Spear's World

Spear's Salon

Strong Opinion from our Stable of Star Turns

William Cash

The new issue of Spear's is almost upon us and so I thought I would share some of the highlights with you.

Anthony Haden-Guest

Another cartoon from the sharpest pen: In case of loneliness.

Stephen Hill

Ben Bernanke got in his helicopter and showered money around like there was no tomorrow.

Nigel West

The issue of whether the techniques reach the American criminal test for torture has never been before a court.

Josh Spero

There is no doubt that the Hurt Locker was the most deserving winner at the Oscars last night in Hollywood.

You can regulate smartly, or you can over-regulate stupidly. Knee-jerk reactions like we are seeing at the moment inveiably seem to fall in the second category. Create two new problems trying to fix one sort of thing...

William Sitwell

Good polls are the ones you can control. Bad polls are the ones that involve money and phoning 1378 men and women.

Unbillable Hours

Our specialists solve your HNW problems (gratis!)

I am at the start of divorce proceedings and am concerned about the tax implications. I have heard that you might have to pay capital gains tax on the assets you get as part of the divorce settlement - is this the case?

It is a little-known part of the UK tax system but divorcing couples may indeed find themselves subject to capital gains tax. This can happen, for instance, if the marital home is sold as part of the divorce settlement or even in a situation where the home is given to one spouse under the settlement, with no money changing hands.

I am growing increasingly worried about the effect of inflation on my portfolio, following the recent announcement that the CPI has risen sharply to 3.5%. What is the likelihood of significant inflation in the coming year and what strategies should I put in place to plan for this?

Firstly, it is important to note that inflation and deflation can co-exist within an economy. The CPI only indicates the net inflation/deflation. However, investors need to know what parts of the economy are inflating and what parts are deflating as this decides whether there is net wealth creation or net wealth destruction.

What changes are going on in trusts law? What is the new ‘perpetuity period’?

The Perpetuities and Accumulations Act 2009 (the ‘Act’) will come into force on 6 April 2010. This heralds a change to an historically important aspect of UK trust law, as, for wills and trusts executed after 5 April 2010, the length of time that assets can be tied up in trust (the ‘perpetuity period’) will increase from 80 years to 125 years.