HEEELLLLPPP with equity and trusts problem questions pleaseeeeee
Ezekiel Blaster, a Labour MP, made a will in 2012 in clause (a) of which he left “Cloudy Mansions”, a block of flats worth £6.7m, which he owned, “to George Simpkins and Eric McNulty [two fellow MPs] to hold the property upon the terms which I have communicated or shall communicate to them”. There were also three other legacies in the will as follows:
(b) All my landed estates in Lancashire and the property thereon and contents
thereof for such order of nuns, monks and teaching orders of the Roman Catholic
Church as my executors and trustees in their sole and absolute discretion shall
select.
(c) I give the sum of £750,000 to the ‘Old Lunecasters’ Club’, London, to be utilised as the Committee of the Club should think best in the interests of the club.
(the club is an unincorporated association)
(d) £5 million for the upkeep of my horses for their lives and any of their offspring
until such time as a good home is found for them.
The residue of his estate was left to Jenny and David, his (adult) children by his second wife Katherine (now deceased), who were also made the executors and trustees of his estate.
In January 2013, Ezekiel told George that he wanted him to hold the property on trust for Mistress Xena, a professional dominatrix whose services Ezekiel had regularly used for the past ten years. George agreed, but in March 2013, after hearing a speech on family virtues by the leader of the opposition in Parliament, he wrote to Ezekiel and told him that he was now converted to the importance of the family, and would be prepared to act as trustee for a widow, but not for a mistress. In July 2013 Ezekiel secretly married Xena, and then remade his will in identical terms; Xena was one of three witnesses to the will. In September 2013, Ezekiel for the first time told Eric of his desire that Eric should hold “Cloudy Mansions” for Xena. Eric immediately responded that he believed Xena to be immoral and would never do anything to benefit her. On hearing this Ezekiel had a stroke and immediately died. Following Ezekiel’s death, George was informed of the marriage between Ezekiel and Xena.
In June 2013 Ezekiel had also:
(i) Given Xena authority to draw on his bank and building society accounts and wrote a memorandum for her telling her that from now on these "belonged to both of them equally, so that when he died they would belong to her".
(ii) Executed a share transfer of 2500 of his shares in Blaster Imperial Ltd., a private family company, to Xena, and a transfer of the title to his house (title to which is registered) into joint names with Xena. He handed both of these to his solicitor Bill Sleepy for transmission to the company secretary in the case of the shares and the Land Registry in the case of the house.
(iii) He also wrote to the Gigantica Assurance Co. plc. requesting them to change
the nominated beneficiary on his life insurance from Jenny and David to Xena.
Bill Sleepy misfiled and forgot about the share and land transfers. Gigantica Assurance filed Ezekiel's letter, but owing to a clerical error did not amend the policy schedule or return to Ezekiel the form which, under their rules, was required to change the nominee.
Advise the executors and trustees (Jenny and David) as to the validity of the clauses in (b)-(d) inclusive.
And
Advise Xena whether she can enforce the trust against George and Eric and the executors, and as to her rights, if any, in relation to the assets in (i) to (iii) above.
(b) All my landed estates in Lancashire and the property thereon and contents
thereof for such order of nuns, monks and teaching orders of the Roman Catholic
Church as my executors and trustees in their sole and absolute discretion shall
select.
(c) I give the sum of £750,000 to the ‘Old Lunecasters’ Club’, London, to be utilised as the Committee of the Club should think best in the interests of the club.
(the club is an unincorporated association)
(d) £5 million for the upkeep of my horses for their lives and any of their offspring
until such time as a good home is found for them.
The residue of his estate was left to Jenny and David, his (adult) children by his second wife Katherine (now deceased), who were also made the executors and trustees of his estate.
In January 2013, Ezekiel told George that he wanted him to hold the property on trust for Mistress Xena, a professional dominatrix whose services Ezekiel had regularly used for the past ten years. George agreed, but in March 2013, after hearing a speech on family virtues by the leader of the opposition in Parliament, he wrote to Ezekiel and told him that he was now converted to the importance of the family, and would be prepared to act as trustee for a widow, but not for a mistress. In July 2013 Ezekiel secretly married Xena, and then remade his will in identical terms; Xena was one of three witnesses to the will. In September 2013, Ezekiel for the first time told Eric of his desire that Eric should hold “Cloudy Mansions” for Xena. Eric immediately responded that he believed Xena to be immoral and would never do anything to benefit her. On hearing this Ezekiel had a stroke and immediately died. Following Ezekiel’s death, George was informed of the marriage between Ezekiel and Xena.
In June 2013 Ezekiel had also:
(i) Given Xena authority to draw on his bank and building society accounts and wrote a memorandum for her telling her that from now on these "belonged to both of them equally, so that when he died they would belong to her".
(ii) Executed a share transfer of 2500 of his shares in Blaster Imperial Ltd., a private family company, to Xena, and a transfer of the title to his house (title to which is registered) into joint names with Xena. He handed both of these to his solicitor Bill Sleepy for transmission to the company secretary in the case of the shares and the Land Registry in the case of the house.
(iii) He also wrote to the Gigantica Assurance Co. plc. requesting them to change
the nominated beneficiary on his life insurance from Jenny and David to Xena.
Bill Sleepy misfiled and forgot about the share and land transfers. Gigantica Assurance filed Ezekiel's letter, but owing to a clerical error did not amend the policy schedule or return to Ezekiel the form which, under their rules, was required to change the nominee.
Advise the executors and trustees (Jenny and David) as to the validity of the clauses in (b)-(d) inclusive.
And
Advise Xena whether she can enforce the trust against George and Eric and the executors, and as to her rights, if any, in relation to the assets in (i) to (iii) above.
They are related to the incomplete constitution of private express trusts and their associated formalities.
Transfer of shares and land are governed by special formalities (s.53(1)(b) LPA 1925 for land / Stock Transfer Act 1963 for shares)
No (iii) relates to a disposition of equitable interest under s.53(1)(c) LPA 1925 - the leading case is Vandervell (No.2)
Transfer of shares and land are governed by special formalities (s.53(1)(b) LPA 1925 for land / Stock Transfer Act 1963 for shares)
No (iii) relates to a disposition of equitable interest under s.53(1)(c) LPA 1925 - the leading case is Vandervell (No.2)
Original post by Mulligrubs
They are related to the incomplete constitution of private express trusts and their associated formalities.
Transfer of shares and land are governed by special formalities (s.53(1)(b) LPA 1925 for land / Stock Transfer Act 1963 for shares)
No (iii) relates to a disposition of equitable interest under s.53(1)(c) LPA 1925 - the leading case is Vandervell (No.2)
Transfer of shares and land are governed by special formalities (s.53(1)(b) LPA 1925 for land / Stock Transfer Act 1963 for shares)
No (iii) relates to a disposition of equitable interest under s.53(1)(c) LPA 1925 - the leading case is Vandervell (No.2)
i thought number ii was the vanderville case
He also wrote to the Gigantica Assurance Co. plc. requesting them to change
the nominated beneficiary on his life insurance from Jenny and David to Xena- how is this equitable disposition?
What is number i)?
(edited 9 years ago)
(i) see the ruling in Paul v Constance - This looks to be the only option
(ii) it could be that but the section after says that both transfers were not completed which leads me to believe that it is more related to the failure in following statutory formalities for land and stocks
(iii) on closer inspection this isn't equitable disposition as it is not held on resulting trust for himself (my error), in which case it is likely to do with reneging on the trust. This is a poorly worded question because life insurance policies are quite specific and you cannot change beneficiaries unless that person was already named as a potential beneficiary when taking out the policy. So, I assume that the question is asking you to discuss this, bearing in mind that Jenny and David can sue for breach of contract (or under Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999).
This is a horrible question, I don't envy you.
(ii) it could be that but the section after says that both transfers were not completed which leads me to believe that it is more related to the failure in following statutory formalities for land and stocks
(iii) on closer inspection this isn't equitable disposition as it is not held on resulting trust for himself (my error), in which case it is likely to do with reneging on the trust. This is a poorly worded question because life insurance policies are quite specific and you cannot change beneficiaries unless that person was already named as a potential beneficiary when taking out the policy. So, I assume that the question is asking you to discuss this, bearing in mind that Jenny and David can sue for breach of contract (or under Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999).
This is a horrible question, I don't envy you.
Ok, so I've had to have a look at equitable disposition to refresh my memory (it's been a while). It is not equitable disposition in respect of the decision in Vandervell No.2 as that was to do with creating a new trust which ends a resulting trust. However, a beneficiary can still ask a trustee to change the beneficiary and whether or not it needs to conform to s.53(1)(c) LPA 1925 depends on the facts.
It needs to be done in writing and if you research equitable disposition you will find numerous case law that you can support your answer. Vandervell v IRC I think is the correct one so you need to read the decision in this.
The problem with the question is that life insurance policies do not work the same as express trusts which is why, whoever wrote it, has caused some confusion. However, I don't know what your level of study is but I'd imagine that this is not important for the purposes of you answering it. Just go along with equitable disposition and do some research around it.
It needs to be done in writing and if you research equitable disposition you will find numerous case law that you can support your answer. Vandervell v IRC I think is the correct one so you need to read the decision in this.
The problem with the question is that life insurance policies do not work the same as express trusts which is why, whoever wrote it, has caused some confusion. However, I don't know what your level of study is but I'd imagine that this is not important for the purposes of you answering it. Just go along with equitable disposition and do some research around it.
That should read "A settlor can still ask a trustee to change the beneficiary..."
Original post by Mulligrubs
Ok, so I've had to have a look at equitable disposition to refresh my memory (it's been a while). It is not equitable disposition in respect of the decision in Vandervell No.2 as that was to do with creating a new trust which ends a resulting trust. However, a beneficiary can still ask a trustee to change the beneficiary and whether or not it needs to conform to s.53(1)(c) LPA 1925 depends on the facts.
It needs to be done in writing and if you research equitable disposition you will find numerous case law that you can support your answer. Vandervell v IRC I think is the correct one so you need to read the decision in this.
The problem with the question is that life insurance policies do not work the same as express trusts which is why, whoever wrote it, has caused some confusion. However, I don't know what your level of study is but I'd imagine that this is not important for the purposes of you answering it. Just go along with equitable disposition and do some research around it.
It needs to be done in writing and if you research equitable disposition you will find numerous case law that you can support your answer. Vandervell v IRC I think is the correct one so you need to read the decision in this.
The problem with the question is that life insurance policies do not work the same as express trusts which is why, whoever wrote it, has caused some confusion. However, I don't know what your level of study is but I'd imagine that this is not important for the purposes of you answering it. Just go along with equitable disposition and do some research around it.
is this in relation to ii) or iii)
What do we think as to whether Xena can enforce the trust against George and Eric and the executors?
hi guys i happened to be given the same question to answer as a CW but i am struggling as well, i read your answers but i am not sure that i understand if its not too much of a pain can someone list which topics are the issues from and the issues as well and the relevant solutions with the case they come from ?
I would really appreciate some help please xxx
I would really appreciate some help please xxx
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