The assets of the A Trust comfortably exceed £5m, and those of the B Trust comfortably exceed £2.5m. It has since been agreed in a draft settlement agreement that the sum of £7.5m will be paid as to £5m from the A Trust and £2.5m from the B Trust. However, there was no agreement as to how the figure would be divided as between the Trusts or how much would go to each estate.
The proceedings have not been heard due to repeated stays of the proceedings in the hope that the matter could be settled by mediation or otherwise.Ī proposed settlement provides that the sum of £7.5m inclusive of costs would be paid by the Trusts to the estates of the settlors. Penelope Reed QC provided an opinion that concluded that, on balance, a court would be inclined to find that Mr H did have the necessary capacity to settle the assets into the Trusts.Īs the siblings did not waive their claims, the trustee sought a declaration that all of the assets in the Trusts had been properly settled.Ĭounsel was appointed for the minor and unborn beneficiaries. Accordingly, the beneficiaries of the Trusts are now the same except that that the spouses of the siblings and remoter issue of the settlors are not beneficiaries of the A Trust.ĭuring the course of the application to widen the class of beneficiaries of the A Trust referred to above, the siblings raised the possibility that some of the assets of the A Trust were not validly settled due to Mr H’s lack of mental capacity. In 2012 the Royal Court of Jersdey approved the trustee’s decision to add the settlors’ remoter issue as beneficiaries of A Trust ( In the matter of A Trust). These were initially in favour of charities generally but following the death of the last surviving settlor, the siblings were added as beneficiaries. Following the death of the survivor, there are discretionary trusts. The A Trust was established on 12 th December, 1996, and is governed by Jersey law. The beneficiaries are settlors’ children and remoter issue o together with their spouses. The B Trust, which is a discretionary trust, was established on 11 th December, 1996, and is governed by the law of Guernsey. The settlors have four children (the siblings). The Trusts were established by Mr and Mrs H as settlors when they were living in Guernsey.
The name derives from the 1902 Chancery case Re Benjamin.Ī more recent consideration arose in a n application in respect of two settlements known respectively as the A Trust and the B Trust (the Trusts). Where this is the case the beneficiary can still trace the trust property. The purpose of the order is so that the personal representatives are protected from being sued if the beneficiary is in fact alive and entitled. The order authorises the personal representatives of the deceased to distribute the property on the basis that the beneficiary is dead (or on some other basis). A Benjamin order is an order made by the court for the distribution of assets on death when it is uncertain whether or not a beneficiary is alive.
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