Legal Q&A

Under section 55A of the Family Law Act 1986 ( FLA 1986), a party can apply to either the Family Court or the High Court for a declaration determining whether a person named in the application is, or was, the parent of another individual in question. The court’s authority depends on domicile or habitual residence in England and Wales, as set out in FLA 1986, s 55A(2). Where the application is successful, and a declaration of parentage is granted by the court, it shall give notice to the Registrar General ( FLA 1986, s 55A(7))......

The matter may not be as simple as obtaining some external quotes. Your starting point ought to be the charity’s constitution; check it first. If that document prohibits paying charity trustees under its terms, remunerating a trustee to undertake the restoration work may not be permitted at all......

Registration at the Charity Commission ( CC) Most entities with a charitable character must register with the Charity Commission ( CC), though some are exempt in specific cases. For further detailed guidance, see Practice Notes: Charity creation—legal points at Charity creation—legal points— Charity registration and Charity registration—when to register......

Cases which distinguish leases from licences are very fact sensitive. The usual starting question is whether there is ‘exclusive possession’—the legal ability to keep all others off the land. This feature is the badge of a tenancy; in contrast, a licensee does not enjoy it. Where the parties’ arrangement is set down in a written agreement, the enquiry centres on the proper construction of that instrument, interpreted against its factual background. Do the terms, on their true meaning, confer exclusive possession? More precisely, if an agreement grants: (i) exclusive possession; (ii) for a term; and (iii) at a rent, then, absent a lodging set-up or special circumstances, it amounts to a tenancy: Street v Mountford. Alternatively, where nothing has been recorded in writing, whether exclusive possession has been conferred is determined by considering all the circumstances, including asking: what the parties would ordinarily have expected in the...

Mary Ashley of 15 Old Square Higher SDLT rates apply where an individual buys a major interest in a single dwelling if conditions A– D are met at day‑end: A — consideration of £40,000 or more B — not subject to a lease with over 21 years unexpired C — purchaser owns another £40,000+ dwelling not so leased D — does not replace the only or main residence Dwelling includes a building or part used, suitable or being built/adapted as one dwelling, its gardens, grounds and benefiting land, and off‑plan contracts. Mixed‑use is excluded; no apportionment. As this freehold includes residential and non‑residential parts, it is mixed‑use, so the 3% surcharge should not arise. Sean Randall of Blick Rothenberg Limited The 3% applies to “higher rates transactions” in FA 2003, Sch 4ZA, paras 3–7, each requiring the main...

Section 23 of the Land Registration Act 2002 ( LRA 2002) states that: The owner’s powers concerning a registered estate comprise: authority to carry out any disposition allowed by the general law for an interest of that nature, except a mortgage by demise or sub-demise; and authority to charge the estate at law to secure the payment of money. At first glance, these powers appear extremely broad; nevertheless, it is evident that they are qualified by a constraint relating to the ability to grant charges over the land......

STOP PRESS From 6 April 2017, the Insolvency Rules 1986 ( SI 1986/1925) were revoked and superseded by the Insolvency ( England and Wales) Rules 2016 ( IR 2016) ( SI 2016/1024). The material in this Q& A may have been impacted by this amendment. Service out of the jurisdiction Under rule 6.14(6) of the Insolvency Rules 1986 ( SI 1986/1925) ( IR 1986), a bankruptcy petition can be served beyond England and Wales, but only with the court’s leave, and the court may specify how service is to be carried out. For bankruptcy petitions, IR 1986, r 12A.20 states that Civil Procedure Rules 6 ( CPR) apply to serving court documents outside the jurisdiction, subject to any modifications directed by the court......

This Q& A assumes that the trust corporation is a company incorporated and registered in the UK under the Companies Act 2006 ( CA 2006) CA 2006 sets the framework for how a company formed under that Act allots and issues its shares. The exact process varies by the nature of the company proposing the allotment and factors such as whether it has a single share class or several classes already in issue. For further detail, see the sub-topic: Allotment, issue and pre-emption—overview, with particular reference to the Practice Note: Allotment and issue of shares—introductory points. For guidance on the consequences of breaching the CA 2006 provisions on allotting and issuing shares, consult Practice Note: Allotment and issue of shares—penalties......

On 23 October 2020, Nesil Caliskan, Chair of the Local Government Association’s ( LGA) Safer and Stronger Communities Board, issued remarks about the powers councils require to curb the transmission of coronavirus ( COVID-19). Caliskan argued that local authorities should be able to take “rapid action” against businesses that do not put in place appropriate safety measures, adding that he “look[s] forward to hearing more details…over the coming days”. See: LGA seeks tools to combat businesses violating safety measures amid coronavirus ( COVID-19)— LNB News 23/10/2020 86. The interventions designed to limit the spread of coronavirus continue to change as government policy tracks how the virus is circulating within communities. To streamline arrangements, a three-tier set of response levels was brought in to manage localised transmission of coronavirus. These regulations took effect in England on 14 October 2020,...

The process whereby a trade union can seek to be recognised by an employer for the purposes of collective bargaining comprises elements of both voluntarism and compulsion. At the outset, recognition is settled through negotiation between the employer and the relevant union or unions, including whether recognition is granted, for which purposes and at what organisational level. This is known as ‘voluntary recognition’. Where recognition rests purely on a voluntary basis, the employer may reverse its position and withdraw that recognition at any time. Such a step can have industrial relations ramifications, but there is little the union can achieve in law to stop it, unless the recognition agreement is a binding contract, which is highly unusual. For further detail, see Practice Note: Trade union recognition, under the section headed ‘ Voluntary recognition where no request for statutory...

The general rule relating to the burden of inheritance tax ( IHT) Under section 41 of the Inheritance Tax Act 1984 ( IHTA 1984), the core rule on who shoulders inheritance tax ( IHT) provides that where some gifts are exempt but others are not, only those receiving the exempt gifts take them without any deduction for tax. See: Re Ratcliffe. A Will can, however, stipulate a different outcome, as demonstrated in Re Benham's Will Trusts......

Worker categories For leave years commencing before 1 April 2024 there was only one worker category for holiday entitlement and pay purposes, which we describe as ‘regular’ workers. For leave years beginning on or after 1 April 2024, a new way of working out holiday entitlement and pay was introduced, but it applies only to individuals who fall within the newly established ‘part-year’ or ‘irregular hours’ categories. For anyone who does not sit within those categories, the previous method of calculating holiday entitlement and pay continues to apply. For fuller detail on what counts as a part-year worker under the Working Time Regulations 1998 ( WTR 1998), SI 1998/1833, regs 2(1) and 15F(1)(b), refer to the ‘ Part-year worker’ section of Practice Note: Statutory paid holiday—irregular hours workers and part-year workers. See also the government guidance: Holiday pay and entitlement reforms from 1 January 2024. In...

Under section 146 of the Law of Property Act 1925 ( LPA 1925), a landlord cannot enforce a leasehold right of forfeiture unless a notice—commonly known as a 'section 146 notice'—is first served on the tenant. There are specific requirements governing the contents of that notice. See Practice Note: Forfeiture of a lease. Under LPA 1925, s 146(11), the obligation to give notice does not extend to 're-entry or forfeiture or relief in case of non-payment of rent'......

The previous regime does not fall within the amendments brought in by the Deregulation Act 2015 ( DA 2015), as set out in sections 33 to 40 (see section 41 of the DA 2015, which sets out the application of DA 2015, sections 33 to 40)......

The Commercial Rent ( Coronavirus) Act 2022 ( CR( C) A 2022) applies to ‘protected rent debts’ which are, broadly: amounts for rent, service charges, interest and value added tax ( VAT) payable under a tenancy to which Part II of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 ( LTA 1954, s 23) applies (including where contracted out), provided that: all or part of the business or the premises were required by coronavirus ( COVID-19) regulations to close; and the sums relate to the ‘protected period’, running from 21 March 2020 until the earlier of: the final day the business or premises had to close, or were subject to regulation governing the way the business operated or the use of the premises; and in England, 18 July 2021, and in...

The Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 ( LTA 1987) The Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 ( LTA 1987) grants tenants of residential flats in a building a right of first refusal to acquire the landlord’s interest when a sale is contemplated. The landlord must issue notices to the tenants, setting out the intention to dispose of that interest and allowing them time to consider a purchase at the offer price. During this period the landlord is barred from selling, and non-compliance is a criminal offence. If the tenants are not served with notice, they may compel the incoming landlord to transfer the property to them at the price paid......

You are right that a tenant is unable to make a valid section 26 request seeking a new lease when its tenancy was granted for a fixed term of one year or less, pursuant to section 26(1) of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 ( LTA 1954). This equally covers periodic tenancies......

Part II of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 ( LTA 1954) Part II of the LTA 1954 confers security of tenure on business tenants unless its requirements have been contracted out. As a result, a commercial lease does not lapse by effluxion of time; instead it continues as a statutory tenancy until it is brought to an end in accordance with the LTA 1954, or when the court grants a new lease on the application of either the landlord or the tenant, or when the lease is terminated by surrender or by forfeiture under the scheme set out therein in full......

Assumptions have been made that this is an above-threshold procurement, conducted via a fully compliant public purchasing process in line with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 ( PCR 2015), SI 2015/102, and that standstill notices were issued under PCR 2015, SI 2015/102, reg 86, to the winning tenderer and all unsuccessful tenderers, across the procurement process. We further assume the original contractor stopped trading (without entering insolvency) at any stage. Consequently, we have not examined the safe harbours that allow for modifying or substituting a contractor under PCR 2015, SI 2015/102, reg 72(1)(d) for this analysis. Where a public contract has collapsed because the supplier has stopped trading (with no sign of insolvency), and the contracting authority is contemplating appointing a replacement, several points require attention by decision-makers herein. A few illustrations are outlined below......

Q& A: Is a solicitor bound by an undertaking that they cannot complete because the client has changed solicitors? This addresses a scenario in which a solicitor is unable to fulfil an undertaking owing to factors wholly beyond their control. It notes that decisions of the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal ( SDT) abound with rationalisations from defaulting practitioners for failing to comply, such as claiming the promise related to a client for whom they no longer act. However, ceasing to act does not absolve those solicitors from their ongoing professional duty to honour the undertaking......