Overview

• Alan Lorenz, a multimillionaire Herbalife executive, left his £6.4 million estate to his partner Sheila Caruana after forming a civil partnership in 2020 to mitigate inheritance tax.
• His siblings allege Lorenz created a secret trust obligating Caruana to distribute half the estate to them, a claim she disputes in court.
• The High Court dismissed the siblings’ claim in 2024, ruling there was no realistic prospect of proving the existence of a secret trust.
• At the Court of Appeal, the siblings argue that oral instructions from Lorenz established a trust, while Caruana’s legal team contends his priority was avoiding inheritance tax, not creating binding obligations.
• The judges at the Court of Appeal have reserved their decision, leaving the dispute unresolved for now.