Secret or informal (and often highly contentious) arrangements. The recent English C.A. judgment in Lorenz v Caruana on the validity of a secret trust provides a doorway for looking at whether informal arrangements - such as promises made in life by the deceased - are vulnerable to attack. Our panel will review the historical uses of secret trusts, the perils of deploying such arrangements in modern times, and consider risks inherent in the use of powers of attorney and other forms of agency for asset holding/management and succession purposes.