Trusts in Crisis Guernsey Webinar Series

Part one

Find below the first in a new series of webinars from Christopher Edwards, Jeremy Wessels and Matthew Guthrie, who will examine the various types of crisis that trusts and trustees can face.

The first session reviews the following scenarios:

• How to manage a situation where a settlor, beneficiary or other office holder loses capacity or, even worse, where it is unclear whether they have or have not lost capacity, such as where they start behaving erratically or irrationally

• Topically, how to manage liquidity issues and the legal risks that may arise if the trust fund suddenly drops in value. We will also consider lending within a trust, and between related trusts, as well as the conflicts which this can give rise to and how they can best be managed

Part two

In the second 'Trust in Crisis' webinar Christopher Edwards, Jeremy Wessels and Matthew Guthrie provided practical guidance on the following scenarios which trustees may face:

• How to respond when allegations or money laundering are made against trust assets. As well as highlighting the additional actions required, he will analyse the use of recovery methods such as UWOs and confiscation orders, and provide practical guidance on how fiduciaries can protect their clients' interests, and their own, without getting caught in the middle.

• How trustees should deal with requests for information from beneficiaries and others in the case of beneficiary divorce proceedings, and whether trustees should submit to the jurisdiction of a foreign divorce court.

• How to address the problems that arise where there is a dispute as to the validity of appointments and removals of trustees and other fiduciaries such as protectors and what can be done to prepare for these issues before any dispute arises and then what can be done once there is a dispute.

Part three

In the third 'Trust in Crisis' webinar Christopher Edwards and Jeremy Wessels shared their expert knowledge on forced heirship principles, attempts to 'Pierce the Veil' and how to tackle claims that a trust is a sham.

We were joined by guests in our Guernsey office and from around the world as our we hosted Mourant's final Guernsey Trusts in Crisis event.