Vested rights meaning

Saunders v HMRC [2025] UKUT 374 (TCC) The Hibernia group engaged the taxpayer in the UK from 2008 to 2016, and he lived in the UK for the whole of that employment without interruption. In April 2013, the group granted him SARs at a stated price under the plan. On vesting, the SARs gave him a right to a cash amount if at least 43% of the shares in the group’s parent company were sold. That amount was computed by the uplift in the shares’ value from grant to sale on that basis. Approximately half of his SARs vested immediately, with the balance vesting in three equal tranches in July 2013, July 2014 and July 2015 respectively. He left Hibernia’s employment on 31 July 2016 and thereafter became non-UK resident the next day. The group was subsequently sold and, in January 2017, Hibernia paid him £1.2m in respect of the SARs, net of PAYE income tax and NICs. He reclaimed the amounts withheld via his self-assessment return. After opening...

Courtenay-Smith and another company v The Notting Hill Shopping Bag Company Ltd and others [2025] EWHC 1793 (IPEC) What are the practical implications of this case? This ruling has significant day-to-day effects for businesses, especially those that hold and administer IP via company structures: management of IP rights when a company is dissolved—the judgment underlines the danger of forfeiting valuable IP, including trade marks and goodwill, on dissolution. If rights aren’t secured or assigned, they can vest in the Crown as bona vacantia and be irretrievably lost, even if the entity is later restored. Always complete transfers before dissolution, or seek swift recovery through the Bona Vacantia Division valid renewal of trade marks—the renewal was found invalid because it was filed by someone without title (the mark had vested in the Crown). Registry acceptance is not decisive; a court may overturn it when contested. Always confirm proprietorship before renewing or enforcing a trade mark, particularly after dissolution or restructuring restoration doesn’t automatically revive...

Zaha Hadid Ltd v The Zaha Hadid Foundation [2024] EWHC 3325 (Ch) Disagreements between the architect’s foundation and her practice In 2013, the architect, Dame Zaha Hadid (now the Zaha Hadid Foundation), and Zaha Hadid Limited concluded a trade mark licence allowing the company to use the ‘Zaha Hadid’ brand in return for royalties. Following Dame Zaha’s death, the company sought to end the licence; however, aside from unilateral termination rights vested in the foundation, the agreement had no fixed term and was effectively of indefinite duration...

Dissolution If a company governed by the Companies Act 2006 (or any earlier Companies Acts) is dissolved, all property it owns at the moment of dissolution—together with any rights vested in it or held on trust for it, but excluding assets it holds on trust for another—vests in the Crown as bona vacantia (that is, ownerless property) under CA 2006, s 1012(1). Where the company’s registered office lies within the Duchy of Cornwall or the Duchy of Lancaster, the bona vacantia instead passes to the relevant Duchy. Be aware that freehold land situated within the Duchy of Cornwall vests in the Duke of Cornwall on dissolution regardless of the location of the company’s registered office. Note: the Duchy of Cornwall is held by the Duke of Cornwall under a 1337 charter (which grants the dukedom to the monarch’s eldest son and heir to the throne), and it extends across the entire county of Cornwall...

At common law, highway ferries fall into two types, identified by the routes they take. One type operates between towns or to a specified island, while the more usual type links two named highways, each situated on opposite sides of a body of water. The Highways Act 1980 (HiA 1980) deliberately leaves ferries outside the statutory definition of a highway, yet the common law regards them as comparable to highways, carrying particular rights and obligations. What sets a ferry apart from other forms of highway is: a ferry is a franchise vested in an individual or a corporation the power to operate a ferry carries both privileges and duties the ability to use a ferry is qualified and limited A ferry as a franchise The general principle is that anyone with a boat may transport a passenger across a navigable river; however, that principle yields where such use of a boat amounts to running a ferry. The ferry owner enjoys a...

Oversight of UK decommissioning policy and its delivery sits with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ). Formed on 7 February 2023, DESNZ assumed the energy remit of the former Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), which has now been dissolved, including its responsibilities for decommissioning. Any mention of ‘BEIS’ in this practice note refers to the department’s former functions. Although the UK issues policy documents, a substantial portion of the regime is driven by the UK’s commitments under international law. International Law—installations The 1958 Geneva Convention on the Continental Shelf (Geneva Convention) was the first treaty to set out the law of the sea, and it remains the only convention that expressly mentions the ‘removal’ of installations. The United Kingdom gave effect to the Convention domestically in 1964 through the Continental Shelf Act 1964 (CSA 1964), which vested in the Crown all rights exercisable in designated areas beyond territorial waters concerning the seabed and subsoil in those zones. Today, two core international conventions...

For the purposes of this Q&A, it is assumed that: the leasehold property forms part of the unadministered Estate the Estate bears the primary responsibility to pay the service charge the beneficiaries in occupation have a right to occupy the leasehold property Whilst the Estate is being administered, legal ownership of the deceased’s unadministered assets is vested in the personal representatives (PRs) for the purposes of administration and to carry out that administration. In the meantime, no beneficiary, whether taking under the deceased’s Will or by intestacy, has any proprietary interest in any particular or identifiable asset comprised within the unadministered Estate, nor any enforceable claim to such an item. See Practice Note: Beneficiaries’ rights and remedies. The PRs hold extensive powers to administer and manage the deceased’s Estate...

This query raises the effect of a notice of claim to exercise the right to manage under Part 2 of the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 (CLRA 2002) being withdrawn. Although the grounds for withdrawal are unknown, the parties’ rights and duties under CLRA 2002 remain unchanged. Under CLRA 2002, s 71(1), the right to manage the premises is conferred on a company incorporated for that function. Such an entity is termed a right to manage (RTM) company (CLRA 2002, s 73(1)). Only one RTM company may exist at a time, and where the freehold of the managed premises becomes vested in that company, it stops being an RTM company (CLRA 2002, s 73(4)–(5)). Holders of long leases within the building may join the RTM company (CLRA 2002, ss 74–75). These individuals are described as qualifying tenants. To assert the right to manage, the RTM company must serve a ‘claim notice’ (CLRA 2002, s 79(1)). Prior to doing so, at least 14 days in advance, the RTM company...