No Remedy For Abuse

In 2022, our Director, Polina wrote an article (see copy below) for the STEP Journal summarising the decisions of the High Court and the Court of Appeal in the case of A, B and C v D, where children issued Family Protection Act proceedings against their father’s estate. The claim was complicated by the fact that their father shortly before his death, transferred most of his assets to a discretionary family trust of which the children were not beneficiaries.

The children argued that their father owned fiduciary duty to them which continued well into their adulthood due to the abuse suffered by them in their father's hands.

On 28 November 2024 the Supreme Court has issued its judgment, siding with the decision of the Court of Appeal. The court declined to recognise a fiduciary relationship between a parent and an adult child and would have only done so in circumstances where the parent had assumed some sort of an ongoing care / responsibility over the child. The Court acknowledged that there is a gap in the law, which may eventually end up being addressed on the legislative level.

Polina will be writing a full update on the Supreme Court's decision and what it means for lawyers and clients going forward for Issue 2 (2025) of the STEP Journal.