The two claimants’ mother died in July 2005. The mother’s will left her residuary estate to the claimants in equal shares absolutely. The claimants received professional advice to create a lifetime trust whereby their mother’s one-half equity share in a property would be held on trust for their father during his lifetime (he beneficially owned the other 50% interest), subject to that on trust for any spouse of the claimants for life, and subject to that on trust for the claimants themselves. The claimants were both the settlors and the trustees of the trust, which was created for inheritance tax planning purposes.

It was subsequently discovered that clause 13 of the settlement flatly contradicted the earlier provisions in clauses 4.2 and 5