This Practice Note provides a summary of the steps taken by the UK, the EU and the G20 towards transparency and highlights issues that may be of particular interest to Private Client practitioners and trustees. For guidance on the due diligence requirements imposed on Private Client practitioners or their law firms, see Practice Compliance content, including: Client due diligence—law firms—overview. Global developments towards beneficial ownership transparency In 2014, the G20 agreed high-level principles on beneficial ownership transparency. In March 2015, the UK government introduced legislation which requires a UK entity to keep a register of people who have significant control (PSC) over the entity from April 2016. A public register of PSCs (the PSC Register) became operational on 30 June 2016. In May 2015, the EU adopted the Fourth Money Laundering Directive (4MLD), which imposes a requirement to store beneficial ownership information in a central register. 4MLD was amended and extended by 5MLD, which was published in the EU official journal on 19 June 2018 and came into force on 9 July 2018. For more

Private Client analysis: This was an application under section 71(3) of the Solicitors Act 1974 (SA 1974) by a beneficiary of an estate seeking an assessment of bills rendered by solicitors to the estate’s executor. It centred around three issues. First, whether the solicitors were restrained by their duties to the executor from disclosing documents covered by legal advice privilege (and if so whether this precluded an assessment). Secondly, whether the principles applicable to assessments under SA 1974, s 71(1) should be applied (and if so whether this justified refusing an assessment). Thirdly, the importance of delay to the discretion to order or refuse an assessment. The court decided all of these issues in favour of the beneficiary. Written by Francis Ng, barrister at 5 Stone Buildings.

The basic position Beneficiaries of a deceased individual’s estate naturally want to know that the estate is being effectively administered by the personal representatives (PRs) and usually will wish to receive their entitlements under the Will or intestacy as soon as possible. Executor’s year Section 44 of the Administration of Estates Act 1925 (AEA 1925) gives executors and administrators one year from the date of death before beneficiaries can call on them to distribute any part of the estate. There may be circumstances in which the PRs will not be in a position to distribute the estate for significantly longer than this executor’s year and are able to justify the delay. Rights of beneficiaries during the administration While the estate is being administered, the ownership of the deceased’s unadministered assets lies with the PRs for the purposes of administration, without any distinction between legal and equitable interests. No beneficiary in the meantime, whether under the deceased’s Will or intestacy, has any proprietary interest in any particular asset comprised in the unadministered estate. The beneficiary’s

A person who has a interest'>beneficial interest in property under a trust.

Personal representatives' role The role of a personal representative (PR) (being an executor or administrator) is to administer the deceased’s estate. A PR owes a duty to get and collect in the deceased’s real and personal estate and administer it according to the law, which means that they must collect in the deceased’s assets, settle the deceased’s outstanding liabilities and distribute the balance of the estate (after deduction of all taxes and administration expenses) in accordance with the terms of the Will or intestacy rules (or court order where it has determined a dispute). See: section 25 of the Administration of Estates Act 1925. Authority to administer an estate in England and Wales depends on a grant

An individual who is eligible to receive benefits from the scheme, ie a person entitled to benefit under a pension scheme or who will become entitled on the happening of a specified event.

Beneficiary details in the Estate of the late [name of deceased] Full name of Beneficiary Address of Beneficiary Relationship to [name of deceased] Contact

This is a defined event or occurrence that triggers a test of a member’s benefits against the available lifetime allowance.

ARCHIVED: This archived Practice Note provides information on the different benefit crystallisation events (BCEs) in operation before their removal on 6 April 2024, including their interaction with the lifetime allowance (also abolished on 6 April 2024), the effective date of a BCE, how crystallised amounts were calculated for each BCE and applicable reporting requirements. This Practice Note is not maintained. For further information, see Practice Note: Abolition of the lifetime allowance. What was a benefit crystallisation event? Until 5 April 2024, the amount of pension savings across an individual’s registered pension schemes was capped by the lifetime allowance. The lifetime allowance was abolished with effect from 6 April 2024. For further information, see Practice Note: Abolition of the lifetime allowance Benefit crystallisation events (BCEs) were intrinsically linked with the lifetime allowance because they were the events that triggered a lifetime allowance test, ie a test to determine how much of the lifetime allowance was used up by the BCE and whether an individual's lifetime allowance was exceeded. To carry out that test,

A taxable non-monetary benefit provide by an employer to an employee or by a company to a director or shadow director.

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note describes the state benefits that may be available to older clients and explains the means testing in relation to income and capital. It also considers the principles governing deprivation of income and capital both in the context of social security benefits and local authority charging for care under the Care Act 2014. Benefits for older clients fall into three categories: • Contributory benefits-these depend on sufficient National Insurance Contributions(NIC) • Non—contributory, non means—tested benefits—dependent on status such as age or disability • Means-tested benefits—these depend on the claimant’s income and capital Relevant Benefits Pension and pension related benefits • New State Pension • Graduated Retirement Benefit(historic entitlement) • Guaranteed Minimum pension—contracted out rights • Pension Credit—guarantee credit and saving credit • War pensions—where applicable Disability—related benefits • Attendance Allowance • Personal Independence Payment(for those below State Pension age) • Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit Means-tested benefits • Pension Credit • Housing Benefit—for claimants over the State Pension age • Council Tax reduction • Universal Credit- working age claimants and some mixed age couples • Income-related

Parties to a 'construction contract' have the right to refer any dispute that has crystallised to adjudication at any time. For more information, see Practice Notes: • The right to adjudicate • Adjudication—is there a ‘dispute’? • What is a construction contract under the HGCRA 1996? If the right to adjudicate exists, a party should next consider whether adjudication would be a practical way of resolving it. There is a statutory 28–day timetable for adjudication, which may make it unsuitable for large or highly complex claims. This constraint can be overcome to an extent by the parties agreeing to extend the time in which the decision must be reached, or by the referring party dividing the claim into more than one adjudication. Nonetheless, if the claim cannot be fairly determined in the limited period that adjudication allows, it may not be the right approach. Assuming a party has a right to commence an adjudication and the dispute is capable of resolution by adjudication, what are the main benefits and risks when compared to litigation