We have assumed that the interest held by the trustees is a freehold interest, the trustee has not been granted a lease and is not granting a lease. The stamp duty land tax (SDLT) provisions are set out in Part 4 of the Finance Act 2003 (FA 2003). FA 2003, s 42 provides that SDLT shall be charged on land transactions. A land transaction is defined as the acquisition of a chargeable interest. A chargeable interest is defined very broadly as: ‘(a) an estate, interest,

When a company registered in England and Wales is dissolved while it still owns or has an interest in a property, that property will be deemed bona vacantia (meaning 'ownerless property') at the date of dissolution and will vest in and belong to the Crown (or the Duchy of Lancaster or Duchy of Cornwall, as may be appropriate). The Crown (with the Treasury Solicitor usually acting on its behalf) or the relevant Duchy may disclaim any property which has passed to it.

It is assumed that • the person who is selling the house is selling the whole legal and beneficial interest to the buyers • the sale price for the house represents the open market value of the house, so that there is no element of gift to the buyers The seller will share occupation of the whole property with the buyers, rather than occupying it alone or occupying a distinct part only, such as an annexe. The sale of the house and continued occupation would not be caught by the reservation of benefit provisions in section 102 of the Inheritance Tax Act 1984 (IHTA 1984), because IHTA 1984, s 102(1) requires that, for the reservation of benefit provisions to apply, 'an individual disposes

This Q&A assumes that the original application to switch from Tier 4 student to Tier 2 migrant was made in-time and that the Tier 4 student permission expired while that application was pending. As confirmed in the Practice Note: Sponsoring a Skilled Worker, from 20 December 2022, the Tier 2 (General) category was fully deleted from 1 December 2020, via Statement of Changes in Immigration Rules HC 617, and those with existing permission in the category have to now apply for further permission to stay or settlement under the Skilled Worker route. The rules on settlement as a Skilled Worker are described in Practice

When an individual dies they are considered to have made a 'transfer of value' equal to the value of their estate immediately before death. This transfer is chargeable to inheritance tax (IHT). This potential tax liability and their responsibility to report the value of the estate to HMRC (whether directly to HMRC or via the probate registry, depending on whether or not the estate is an 'excepted estate') is one reason the personal representatives (PRs) must value the contents of an estate. The PRs must first identify the assets and liabilities in the deceased's 'estate'. This is defined for IHT purposes as 'the aggregate of all the property to which they are beneficially entitled' immediately before death. It therefore encompasses all property from which they were entitled to benefit or enjoy. It does not include, for example, a life insurance policy written in trust for

If a defendant successfully defends a claim, the starting point is that the claimant will be liable to pay their costs of the claim. However, CPR 44.2(1)(a) provides the court with the discretion ‘as to whether costs are payable by one party to another’. In a multi-defendant case this provides the court with the discretion to make an unsuccessful defendant, rather than the claimant, liable for the successful defendant’s costs. The court may

This Q&A assumes that this question relates to the service of a notice under section 42 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 (LRHUDA 1993) by personal representatives (PRs) on behalf of a deceased tenant (under LRHUDA 1993, s 39(3A)) and the restriction in LRHUDA 1993, s 42(4A) that such a notice may not be given by the PRs of a tenant later than two years after the grant of probate or letters of administration. Chapter II of Part I of the Leasehold

This Q&A considers a tenant who is in a tenancy in common with another tenant, who petitions for bankruptcy after exchange and before the completion of a sale of the property that the two tenants own. It looks at the first tenant’s liability to the buyer and his or her recourse against the other tenant in common if the buyer serves a notice to complete. In relation to contractual liability, this will depend on the terms of the contract. For example, where the sellers are jointly and severally liable, the non-defaulting party would also be liable to the buyers. For

There is no provision in Family Procedure Rules 2010, SI 2010/2955 for the ‘revival’ of a petition that has been withdrawn by consent, nor have we been able to locate relevant case law in this regard, including on the issue of ‘misrepresentation’, which in the scenario described may require the original petitioner to adduce evidence if their position is that the original respondent misrepresented their reasons for seeking a reconciliation. In those circumstances, it would be prudent to seek advice from specialist counsel who may be fully apprised as to the facts of the case and the evidence available. A preliminary

The position regarding an application for financial orders subsequent to the remarriage of a party is provided for by section 28(3) of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 (MCA 1973) which states: ‘If after the grant of a decree [an order or decree] dissolving or annulling a marriage either party to that marriage remarries [whether at any time before or after the commencement of this Act] [or forms a civil partnership], that party shall not be entitled to apply, by reference to the grant of that decree [that order or decree], for a financial provision order in his or her favour, or for a property adjustment order, against the other party

Highways can be stopped up if the area of highway is no longer needed or when the land is needed for a development to take place. When a

This response deals with the situation where someone is claiming to have the benefit as an overriding interest of a business lease of five years and of chancel repair liability, both of which existed prior to the land being registered but neither of which was registered against the title, and considers whether they could be overriding interests. Chancel repair liability Chancel repair liability historically can be difficult to identify or establish as there is no central register which contains all of the liabilities (see Practice Note: Chancel repair liability). Previously, section