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Area of Law: Richard Wilson KC
The Court of Appeal has handed down judgment in Lorenz v Caruana [2025] EWCA Civ 606, overturning the decision to grant summary judgment against the Claimant’s claim that half of his brother’s residuary estate was held on secret trust for the Claimant and his two siblings. The Defendant argued that the contemporaneous documents established that the deceased’s intention was to give his estate outright to her in order to avoid inheritance tax and that the claim therefore had no prospect of success. The Court of Appeal noted, however, that the contemporaneous documents did not speak with one voice and accepted that an intention to avoid inheritance tax does not inevitably mean that the deceased cannot have intended to impose an enforceable obligation on the Defendant. The Court considered that there was a real prospect of further evidence being available at trial that would support the Claimant’s case, particularly in light of the limited evidence given by the Defendant as to the instructions given to her by the Deceased. The decision is a reminder that it is only in rare cases that summary judgment will be granted where there are disputed issues of fact, particularly where what lies at the heart of the claim is the content of oral discussions.
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The Privy Council has today handed down judgment allowing the appeals of Dr Winston Wong, Riley Wong and Tony Wang in the conjoined appeals of Grand View Private Trust Co Ltd and another (Respondents) v Wong and others [2022] UKPC 47. In one of the most important trusts law judgments in recent years the Board unanimously held that the exercise of a power adding and excluding beneficiaries was void on the basis that it was inconsistent with the purpose for which the power was conferred. The judgment has important implications for the exercise of fiduciary powers more generally. Of the eleven barristers from English chambers who appeared in the Privy Council, eight were from Serle Court: Dakis Hagen KC, Emma Hargreaves and Stephanie Thompson (instructed by Baker & McKenzie (London) and ASW Law Limited (Bermuda)) acted for the appellants in the first appeal; Richard Wilson KC, James Weale and Charlotte Beynon (instructed by Stewarts, MJM Limited (Bermuda) and Baker McKenzie (Taipei)) acted for the appellant in the second appeal; Jonathan Adkin KC and Adil Mohamedbhai acted for the respondent in both appeals (instructed by Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom (London) and Conyers Dill & Pearman (Bermuda)).
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Dakis Hagen QC (assisted by Emma Hargreaves) acts for the Plaintiffs and Jonathan Adkin QC (assisted by Adil Mohamedbhai) acts for the Defendant trustee in Wong & Anor v Grand View Private Trust Company Ltd, a claim to recover substantial trust property transferred to a trustee of a purpose trust. The Plaintiffs succeeded in obtaining summary judgment at first instance on the ground that powers of addition and exclusion cannot be exercised in a manner which alters or destroys the substratum of the trust ([2019] SC (Bda) 37 Com (5 June 2019)), but this was overturned by the Bermuda Court of Appeal in April 2020 (Civil Appeal No. 5A of 2019, 20 April 2020). Richard Wilson QC (assisted by James Weale) acts for Tony Wang, an intervenor in the appeal. The Plaintiffs and Tony Wang have each been granted leave to appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.
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In Cowan v Foreman, Richard Wilson QC and Gregor Hogan acted for the trustee-executors in this high-profile Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 litigation, which was brought to a successful settlement in Spring 2020.
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In Sofer v SwissIndependent Trustees SA [2020] EWCA Civ 699, Richard Wilson QC and James Weale acted for the respondent in an appeal against an order striking out the claimant’s pleading on the basis that it did not properly particularise a claim in fraud. The Court of Appeal gave important guidance on the pleading requirements of fraud in the context of a dispute against a professional trustee.
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Dakis Hagen QC and Emma Hargreaves continue to act for the adult children of a late Russian businessman in Re Scherbakov, deceased, a cross border dispute concerning the succession to his very substantial worldwide estate and related proceedings concerning the beneficial ownership of very valuable shares in a BVI company. Dakis and Emma recently succeeded in obtaining an order for joint case management of the two English claims, notwithstanding opposition from the claimants. Giles Richardson acts for the deceased’s former wife and Richard Wilson QC and Oliver Jones act for the interim administrators.
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Richard Wilson QC and James Weale (acting for the Claimant and Defendant respectively) successfully set aside two multi-million-dollar trust on the ground of equitable mistake in Hartogs v Rothschild Trust AG [2019] EWHC 1915.
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Dominic Dowley QC, Richard Wilson QC and Zahler Bryan acted for the trustee in PTNZ v AS, a Public Trustee v Cooper application concerning the restructuring of a substantial group of English trusts, in a case involving proceedings before the English and Jersey courts.
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Judgment was handed down on Thursday 23rd May 2019 after the judge ruled in favour of the Respondent, Lucy Habberfield, in an inheritance dispute. The court heard that Lucy Habberfield had been promised that the family dairy farm would be bequeathed to her by her late father. However, following a fight with her sister, Sarah, Lucy left the family home and subsequently brought a legal claim for the farm she was promised.
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