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Personal Representatives of a deceased's estate and Trustees
of a trust can apply to the Court for directions under Part
64 of the Civil Procedure Rules. The Court upon such an application
can determine any questions arising in the administration
of a deceased's estate or the execution of a trust.
Typical applications
Examples of the type of directions sought from the Court include:
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Directions allowing Trustees to defend or
pursue litigation at the expense of the Trust; Click
here for the information sheet on Beddoe applications; |
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Declarations with regard to the administration
of an estate or execution of a trust, for example, a declaration
as to whether distributions can be made whilst claims
are pending against the estate or trust or directions
in relation to disclosure of documentation to beneficiaries; |
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Directions in relation to particular transactions
in the administration of the estate or execution of the
trust. |
How to make the application
An application under Part 64 is made by way of a Part 8 claim
form and supporting witness statement.
Parties
All the Personal Representatives of an estate or Trustees
of a trust will be parties to the proceedings. If a particular
Personal Representative or Trustee does not consent to be
joined as a claimant to the proceedings then he / she must
be joined as a defendant.
In addition any person with an interest in or claim against
the estate, or an interest under a trust may be made parties
to the proceedings, for example, the beneficiaries.
Evidence
The witness statement in support should include the following:
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full disclosure of all relevant matters;
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the advice of an appropriately qualified
lawyer as to the prospect or success and costs estimates
of the proposed proceedings (if the application is for
a direction as to whether to defend or pursue proceedings);
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evidence of the trust assets |
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the significance of any proposed litigation;
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why the Court's directions are needed; |
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what, if any, consultation there has been
with the beneficiaries. |
Hearing of the application
The Court will always consider whether it is possible to deal
with the application on paper without a hearing and Personal
Representatives or Trustees must always consider whether a
hearing is considered necessary. If it is, then the reasons
for a hearing must be included in the supporting evidence.
This note is intended to provide general information and
is not intended to be comprehensive nor to provide specific
legal advice and should not be acted or relied upon as doing
so. For further information, please contact any member of
the Trusts & Fiduciary Disputes Team.
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