RENNELL Vs. INLAND REVENUE COMMISSIONERS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) WE have had an opportunity of considering this case since the conclusion of the arguments and having reached a clear conclusion upon it, we have thought that there would be no point in reserving our judgment.

(2.) THE question raised by the summons is whether certain property, which, according to the evidence at the material date amounted in value to some pounds 450,000, is liable to estate duty as deemed to pass on the death of the settlor, the late Augustine Courtauld, that death having occurred on March 3, 1959. The property in question is subject to a settlement dated nearly three years before namely, March 20, 1956, made by the settlor on the occasion (and I now deliberately use a neutral word) of the marriage of his daughter Perina to Christopher Fordham, the parties to the instrument being first, the settlor, second, the daughter Perina Courtauld, third, Christopher Fordham, the intending bridegroom, and fourth, the trustees who are the plaintiffs in the present proceedings. The short effect of the settlement was that the beneficial interests thereby created were to take effect only on the happening of the marriage between Christopher Fordham and Perina Courtauld and then there was, for a specified period beginning with the marriage a trust as to both capital subject to certain limitations, and as to income at the entire discretion of the trustees in favour of a large class namely, the wife, her issue and all other the issue of the settlor Christopher Fordham and the husband or wife of any of the settlors issue. At the end of the specified period the remaining corpus was then divisible among the living issue per stripes of the settlor and there was a final limitation in favour of Perina Courtauld and her personal representatives.

(3.) HAVING referred, however, to Attorney -General v. Jacobs Smith it would be convenient if I further stated that case arose under the Customs and Inland Revenue Acts of 1881 and 1889, and the relevant date was prior to the passing of the Act of 1894. It was concerned with a settlement made on the second marriage of a widow whereunder certain property became payable to children of the widows former marriage, and the question was whether that settlement was or was not within the ambit of the Customs and Inland Revenue Acts. In the course of their judgments Lindley, Lopes and Kay L. JJ. made very clear the point that the marriage consideration covers only the husband and wife and the issue of the particular marriage in respect to which the consideration passes and does not cover anyone else. It was held quite clearly that the children of the former marriage of the widow were for the purposes of taxation, volunteers.