whether a challenge under IA 1986, s 303 is shut out once trustees have secured their release. The prevailing commentary—found in leading practitioner texts or in obiter remarks by judges, and without close analysis—had generally indicated that a trustee’s release should bar subsequent attacks on the trustee’s decisions. It is therefore helpful to see the point squarely addressed, even if the analysis is not binding on later cases. That discussion has practical value despite lacking binding force...

What was the background?

Mr Ackerman moved to contest his bankruptcy trustees’ decision to enter a settlement and to assign potential claims of his estate arising from long‑running litigation with several relatives. The trustees completed the assignment and settlement in 2017, and in 2018 Mr Ackerman issued a claim under IA 1986, s 303 seeking to set the settlement aside. By agreement between the parties, the claim has effectively remained in abeyance—though never formally stayed—until now. It had not been the subject of any formal stay...

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