In this special edition of The Digest, we focus on four areas in which a future Labour government might shake up the current tax regime and what you can do now to prepare.

Although the next general election could be held as late as January 2025, it is widely expected that it will be called earlier – probably in Autumn 2024. Current opinion polls suggest that it is very likely that the next government will be a Labour one.

Wednesday marked the first Spring Budget for Chancellor Jeremy Hunt following his Autumn Statement last November. He built it around four 'Es'.

It is a truth universally acknowledged (by trustees and trust lawyers, anyway) that a trust deed may not always do what they need it to. What, then, are trustees to do?

The 'rules' governing any individual trust are set out in the trust deed. However, trustees sometimes find that they want to do something—often for tax purposes—which the trust deed does not permit. In those circumstances they may wish to 'vary' the terms of the trust.

There are different ways in which this can be done, and these are different in England/Wales and Scotland.

Under English law, a testator has testamentary freedom. This means that a person making a Will is entitled to leave their estate to whomever they want. It is a fundamental right and one often confirmed in judgments by the courts in cases of dispute.