The investment powers and duties of bare trustees is something of a grey area. A bare trust exists where a trustee holds property for a beneficiary of full age and mental capacity. Strictly speaking, the trustee has no active duties other than to preserve the trust property and transfer the trust property to the beneficiary as they direct, although, in practice, the trustee may well be prepared to do much more than this, especially where the trustee is a close family member of the beneficiary. It is arguable that the duty to preserve the trust assets might require the trustee to take and act on investment advice in a situation where it was not possible to obtain instructions

In trust law terms, a reversionary interest is an interest that reverts back to the settlor of a trust once a beneficiary's interest has come to an end. There are a number of different types of reversionary interest capable of being granted and this Q&A focuses on one of the most common types, interests in leasehold land. The question arises, what can a beneficiary do when seeking to dispose of their beneficial interest: whether by way of selling it, borrowing against it or giving it away. In this particular scenario, the beneficiary seeks to assign their interest to a third party without terminating or varying the terms of the original trust. An equitable interest under a trust is

The law will not force a beneficiary to take a testamentary gift against their Will. A beneficiary is free to refuse a gift if they wish to do so. The refusal of a gift prior to acceptance

We are not able to provide advice on fact specific scenarios such as this. However, we would point you towards the following Practice Notes: • Variation of Will or intestacy after death • Variation of Will or intestacy after death—Q&As These Practice Notes set out the conditions that must be met for a disposition made by deed of variation to be treated for inheritance tax (IHT) purposes as if the new beneficiary had inherited the property which is the subject of the variation directly from the deceased. One of the key conditions that must be met for a variation to qualify for this

A gift by a Will to a beneficiary is not rendered invalid by the fact that the beneficiary attests a codicil to the Will, even though the codicil confirms the Will unless he also receives a benefit under the codicil. There is a benefit under the codicil

Discretionary objects of powers under a trust have limited rights. Although they may not have any rights in the trust assets, they have the right in personam to ensure that the trustees exercises their administrative and dispositive powers

Section 14 of Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996 (TOLATA 1996) deals with applications for orders. It provides that any person who is a trustee of land or has an interest in property subject to a trust of land may make an application to the court for an order under the section. On an application for an order the court may make any such order as it thinks fit– • relating to the exercise by the trustees of any of their functions (including an order relieving them of any obligation to obtain the consent of, or to consult, any person in connection with the exercise of any of their functions), or • declaring the nature or extent of a person’s interest in property to the trust TOLATA 1996, s 18 provides

See Practice Note: The meaning of ‘children’ in Private Client and Chapter 75 Adopted children: Williams on Wills. It is always as well to be aware of the effect of a gift to children in respect of the use of the term children. At common law, references to children were presumed to be references to legitimate children only and by definition, this excluded both illegitimate and adopted children. Legitimated children were also not included in the term. Matters

Where DNA test results have concluded that the father of a child is not their biological father, an application can be made for the register to be amended to reflect that the putative father is not the child’s biological father. Further guidance can be found on the government’s

If the father or partner is an employee within the meaning of the Employment Rights Act 1996, in order for them to be entitled to statutory shared parental pay (ShPP) they must be absent on shared parental leave (SPL) in respect of the child during any week that they are paid ShPP (Shared Parental Pay (General)

Detailed guidance on shared parental leave (SPL) and shared parental pay (ShPP) on birth can be found in Practice Notes: Shared parental leave (birth) and Shared parental pay (birth). SPL and ShPP are governed by two separate sets of legislation: • SPL is governed by section 75E of the Employment Rights Act 1996 and the Shared Parental Leave Regulations 2014, SI 2014/3050, and • ShPP is governed by Part XIIZC of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992 and the Statutory Shared Parental Pay (General) Regulations 2014, SI 2014/3051 In order for the father to be able to take SPL, various conditions must be met in relation to the mother. These include: • that she must be entitled to SML, SMP or maternity allowance • if she is entitled to SML, she must have ended her entitlement to SML by curtailing

What is a Royal Charter body? In answering this query we assume that Royal charter describes an honorary status, which may be granted to eminent professional bodies or charitable organisations which have a record of achievement and are deemed financially sound in the opinion of the Privy Council. See Practice Note: Royal Charters for further information. The royal charter will define the chartered body’s objectives, constitution and powers to govern its own affairs. The terms of each charter are different depending upon the purpose and requirement of the type of organisation being incorporated. Powers of a Royal Charter body That is an unregistered company An unregistered company is defined in regulation 2(a) of the Unregistered Companies Regulations 2009, SI 2009/2436 which mirrors section 1043(1) of the Companies Act 2006 (CA 2006), as: '...a body corporate incorporated in and having a principal place of business