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Doctrine of merger does not apply to declaratory judgments

Nasir v Zavarco plc [2025] UKSC 5

Any lawyer who has issued proceedings which include a claim for declaratory relief will breathe a small sigh of relief following the Supreme Court’s decision in Nasir v Zavarco plc [2025] UKSC 5. In that judgment, the Supreme Court confirmed that the doctrine of merger does not apply to declaratory judgments. Surprisingly, there is no prior reported authority in English law on this point. The decision provides welcome clarification of the law.

From the Courts, Legal Practice

The application of the presumptions of due execution and revocation to missing wills

On 28 February 2025, the High Court handed down judgment in Packer v Packer (Re Estate of Stephen George Packer) [2025] EWHC 461 (Ch) following the trial of a probate claim which related to a missing will. The trial took place over three days and the court heard live evidence from the parties and their family members.

Wills and Estates, Construction and Validity
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IHT – When does the seven-year period start?

One of the most basic Inheritance Tax mitigation strategies is to make a Potentially Exempt Transfer  and to survive for seven years. It is generally well understood that if there is a reservation of benefit, the seven-year survival period will not start running until the reservation of benefit is removed.

Taxation, IHT

CGT Investors’ Relief

Briefing, CGT

Challenging the validity of a will

Wills and Estates, Family Issues
Briefing

A knotty problem of ordering ADR

In Halsey v Milton Keynes General NHS Trust [2004] EWCA Civ 576, the Court of Appeal appeared – controversially – to take the view that a court could not lawfully compel parties to a civil dispute to participate in an alternative dispute resolution process.

Briefing, From the Courts, Legal Practice

Untamed judicial discretion

The Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996 introduced pivotal substantive reforms to English land law, in particular ridding it of the outmoded concept of the trust for sale and replacing it with the trust of land.

Briefing, Wills and Estates, Real Estate, Taxation and Valuation, Legal Practice
Wills and Estates

Recoverability of success fees in 1975 Act claims

On 18 December 2024, the Supreme Court handed down its long-awaited decision in the matter of Hirachand v Hirachand and Another [2024] UKSC 43. The lower court’s decisions have been previously discussed in this publication.1

Wills and Estates, Legal Practice

Disclaimer of a gift

Practitioners in the field of contentious probate are accustomed to beneficiaries, or would-be beneficiaries, fighting tooth and nail for a share of an estate.

Wills and Estates, Family Issues
Trusts

Footing the bill: costs in trusts proceedings

When considering whether to bring proceedings in relation to a trust, a key question for practitioners and litigants is who might pay the costs. In particular, practitioners may be asked to advise whether the costs of the proceedings will be payable from the trust fund itself.

Trusts, Legal Practice

The basis of the “knowledge and approval” doctrine

For a will to be valid it is commonly said that there are four requirements: (1) the will must have been executed by the testator in accordance with the Wills Act 1837, section 9; (2) the testator must have had the necessary capacity to execute the will; (3) the testator must have been free of undue influence and fraud; and (4) the testator must have “known and approved” of the will. This article considers the fourth requirement, the need for knowledge and approval.

Taxation, Trusts
Taxation

Statutory residence test match special

The Statutory Residence Test set out at schedule 45 to the Finance Act 2013 is a series of rules for determining a taxpayer’s residence, replacing, from 6 April 2013, old common law rules.

Taxation, Reliefs

Rome, primroses and etymological chameleons

Turner’s “Rome, From Mount Aventine” (the “Painting”) was completed in 1835, the preliminary sketches having been made during his second trip to Rome in 1828. We are on the southernmost of the seven hills, looking north over Tiber Island at dawn.

Taxation, CGT
From the Courts

Two recent decisions on costs in 1975 Act claims

At the time of writing, the Supreme Court has not yet handed down judgment on the appeal of Hirachand v Hirachand [2021] EWCA Civ 1498 on the question of whether a conditional fee agreement (CFA) success fee is a debt which can legitimately be included in an award to a successful claimant under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975. In the meantime, two recent decisions of the High Court on costs in relation to the 1975 Act claims Jassal v Shah and Ramji v Harvey may be of interest to practitioners.

Family Issues, From the Courts

Set in stone? The subsequent variation of an express declaration of trust

The legal rules applying to ownership of a matrimonial home have been the subject of much jurisprudence as courts attempt to provide security to individual parties whilst updating legal principles alongside societal developments. These cases often involve the implications of family life, which require important policy considerations. This field is particularly interesting as it is governed by technical notions of equity and trusts, but the rules will impact almost all laypeople who need to understand the legal position.

Trusts, From the Courts
Real Estate

Equitable fraud?

Claims to a beneficial interest in property which is held in the sole name of the defendant are often brought on the basis of a common intention constructive trust.

Wills and Estates, Construction and Validity, Formalities and Amendment, Real Estate, Trusts, Trustee Powers, Duties and Management

The taxation of foreign domiciliaries from April 2025

It will be well known by most readers that it has been a key plank of Labour’s electoral campaign to abolish the link between domicile and UK taxation.

Taxation, IHT, CGT, Government Policy and the Budget, Legislative Changes, Wills and Estates, Real Estate