Maryam is a wealthy businesswoman who has 4 children. Maryam's four children are Kelvin (32), John (23), Ella (18) and Joanna (13). She had several assets which include -
Two 4-bedroom detached houses at 10 Sheffield Road, Leeds, and 13 Bank Street, Leeds both valued at £250,000 each.

100, 000 ordinary shares in Asda Plc.

20,000 premium shares and 20,000 ordinary shares in United Carpets Plc

2 Land Rover Discovery Cars.

£3,500,000 cash in Barclays Bank Plc.

Maryam currently lives with her husband, Abel Smith, who has 2 children from a previous marriage - Olivia (13) and Francis (12).
Maryam created a trust over her assets which contained the following clauses -
I give one of my 4-bedroom houses in Leeds and 30,000 shares in United Carpets to Abel Smith to hold on behalf of our offspring.

I give 80,000 shares in Asda Plc to Abel Smith confident that he will manage it dutifully for his children when they turn 18.

I give £2,000,000 in Barclays bank to my sister, Gina, to hold for Abel Smith for life and the remainder to my children.

I give one of my Land Rover cars to Gina to hold for any of my family members as she may deem fit.

Abel and Gina shall not be liable to the beneficiaries of any trust created herein for any loss arising from their management of the property but shall be entitled to compensation for their work and expenses.

Maryam died in March 2018. Before she died, Maryam gave two land transfer forms for her two houses in Leeds to Abel which she had completed and signed but did not send to the land registry. She asked Abel to help her file them at the land registry. Maryam completed share transfer forms for her shares in Asda Plc and United Carpets, both of which she posted to the respective companies. However, when Asda received the transfer form, it discovered that Maryam' signature was not legible on the document and therefore returned it to her, but she had died before she received the form. The share transfer form to United Carpets was legibly signed but before the company received the form, its Board of Directors had passed a resolution declaring that share transfer forms can only be registered physically by the transferor. Maryam' form was, therefore, declined and returned back to her. Unfortunately, she was dead already at this point.

Before she died, Maryam had also scheduled a bank transfer of £2,000,000 from Barclays bank to Gina to be effected in December 2018 and which Gina duly received. Maryam never told Gina where the keys to her two land rovers were kept, but Gina discovered the keys in Maryam' drawer after her burial and took possession of them.
Following Maryam' death, Gina and Abel have begun managing the various assets given to them, but various issues have arisen.

Abel rented out 10 Sheffield Road to students in 2020 and has been receiving £24,000 annually which he has been depositing in his bank account. In February 2023, the bank decided to award him 19% interest on the balance in his account. Two of Maryam' children - Ella and Joanna, are amongst the students living in the property but have been exempted from paying rent based on an agreement they reached with Abel which allowed him to keep the rent from the property if he allowed them to live rent free. The other two children, Kelvin and John were not aware of this arrangement and were upset by it when they found out the money Abel had been making from the property. Abel's wife, Jennifer, is the estate agent who has been assisting Abel with managing the property, collecting the rents and depositing in Abel's personal bank account.

Abel's children, Olivia and Francis, are currently in college and are struggling to cope with the financial demands of their studies. They have asked Abel to help them out with some monthly allowances from the shares he is managing, but Abel believes that he cannot help them as the asset is not cash and they are not yet 18 as stipulated in the trust clause, so there's nothing he can do to help them.

Abel has approached Gina to help him with £50,000 from the money given to her to enable him set up a lucrative oil and gas consulting firm, but Maryam' children are objecting to his request and demanding that Gina shares the money five ways between Abel and the four of them instead so everyone can take their share and use for their respective purposes. Gina is confused on what to do.

Meanwhile, Gina has given one of the Land Rovers with her to her boyfriend, Fred, to use for his daily commute. Fred, however, sold the Land Rover to his colleague at work, Albert for £50,000 which he then deposited in his bank account and used it to purchase gold currently worth £85,000.

Gina is cash-strapped and has now listed the other land rover on eBay for £55,000 and the bidding for the Land Rover closes on 31st March after which it would be sold to the highest bidder. Maryam and Abel's children have discovered this eBay auction and are worried about what to do, as they have learned that she intends to use the money to pay off her mortgage and cover her household costs.

Abel has sent a bill to Maryam's children containing the following -

£400 travel expenses to London to meet with the registrar of the companies to regularise the transfer of the shares.

£250 hotel expenses in London

£350 parking charges incurred in London on his trip

£800 estate agent's fees for 10 Sheffield Road

£2000 professional fees.

Maryam and Abel's children are aggrieved by the management of the property and want to change the management of the trust or replace them with new persons. Alternatively, they want all the trust assets to be shared between them so they can go their separate ways.

Advise the parties on the following -

1) The validity of the four trusts created in Maryam' will.

2) Any remedies the beneficiaries may have against relevant parties for the proceeds of the rent of 10 Sheffield Road, Leed.

3) What (if any) Abel can do to help his children with their college expenses?

4) Abel's request to Gina and the request by Maryam and Abel's children about distributing the property.

5) The Land Rover given to Fred by Gina and her intended auction of the other Land Rover.

6) The validity of the bill sent to the beneficiaries by Abel.

7) What Abel and Maryam's children can do about their grievance with the management of the trust.

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

1 Validity of the Trusts The trusts created in Maryams will may be valid Trusts are generally valid if they meet essential elements such as intention capacity certainty and valid trust property The tr... View the full answer