Jemma Alizade & Ors v Martin Kudlick
[2023] EWHC 1082 (Ch)
Claire Henchley & Ors v Patricia Thompson CBE & Anor
26 March 2024
[2024] EWHC 607 (Ch)
High Court
A family fought for years over how a trust's money was handled. The judge said the family's complaints didn't follow the rules, and approved the trust's account of what happened to the money.
Key Facts
- •The WCC Henchley Trust, settled in 1960, was the subject of a claim for an account after decades of inaction.
- •Patricia Thompson, executrix of the deceased trustee David Thompson, sought court approval of an updated account.
- •The Claimants, beneficiaries of the trust, opposed the application, raising various concerns about the trust's management.
- •The case spanned eight years and involved extensive documentary evidence, including thousands of pages of financial records.
- •The Claimants' objections to the updated account were found to be largely non-compliant with court orders and procedural rules.
Legal Principles
The court has jurisdiction to examine a trustee's accounts and settle or approve them when beneficiaries fail to do so.
Chadwick v Heatley (1845) 2 Coll 137
In an account in common form, beneficiaries must falsify the account to show the position before a breach of trust, as opposed to breaches of trust through omission.
Lewin On Trusts 20th Edition [41-003], [41-004-006], [41-048-050]
The court may not need documentary evidence for every item in an account but can approach the evidential burden according to the facts.
Exsus Travel Limited and Ors v James Turner and Anr [2014] EWCA Civ 1331 [21-25], [42], [46-48], [58]
The procedure for objecting to an account is governed by CPR PD 40A, requiring specificity and grounds for objections.
CPR PD 40A 3.1, 3.2, 3.3
Outcomes
The Claimants' objections to the Updated Account were dismissed.
The objections were largely non-compliant with court orders and CPR PD 40A, including raising new points without permission, failing to provide proper quantification, and making impermissible attempts to surcharge the account.
The Updated Account was approved and settled.
The court found the Updated Account to be prepared as thoroughly as possible given the circumstances, relying on extensive contemporaneous documentation and expert accounting work. The Claimants' objections failed to provide sufficient grounds to overturn the account.
The balance of the Claimants' claim was dismissed.
The court found the Claimants' persistent non-compliance with court orders and procedural rules, including raising numerous new points after deadlines, made further consideration disproportionate.