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Conduct Cases in Financial Remedy Proceedings: A Plea for Specificity Towards a Streamlined Tomorrow for Our Clients, Our Courts, and Ourselves

Date: 01/12/2023 Type: Articles Topic: Private Client | Investment and HNWI’s |
Author: Amelia Montgomery

It feels, at least anecdotally to this practitioner, that identification of abusive conduct is becoming more common. Perhaps it’s not just me - the Law Commission is researching the operation of conduct in respect to FRP in their scoping document due September 2024^{^[1]}. Even the Government has declared its recent intention to focus on domestic abusers in their proposed sentencing reform legislation^{^[2]}. Outside FRP, domestic violence injunctions have increased greatly since the Pandemic, leading to judges recently re-stating the strict thresholds in ex parte injunctions^{^[3]}.

^{^[1]} Read the terms of reference for the project here: https://s3-eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/cloud-platform-e218f50a4812967ba1215eaecede923f/uploads/sites/30/2023/04/Terms-of-Reference-Financial-remedies.pdf

^{^[2]} https://www.gov.uk/government/news/victims-to-be-protected-through-sentencing-reforms

^{^[3]} “There can be no doubt that far too many such applications are made where there is no reasonable basis to grant the application without notice.. (para 24)... “such an order is only appropriate where there is significant risk of immediate harm (para 25)”. DS v. AC [2023] EWFC 46

Advising Non-Doms in Tax Disputes: Why Tina Turner Was Right

Date: 01/12/2023 Type: Articles Topic: Private Client | Investment and HNWI’s |
Author: Craig Thomson - CSM Tax Consulting

The ‘non-dom’ tax regime is one of the attractions of London as a global wealth hub. In recent years however, being a ‘non-dom’ has been seen as akin to not paying your ‘fair share’ of tax. In the writer’s view, provided that people have done their best to comply with the law, such criticism is entirely misplaced. However, politicians have bracketed non-dom status with tax avoidance, trading assertions on whether the non-dom regime aligns with the UK’s economic goals, or attracts the ‘right kind’ of wealth to the UK.

The Ecclestone Case and the Potential Pitfalls of Tax Investigations

Date: 28/11/2023 Type: Articles Topic: Private Client | Investment and HNWI’s |
Author: Hugh Gunson - Charles Russell Speechlys

Readers will no doubt have seen the significant press coverage afforded to HMRC’s criminal prosecution of Bernie Ecclestone. High-profile criminal prosecutions of high net worth individuals (HNWIs) in relation to their tax affairs have been relatively rare in recent years in the UK. The sums involved are also eye-watering, with Mr Ecclestone reaching a settlement with HMRC involving the payment of over £650 million in tax, interest and penalties.

Are Executors Invincible?

Date: 28/11/2023 Type: Articles Topic: Private Client | Investment and HNWI’s |
Author: Judith Swinhoe-Standen - Stewarts

An executor of a will is appointed by the deceased to carry out their last wishes. Executors could therefore be forgiven for assuming that the logical extension of this is that beneficiaries should not interfere with them getting on with their job. After all, it is a fairly thankless task – most executors are not paid for their time and it can take months to administer even the smallest of estates.

Arbitration Gone Awry? Challenging Awards

Family law arbitration is currently experiencing a burst in popularity. Whilst it has been available for financial cases in England and Wales since 2012, and for children cases since 2016, its use became far more prevalent during the pandemic. Since then, seeing the numerous benefits, practitioners have gladly added it to their toolbox to try to help resolve matters efficiently and effectively for their clients. Arbitration allows proceedings to be ended in a timely and cost-efficient manner, with multiple issues able to be resolved in one forum. Given the current delay in the court system, and the associated costs this delay can generate, arbitration is becoming a popular alternative. This also means the number of reported cases involving arbitration is gradually increasing as well, resulting in helpful guidance for those making their first forays into this evolving area.