Legal updates

Lifecycle of a business: succession planning – Helena Luckhurst and Katie Mitchell in the Tax Journal

In the second article in a series considering the lifecycle of the business,  Helena Luckhurst and Katie Mitchell examine the succession planning issues that entrepreneurs should consider at both an early stage and throughout the lifecycle of their business.

Summertime and the livin’ is – not so – easy

What if you decide that marriage is not for you? What if remaining unmarried suits you best? The way that society has developed has meant that individuals may feel constrained to follow a standard template. Even Parliament has enacted laws, which incentivises its citizens to get married and therefore reap the benefits of being formally joined in matrimonial harmony. Progress remains slow for giving cohabitants’ rights that are on an equal footing to married couples and this issue is not particularly high on Parliament’s agenda. However, as more couples cohabit, there will be a greater need to ensure that they are protected.

Passport, Sun Cream, Parental Consent!!?

We are all focused on remembering the holiday essentials, but often overlooked (usually in the case of separated families) is asking for parental consent.

Cryptocurrency estate planning: lessons from QuadrigaCX

In a plot line worthy of a Dan Brown novel, the 30 year old CEO and founder of QuadrigaCX, Gerald Cotton, was reported as having died in India at the end of last year, seemingly having taken the passwords to the company’s cold storage wallets with him to his grave.

Is this the end of Opco/Propco structures in the hotel industry?

Opco/Propco structures have long been popular in the hotel sector. IHG, Accor and Hilton are just a few of the big names who have split Propcos from Opcos. Many smaller groups have also found it to be an attractive model. There are, of course, commercial reasons why many hotel owners have put these structures in […]

Brexit – “No deal”, no bread, no drugs, no treat-ies

Much of the law regulating family arrangements, Children Orders, Financial Orders, and indeed Divorces themselves are contained within EU law. If that ceases to apply it is important to consider, that urgent steps may need to be taken, or at least considered prior to the exit day.

Time to send the family wealth on a foreign holiday?

Taking your family wealth on a foreign holiday always sounds more glamorous than staying at home and doing a bit of housekeeping. Private Wealth partner, Helena Luckhurst encourages you to think about your assets.

Gifting millions under Lasting Power of Attorney: the JMA case

One of the less talked about implications of losing capacity in old age is that Inheritance Tax (IHT) planning often becomes impossible without court intervention.  Incapable wealthy family members cannot make gifts because they lack the capacity to authorise them.  Even if they have had the foresight to sign a Property & Financial Affairs Lasting […]

IHT relief and holiday homes: has the tide turned?

Confidence in claiming Inheritance Tax (IHT) Business Property Relief (BPR) in relation to holiday homes has been at a low ebb in recent years, following a string of cases that have ultimately gone against the taxpayer.  However, in the recent case of Graham v HMRC ([2018] UKFTT 0306 (TC)), the taxpayer was victorious.  Has this […]

Domicile dramas

Many advisers have to grapple with the sometimes difficult question of establishing their client’s domicile. A client’s domicile is fundamentally important in a diverse range of English legal and tax areas, such as whether: a client can bring divorce proceedings in the UK; a client is liable to UK Inheritance Tax on worldwide assets as […]