Proportionate Protection For All Beneficiaries Of An Estate

The Grand Court of the Cayman Islands (the Court) has recently held that where a lacuna existed in the applicable law, the Court's broader supervisory jurisdiction over the administration of estates will be applied to fill any statutory gaps, thus ensuring the administration of an estate can be effected as quickly and efficiently as possible.

The facts in Uzzell v Wong Sam¹ were quite straightforward. Executors of an estate accused each other of misconduct in relation to the administration of the estate. The Plaintiffs - who were the Testator's sons and included one of the executors - sensibly proposed that both executors should be replaced by an independent professional trustee, because the claims and counterclaims of mismanagement by the executors meant they had not been able to work together to progress the administration of the estate. However, that proposal was only acceptable to the Defendant executor if she could remain as an executor alongside