England & Wales
A Law
01 Can an asset protection trust live up to its
name? Discuss areas where such trusts can be effective and those
areas where they are vulnerable to attack in whole or in part.
02 You have been approached by married clients
who have heard of mutual wills and think that they will be suitable
for their circumstances. The clients recently married, are aged 60,
and both have adult children from previous marriages (he has one
child, she has 3). Their estates are more or less equal and total
£700,000. They want the survivor to enjoy the estate before
ensuring their own children inherit their parent’s share of the
wealth.
Explain the difficulties and advantages of mutual wills,
(including the form of any agreement), and advise them of
alternative approaches to their wills that might achieve their
objectives.
B Accounts & Admin
01 Your firm are the legal
advisers to the trustees of a newly created private discretionary
trust for the benefit of the settlor’s grandchildren and remoter
issue.
• The trustees, (the settlor and his brother),
want your advice on the way forward with the management of the
investments.
• The trust holds £500,000 cash and a holding currently worth
£800,000 of XYZ plc ordinary shares (a quoted company of which the
settlor is a director).
• The trustees do not expect to make capital distributions in the
foreseeable future, nor do they expect to release income for at
least the next 10 years.
• The deed does not contain an investment power.
Required: -
Prepare a report for your clients on their duties and
options.
N.B. this question requires your answer to be in
the form of a client report and written in appropriate
language.
02 Discuss the records that
trustees and executors should maintain.
a) Consider the purpose of maintaining these
records
b) In the context of accounts, also consider the
content and structure of any accounts and the level of detail they
should contain, with particular reference to any taxation
implications.
c) Consider who is entitled to examine all of
these records.
C Taxation
01 Discuss the ways trustees
might manage the UK tax burden of relevant property trusts, with
particular reference to income tax and IHT charges.
02 "If you are giving to
charity by Will, stick to fixed legacies. Never give a share
of residue – it just makes for trouble in administration and
difficult tax calculations."
Explain, by reference to decided cases and to
proposed changes to the Inheritance Tax regime, how far this
comment is justified. Your answer should include examples of
the tax computations that justify your own approach to the
issue.
D International Issues
01 (CBEG QP
Prize topic): You’re approached by a married
couple, both British citizens of Greek descent, who own a house in
an affluent area of London, which is their only residence and a
small IT business that makes an annual profit of around £1 million,
which is their main source of income. The wife has taken up
property development as a hobby and has one or two small properties
across the Southeast of England at any time, which she works on on
weekends and aims to sell within a year of purchase. The husband
has recently inherited some land in Northern Cyprus and the couple
would like to have new Wills to take this into account, naming
their son and two daughters as equal beneficiaries of their shared
property. Give a detailed analysis of the issues that a
conscientious will writer should take into account at each stage of
the will writing process, from taking instructions to delivery of
the completed documents.
02 Discuss the conflict of laws
in relation to single, double and total renvoi.