Refine By
Clear all filter
About 92520 results for "*"
An individual chargee dies. The executors wish to transfer the charge into the name of the beneficiary. What is the process for updating the proprietor of the charge at HM Land Registry? Will HM Land Registry register the beneficiary as proprietor of the charge on sight of a death certificate and grant of probate?
Q&As
The death of a chargee does not extinguish the liability owed by the chargor and secured by the charge, save in certain specific circumstances. Rather, the liability passes to the estate of the deceased, which will likewise wish to benefit from the security provided by the charge, or may wish to seek to enforce the liability in some other way, but whilst benefiting in the meantime from the security that the charge offers. The first step is often to register the personal representative or representatives of the charge as the proprietor thereof, in place of the deceased. This will ordinarily be the case where there are various assets which need to be gathered in and distributed in accordance with the provisions
An individual co-owns property with their mother by virtue of a trust. The mother is now bankrupt. The mother's beneficial title to the relevant property therefore vests in her trustee in bankruptcy. The individual wishes to acquire their mother's beneficial title from the trustee in bankruptcy and they are agreeable to that arrangement. However, the individual also needs the legal title to be transferred to them to satisfy their lender. Can the trustee transfer the legal title by relying on the provisions in section 283(4) of the Insolvency Act 1986 granting them the power to call for such a transfer as the beneficial owner? The individual, as co-trustee and beneficiary, would consent to such an arrangement.
Q&As
For the purpose of this Q&A we have assumed that the land is registered and that both parties are registered as joint owners on the legal title. Section 283 of the Insolvency Act 1986 (IA 1986) defines the bankrupt's estate as any property which either belonged to the bankrupt or in which the bankrupt had an interest at the date the bankruptcy order was made. IA
An individual defendant has nominated the address of a business consultancy firm for the service of court proceedings. Would this be valid service given they are not solicitors?
Q&As
Where the defendant has given in writing the business address of a solicitor within the jurisdiction as an address at which they may be served, or a solicitor acting for them has notified the claimant in writing that solicitor is instructed to accept service, then the claim form must be served at the business address of the solicitor (CPR 6.7). ‘Solicitor’ for these purposes incudes any other person who is authorised to conduct litigation (CPR 6.2(d)). CPR 6.8 provides that, save where the rules make different provision, a defendant may be served with the claim form at an address
An individual died before 6 April 2017 leaving an interest in a residential property as part of a nil rate band discretionary trust and the personal representatives appoint the trust fund (including the interest in the residential property) to the surviving spouse within two years of the individual’s death. Will the surviving spouse be able to claim the transferable residence nil rate band on death when the residential property passes to the couple’s children?
Q&As
In answering this Q&A we have referred to circumstances in which neither estate exceeds the taper threshold of £2m. The residence nil rate band (RNRB) provisions apply a nil rate of tax to a portion of the chargeable transfer on death. It is applied before the basic nil rate band (NRB). This additional amount, termed the 'default allowance' is made up of two components: • the 'residential enhancement' at the person's death (ie the RNRB), and • the person's 'brought forward allowance' (ie the transferable RNRB) The transferable RNRB is the proportion of unused RNRB which has been transferred from one or more pre-deceased
An individual died domiciled in England and Wales and a grant of probate was obtained in England, which included the value of a Scottish property in the gross and net values on the grant. Scottish confirmation is now being applied for to deal with the Scottish property. Is it possible (or appropriate) for the English grant of probate to be amended to include the revised estate values excluding the Scottish property?
Q&As
Following the Act of Settlement in 1701, Scotland retained its own legal system and jurisdiction. Scottish law, which includes enforced heirship provisions, therefore relates to the estates of persons who die domiciled in Scotland. The process of probate in Scotland is known as confirmation and is broadly the same, though the procedure differs. It is possible for a person to have valid English and Scottish Wills, though a person who is domiciled in England and Wales is able to deal with property in the UK under one Will and there are reciprocal recognition provisions to enable a grant
An individual dies after accepting a verbal offer of employment and agreeing a start date, but before a contract of employment has been signed. Is the company obliged to provide the individual with death in service benefit, or life assurance, at the rate they would have been entitled to under the contract of employment, had it been signed?
Q&As
In determining the answer to this question, it will be necessary to consider: • whether there is a contract of employment in place • whether there is a contractual right to ‘death in service’ benefit Contract of employment Once an unconditional offer of employment has been accepted, there will generally be a binding contract of employment, even though the employee has not yet started work (unless it is made clear in the offer that the contract will take effect on a different date). For more detailed information, see Practice Note: Offer of employment. An offer of employment can be made orally or in writing but it is advisable that it is in writing to remove uncertainty
An individual dies intestate with no surviving spouse, issue, parent, sibling, grandparent, aunts or uncles, but does have cousins. The deceased’s father’s brother married the deceased’s mother’s sister. Is their child who survives the deceased entitled to a double share of the estate given parentage?
Q&As
We have assumed that the deceased’s father and his brother are brothers of the whole blood and that the deceased’s mother and her sister are sisters of the whole blood. We refer you to Practice Note: Intestacy—summary and the Intestacy—flowchart, which explain who is entitled
An individual dies intestate. Their father is entitled to receive the whole of the estate and apply for letters of administration but dies before doing so. Who should now apply for letters of administration in the adult child’s estate?
Q&As
As set out in Practice Note: The type of grant needed, the right to the grant of letters of administration for a wholly intestate deceased’s estate is set out in the Non-Contentious Probate Rules 1987 (NCPR 1987), SI 1987/2024, r 22(1). Practice Note also states that, if the person entitled to a grant survives
An individual domiciled in England holds the majority of their assets there except for a holiday home in Scotland. Can the Scottish property be dealt with under the English Will or will a separate Scottish Will be needed?
Q&As
Succession to immovable property is governed by the law of the country where it is located and succession to moveable property will be governed by the law of the country where the owner is domiciled when they die. A form of forced heirship, known as ‘legal rights’, applies to an individual’s
An individual domiciled in the UK has assets in Syria. The individual does not have a Will governed by Syrian law. Should the individual exclude the Syrian assets from their English Will?
Q&As
The first step is to seek professional advice on the inheritance laws of Syria and how they apply to the client and their estate. If it is indeed the case that a Will or similar testamentary
An individual establishes a right of way by prescription and manages to register it at HM Land Registry. However, the right of way passes over some unregistered land, the ownership of which is unknown (although it appears to be part of a neighbour’s garden). Bearing in mind that it is not clear who owns the unregistered land, how should the easement be protected in relation to that land? Would it be acceptable to register a class D(iii) land charge against the name of the neighbouring owner?
Q&As
Legal, as opposed to equitable, easements are not registrable under the Land Charges Act 1972 and a purchaser of a legal estate in unregistered land will take that estate subject to all other legal estates, rights and interests. Where the dominant land is registered, but the servient land (ie the unregistered land here) is not, there is no requirement to register it to
An individual had an interest in various properties as a tenant in common and his Will provided that his interest should be transferred to his wife on his death. Can his interest in those properties be transferred without involving the other co-owners?
Q&As
There is a distinction between ownership of a property as tenants in common and as joint tenants. Joint tenants have equal rights to the whole property. Each joint tenant has a 100% ‘share’ in the property. If one joint tenant dies, the property automatically goes to the other joint tenant (or other joint tenants). It is not open to a joint tenant to leave their ‘share’ to someone else in their Will because of course they do not have a share that is distinct and separate from that of the other joint tenants. The law treats