We have assumed that the beneficiaries of the trust believe that the trustees’ remuneration, charged in accordance with the express charging clause in the trust instrument, is unreasonably excessive. Section 28 of the Trustee Act 2000 (TA 2000) applies to potentially widen an existing charging clause in a trust. If that charging clause gives a power to a trustee who is ‘acting in a professional capacity’ or is a trust corporation to receive payment out of trust funds in respect of services provided to, or on behalf of, the trust, such provision is extended by section 28 to services even if they are

In B2B contracts, termination rights are typically well-defined (eg allowing a party to terminate for convenience, for breach of contract or other specified events). Where a contract is silent as to a party’s right to terminate a contract, in the event of a dispute, the courts will apply common law principles. The ability of a party to terminate a contract in the absence of an explicit contractual right depends on several factors, including the nature of the contract. A

For the purpose of this Q&A, we have assumed that: • the property is a dwelling • the interest held by A and B is a freehold interest or a leasehold interest granted for a term of more than seven years • A occupies another dwelling as A’s only or main residence in which A has a freehold or leasehold interest • A and B are not civil partners of each other and/or are separated in circumstances in which the separation is

These duties of the personal representative are of a fiduciary nature. The personal representative must act in good faith and cannot put themselves in a position whereby there is a conflict of interest between their interests and those of the estate: Broughton v Broughton . The question raises a potential conflict of interest as the personal representative is also a beneficiary. Where a personal representative is faced with a conflict of interest and the Will does

It is understood that a will has left certain assets to be held on trust for B (sister) for life, with remainder to A (client). Where all the beneficiaries of a trust are of full age and mental capacity, they can together require the trust to be brought to an end and its assets to be transferred to them absolutely in such proportions as they agree: Saunders v Vautier. A simple deed will suffice. All beneficiaries affected would need to be parties. This takes effect subject to the trustee/executor’s right of indemnity and

Executors are under a duty to get in the estate of the deceased, recover debts owed to the estate, to pay its liabilities and then to distribute the estate in accordance with the terms of the Will. If there is any credible evidence at all that B has misused their power in such a way as to reduce the value of the estate, then the executor should investigate. This is partly because the executors should submit a return of the entire estate for tax purposes so that, if, for example, B has misappropriated assets of the estate, those assets

Since the advent of the Law of Property Act 1925 it has been possible to own real property legally in joint names only as joint tenants. The legal owners hold the beneficial interest on trust, ordinarily for themselves, either as equitable joint tenants (in which case they each own the whole and on the death of one their interest is extinguished with the other owning the whole under the doctrine of survivorship) or as equitable tenants in common, meaning that they own defined shares. The contract to sell the property to C will almost certainly involve a transfer of the legal as well as the beneficial interest. Where trustees are appointed it is axiomatic

A section 45 notice under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 must be given by the landlord. Unlike a section 42 notice, it does not need to be signed by the landlord, but it still must be given by the landlord or on

We refer you to Practice Note: Property boundaries and, in particular, the section headed

Section 23 of the Land Registration Act 2002 (LRA 2002) states that: • owner’s powers in relation to a registered estate consist of: ◦ power to make a disposition of any kind permitted by the general law in relation to an interest of that description, other than a mortgage by demise or sub-demise, and ◦ power to charge the estate at law with the payment of money On the face of it, therefore very wide powers are given, but it is apparent that they are subject to the limitation as to the ability to grant charges over the land. It was possible to grant a mortgage

We have assumed that: • A and B have the requisite capacity under English law to enter into the declaration • the laws of the state in which the property is situated do not prohibit A and B from entering into the declaration We do not have any information on whether HMRC would accept a declaration of trust over foreign property as contemplated by the question. However, we refer you to Q&A: To what extent will English law recognise and enforce in England a trust holding only foreign property, if both the trustee

It is likely in this type of scenario that the grounds for relief would be mistake or misrepresentation rather than breach of contract. In terms of remedies, rescission ab initio (where the contract is treated as if it never