Re de Bruyne (UK Court of Appeal)

Araldite fortune rapidly comes unstuck

Dr Norman de Bruyne was a very clever man. Amongst other things, he invented a new type of synthetic glue – Araldite Rapid - which came into wide use in aircraft, and played a major role in bringing legitimacy to the use of glue for high-stress jobs. Dr de Bruyne died in 1997, leaving as his legacy one of the wealthiest families in Britain.

However, the fruits of his labours are now the subject of heated litigation between the surviving members of the family.

In 1971 Dr de Bruyne set up a trust fund for the benefit of his first wife and their children, John and Anne. He subsequently remarried and the trust deed was varied for the benefit of Dr de Bruyne’s five children by his two marriages.

The English Court of Appeal will shortly give judgment in relation to competing claims to assets following the divorce of John from his second wife which has been ongoing since 2004. Every member of the family appears to have launched proceedings, apparently to protect and maximise their entitlement. It is reported that there are no less than eight pieces of litigation as his family fights over the trust assets, which have in any event lost 50% of their value in recent years.

Comment

The key point of note in relation to this course of litigation is not any particular principle of trust law. Rather, as the Judge warned the parties, there is a real risk that the trust assets will be seriously depleted if the waring factions continue to incur legal fees. Perhaps this is a case where the family do need to follow the principle of ‘Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it’. We await the Judgment of the Court of Appeal.