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TMI Blog1976 (4) TMI 36X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... tive Staff Pension and Assurance Scheme. The scheme was effective from 1st January, 1955. The sole object of the scheme was to provide, on behalf of the company, each member with a pension or annuity from the time of his retirement, payable during the remainder of his life and to provide pensions or annuities to the dependants of deceased members. Membership of the scheme was optional to all members in the senior grade who were on the company's service on the effective date and was made a condition of service for all future entrants into this grade. On the effective date, Mr. Killick was an employee of the company and he was eligible to join the scheme as from that date, which he did. On applying to enter the scheme, each employee had to sign the necessary application form. Thereupon, policies were effected on the life of each eligible member and those policies were assigned immediately after issue to the company by each individual assured and the policies were to be reassigned by the company when the employee retired, died or left the company. There was a master policy issued by the insurance company to the trustees under which assurances on the lives of the members were effect ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... event, a pension was payable for fifteen years certain. Thus, the pension would be for the benefit of the member's widow for so long as she is alive, failing which for the benefit of the member's child and children, in equal shares if more than one, failing which for the benefit of such one or more of the member's dependants or failing these, for the benefit of such person or persons as the trustees in their absolute discretion shall decide. Rule 12 provides that if any employee leaves the service of the company for any reason except death, or retirement on pension, the trustees may in their discretion allow the member to exercise the option of converting the assurance into a fully paid up assurance of a reduced sum assured payable at normal pension date or at the member's previous death, subject to the provision of applying the sum in the manner laid down in rule 8 or rule 11, as the case may be ; or to exercise the option of taking the cash surrender value of the assurance which shall be applied to secure an immediate pension payable for the benefit of the member until his death. Rule 13 provides for a minimum pension. Rule 18A provides : " In the event of any benefit becomin ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... therwise, on his death." There is an " Explanation " to this section. It is unnecessary for our present purpose to extract the same. As in the present case the premium has been provided by the employer, the point to be considered is whether this is a case which comes within the scope of the expression " annuity or other interest, purchased or provided by the deceased, either by himself alone or in concert or by arrangement with any other person ". By reason of the deceased having executed the necessary letters and joined the scheme and by reason of the company having provided the necessary amounts for the purpose of payment of the insurance premium, this is a case which comes within the scope of the aforesaid expression. The deceased was actually taking the relevant amount paid by the company as one having been paid on his behalf and returning the amounts for the purpose of assessment to income-tax in the respective years. This was only on the basis that the company provided the relevant amount on his behalf and for his benefit. The arrangement to pay the amount being thus traceable to an agreement between the company and himself, the case squarely falls within the scope of s ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... h reference to the benefits arising from the estate of the deceased under the above scheme. It was held on the true construction of the deed of 1924 that the benefits were entirely in the discretion of the trustees and that, therefore, the pension was not 'property' within section 2 of the Act of 1894. It was also held that the widow had no 'beneficial interest' within section 2(1)(d) since she has no enforceable right to the pension, nor was any interest 'purchased or provided' by A., the pension being a gratuitous provision by the company without any bargain or agreement between the company and A. ; and, therefore, no estate duty was exigible. " In that case, Harman J. observed at page 486 : " When I read the deed, without travelling outside it and looking at the fact, for instance, that everybody knows that a good employer will not see the widow of his faithful employee left in the street with nothing, I can only come to the conclusion that this is a purely discretionary trust deed. It is true it is a trust, but it is a trust under which, so far as any employee is concerned, it seems to me the trustees have an absolute discretion either to give or to withhold a pension acc ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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