Ahead of a general meeting (GM) the company secretary should: • confirm the date of the meeting with the board, registrars, advisers and others required to attend • estimate the number of attendees • organise and book a suitable venue with sufficient rooms and facilities • have in place contingency plans in the event that the venue is not large enough or otherwise inadequate for the GM or AGM (eg consider the use of overflow rooms) • arrange for all necessary electronic audio and visual equipment to be available at the venue • organise refreshments for attendees • if relevant, make necessary arrangements for: ◦ the GM or AGM to be recorded, eg by webcast, and/or ◦ a transcript of the GM or AGM to be taken • Check for, and comply with, any provisions in the company's articles of association relating to security arrangements, in particular if a difficult meeting is anticipated (see Security arrangements below). Choice of venue and audio-visual links The venue for

Sections 248 and 355 of the Companies Act 2006 (CA 2006) respectively provide that every company shall cause minutes of all proceedings at meetings of its directors (and where it has managers, at meetings of its managers) and all proceedings of general meetings to be entered in books kept for that purpose. The minutes must be kept for at least ten years from the date of the meeting and any failure to comply results in an offence being committed by every officer of the company who is in default. In addition, a failure to provide details of the decision of the sole member of the company in accordance with CA 2006, s 357 is an offence but will not invalidate the decision. Minutes do not need to be recorded by the company secretary personally. The chair of a meeting may, with the express or implied consent of the board, delegate this task to anyone. In any event, the chair should ensure the meeting is conducted in a way that

Laying a complaint in the magistrates’ court Certain proceedings before a magistrates’ court must be begun by the laying of a complaint under section 51 of the Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980 (MCA 1980). An appeal against an abatement notice is one such example. The procedure for laying a complaint comes under the magistrates’ courts civil jurisdiction as opposed to its criminal jurisdiction. The distinction between an information and a complaint is that an information is laid where the person charged has committed, or is alleged to have committed, an offence for which they may be punished, while a complaint is made where the person in regard to whom it is made is liable, or alleged to be liable, to have an order made upon them either to pay money or to

Declarations of trust The question specifically relates to an express trust by the deceased rather than an incomplete gift, as to which, see Pennington v Waine. The component elements of a trust are all present. The subject matter is certain, as are the beneficiaries and their respective shares. However, section 53(1)(b) of the Law of Property Act 1925 (LPA 1925) provides that: ‘A declaration of trust respecting any land or any interest in land must be manifested and proved by some writing signed by some person who is able to declare such trust or by his Will’. The writing need not take any specific form and can, for example, be by way of correspondence.

How to administer the particular legacy in question will depend fully on the precise wording of the Will, on which we cannot comment. In general terms, the cy-près doctrine may be of assistance. One definition of this doctrine, as stated in Practice Note: The Cy-près doctrine, is that: If property is given in trust to be applied for a particular charitable purpose,

A judgment or order for possession of land is enforced in the County Court by a warrant of possession (CPR 83.26). Permission is not generally required to issue a warrant of possession. The application, which may be made without notice, is on Form N325. For general guidance, see Practice Note: Enforcing a judgment or order for possession of land. Section 4 of the form is headed ‘Warrant details’ and requires the claimant to complete boxes described as follows: ‘(A) Balance due at the date of this request (B) Amount for which warrant to issue […] If the amount of the warrant at (B) is less than

How to rent guide In relation to the How to Rent Booklet, Assured Shorthold Tenancy Notices and Prescribed Requirements (England) Regulations, SI 2015/1646, reg 3(3) permits the information to be provided to the tenant: • in hard copy, or • where the tenant, has notified the landlord the landlord or a person acting on behalf of the landlord, of an email address at which the tenant is content to accept service of notices and other documents given under or in connection with the tenancy, by email Thus if the

In England and Wales, jointly-owned property is held on a trust of land by the legal owners for the beneficial owners (usually themselves). While legal ownership is always by way of a joint tenancy, beneficial ownership can be held either as joint tenants or as tenants in common. The difference is often important. A joint tenancy means that all of the joint owners own the whole of the beneficial interest, whereas tenants in common hold defined shares in the equity of the property. On the death of one joint tenant their interest is extinguished, meaning that the remaining co-owners continue to hold the whole, and there is no interest that can be passed (including under a Will). This is known as the doctrine of survivorship.  A beneficial

There are different types of protected Rent Act 1977 (RA 1977) tenancies. One type of protected tenancy is a fixed-term tenancy. A fixed-term protected tenancy remains protected for as long as the contractual tenancy remains in force. Once the contractual tenancy has been duly determined, the tenancy becomes a statutory tenancy under RA 1977, s 2. The landlord cannot regain possession until the protected tenancy has been determined and must not do so without having first obtained a possession order. Under RA 1977, s 98 no order will be made unless the court considers it reasonable, and: • the court is satisfied that suitable alternative accommodation is available for the tenant or will be available for them when the order in question takes effect, or • the circumstances are as specified

Referencing a deceased party on a claim form Where the claimant is deceased and has Personal Representatives (PRs), the PRs should put themselves as the claimant, eg ‘Joe Bloggs as personal representative of Mrs Sharon Bloggs (deceased)’. The Notes for claimant on completing a claim form (form N1A) in civil proceedings from www.justice.gov.uk provide that where a party is suing or being sued in a representative capacity, you must say what that capacity is, for example: ‘Mr Joe Bloggs as the representative of Mrs Sharon Bloggs (deceased)’. Where the claimant is deceased and there is no grant of probate the position is set out in CPR 19.12, which provides that: '[(1) Where a person who had an interest in a claim has died and that person has no personal representative the court may order— (a) the claim to proceed in the absence of a person representing the estate of the deceased; or (b) a person to be

Stamp duty land tax (SDLT) applies to chargeable land transactions. A land transaction is an acquisition of a chargeable interest (sections 42–43 of the Finance Act 2003 (FA 2003)). Subject to some exceptions, the amount of SDLT is determined by the chargeable consideration for the land transaction (FA 2003, s 50 and Sch 4). Consideration attributable to more than one land transaction must be apportioned on a just and reasonable basis (FA 2003, Sch 4, para 4).

Process The correct process to follow in this situation is to issue a County Court money claim (CCMC). A CCMC is any claim which is started in the County Court under CPR 7, is a claim for money, whether for a specified or an unspecified amount, and is not a claim for which special procedures apply (CPR PD 7A, para 4A.1). Procedure Form N1 will need to be completed and be sent to the County Court Money Claims Centre, PO Box 527, Salford M5 0BY (CPR PD 7A, para 4A.1). See Form