The availability of Beddoe relief in trust disputes—Lines v Wilcox [2019] EWHC 1451

An examination and discussion of the recent decision of the High Court (His Honour Judge Matthews) in Lines v Wilcox [2019] EWHC 1451 (Ch), concerning the availability of Beddoe relief in the context of proceedings involving trusts and estates. The fact pattern will be familiar to any practitioner in this field, and the decision is therefore of wide application. Specifically, the article considers the decision of the High Court to refuse Beddoe relief to an administrator of an estate who sought permission to prosecute a claim to set aside an inter vivos transfer of property made by the deceased in favour of a beneficiary named in her will.

Old age support in kind

It has been argued whether a transfer policy for elderly people should be in kind or in cash. This paper presents a rationale to answer the question in an endogenous growth model with a two-way intrafamily transfer in middle age, education for the child as an inter-vivos transfer, and informal parental care in exchange for a bequest. We have two analytical results. First, a transfer in cash, such as a public pension, prevents economic growth because a strategic behavior concerning caregiving generates a disincentive effect on education. Second, a transfer in kind, such as public formal care, promotes economic growth because the valuation of the service generates an additional benefit of education, which dominates the disincentive effect. Our results show that old age support should be in kind rather than in cash in the context of economic growth and also welfare if bequests are strategic.

Tax Planning for Dispositions of Depreciable Property at Death

Tax planning for the death of taxpayer must depend on the ultimate cost, determined by such factors as marginal rates of the parties, income averaging annuity contracts, and amount of accelerating tax payable with an inter vivos transfer. These tax factors must be considered before the appropriate better" or "cheaper" tax plan can be achieved.