In Cohen & Ors v Amberley Corporation Australia Pty Ltd [2016] VSC 140 Derham AsJ considered an application for discovery in relation to the administration by a trustee of a discretionary trust. What started out as a consideration of the plaintiff’s application concluded with part of the statement of claim being struck out. It is a very useful decision in the practical side of pleading breach of trust, which can be quite complicated.

FACTS

The plaintiffs are the children of Harold Campbell-Pretty (‘Harold’) and Kerry Ainley Watkins (‘Kerry’). After 2 divorces he ultimately  married Krystyna Campbell-Pretty (‘Krystyna’) [3].  On 27 March 1975, the Campbell-Pretty Family Trust was established by a deed of settlement (‘Trust’ or ‘Trust Deed’). Under its terms Harold was specified as the Appointor and each of the plaintiffs were specified as Primary Beneficiaries [4].  

There were two variations to the Trust Deed:

• on 29 December 1987 the defendant was appointed Trustee in place of the previous Trustee. From about December 1986, Krystyna and Harold were the directors of the defendant. On 29 December 1987, Krystyna was appointed as an additional member of the class of General Beneficiaries under the Trust [5];
• on  8 July 2005, the defendant as Trustee of the Trust purported to exercise a power given by clause 20 of the Trust Deed declaring that the plaintiffs were ‘deleted’ as Primary Beneficiaries under the Trust. Harold, as Appointor, consented to the variation [6].

Harold died on 25 May 2014.  Krystyna was his executrix.  The plaintiffs received nothing.

Breach of trust claim

The plaintiffs pleaded Read the rest of this entry »

Revenge porn has, until recently, followed an invariable fact situation; female partner breaks up with male partner and the male ex uploads intimate photographs/video of the female ex onto one of the many potential platforms on the internet, including Read the rest of this entry »

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In Australia the e health records system is governed by the  My Health Records Act 2012.    The Government earlier this month Read the rest of this entry »

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This is yet another Read the rest of this entry »

The Hulk Hogan case stands at a judgement of $115 million with punitive damages of $25 million from Gawker for publishing a video of Hogan having sex with his friends wife in 2006.   An appeal is Read the rest of this entry »

It began most spectacularly with geeks at Wired hacked into a Jeep Cherokee and stopped it cold on a highway.  It is reported amusingly with Hackers Remotely Kill a Jeep on the Highway—With Me in It. That sparked a flurry of stories on the internet of things and data security including by Forbes at  Five Lessons On The ‘Security Of Things’ From The Jeep Cherokee Hack and Bloomberg with Hacked Jeep Cherokee Exposes Weak Underbelly of High-Tech Cars.  The experiment was also covered on youtube here.  Breaching ineffective cyber security defences and accessing appliances and equipment pre dated this experiment.  And some potential hacks and breaches are far more serious, such as individuals with heart pacemakers which have been reported as being accessible as far back as 2012 and in Science in  Could a wireless pacemaker let hackers take control of your heart? Read the rest of this entry »