Our Practice Note: Notice to complete covers what ready, able and willing means and what the consequences are of serving an invalid notice. Under the heading Serving an invalid notice to complete, it explains that if a notice to complete is invalid the consequences for the party who gave it can be severe. An invalid notice does not give rise to a right to rescind. If the person who gave the notice does not know that it was invalid and purports to rescind, it will be a wrongful repudiation of the contract. The other party can then accept the breach, rescind

From a practice perspective, what you can (or can’t) do will depend to some extent on what the terms of the contract (if any, or if not, what would be implied from the circumstances) between the agency and the customer, eg who owns the information. See the case of MVF3 APS (formerly Vestergaard Frandsen A/S) v Bestnet Europe Ltd and the Supreme Court decision. The appeal was against the Court of Appeal’s reversal of a decision by Arnold J that Mrs Trine Sig was liable

Legal expenses policies are governed by The Insurance Companies (Legal Expenses Insurance) Regulations 1990. These regulations address the freedom to choose a lawyer at reg 6: Freedom to choose lawyer 6 (1)    Where under a legal expenses insurance contract recourse is had to a lawyer (or other person having such qualifications as may be necessary) to defend, represent or serve the interests of the insured in any inquiry or proceedings, the insured shall be free to choose that lawyer (or other person). (2)    The insured shall also be free to choose a lawyer (or other person having such qualifications as may be necessary) to serve his interests whenever a conflict of interests

A company voluntary arrangement (CVA) is a statutory contract between the company and its creditors and is used by a company in financial difficulty to restructure its debts. If the CVA receives the requisite 75% majority of the vote of creditors present in person or by proxy and voting on the proposal, and is not opposed by more than 50% of independent creditors, it will be binding on all creditors. Even if a landlord does not receive notice of the CVA proposal or votes against it, as long as

When a limited company buys back shares, those shares must be paid for on purchase, unless (in the case of a private limited company) it is buying back the shares for the purposes of, or pursuant to, an employees' share scheme (section 691(2)–(3) of the Companies Act 2006 (CA 2006)). The courts have interpreted this provision strictly (eg in Dickinson v NAL Realisations (Staffordshire) Ltd, the Court of Appeal held that it was not enough for the share buyback contract to provide for

Cohabitants setting out their intentions in relation to property and assets post-separation may enter into a deed of separation (see Precedent: Cohabitants—deed of separation). These are often used by cohabitants to set out a plan of action for the future. A deed is a specific type of contract. In order for a document to be a deed the following formalities must be met (per section 1 of the Law of Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1989): • it must be in writing • it must be clear on the face of it that the document is a deed, for example if the document described itself as a deed • the deed

It is common for cohabiting couples on separation to enter into an agreement to govern the terms of that separation, particularly regarding jointly owned property. Parties may enter into a settlement agreement which, depending on its terms, may amount to a contract and be enforceable as such if the necessary requirements of intention to create legal relations, offer, acceptance and consideration are present. Alternatively the parties may formalise the agreement by way of a deed, meaning that consideration is not required. The terms of the settlement agreement may govern the respective interests of the parties in the

For information on the National Minimum Wage (NMW), including conditions for eligibility and how the minimum hourly rate is calculated, see generally, Practice Note: National minimum wage. Most ‘workers’ who work in the UK are entitled to be paid the minimum wage. A person qualifies for the national minimum wage if they: • are a worker • who works, or ordinarily works, in the UK under their contract, and • have ceased to be of compulsory school age When it comes to determining whether or not a worker is being paid the minimum wage, the calculation essentially involves working

The answer to the question of whether a person who pays a debt of a deceased testator (after death) becomes a creditor of the estate and is entitled to have their debt settled in the course of administration depends not on succession law but on normal contract and restitutionary principles. If, for example, the estate does not have liquid funds and as a result a beneficiary or an unconnected third party pays the funeral expenses of the deceased at the request or with the agreement or knowledge and approval of the executors the estate’s debt will be satisfied and the payer will stand in the shoes of the original creditor

In answering this Q&A, we have assumed that there is no inter-creditor agreement as between the first and second legal charge holders: such that no contract exists which sets out any obligations that the second legal charge holder may have in the event that it enters into possession in circumstances whereby the first legal charge remains unsatisfied. Entry into possession of the property by the second charge holder does not affect the first legal charge holder’s priority, such that its interest in the equity of redemption falls to be settled before the interest of the second charge holder. Further, entry into possession of the property by the second

With regard to ensuring that a legal assignment is effective, the following criteria need to be satisfied, as per section 136 of the Law of Property Act 1925: • the assignment must be in writing and be signed by the assignor • it must transfer only the benefit of a contract • the assignment must be absolute rather than being conditional or a partial assignment • the assignment must be of some wholly ascertainable right and not part of a debt (a charge against property will not usually be regarded as an assignment, as

Key information Name of firm [Insert firm name] Name of role holder [Insert name] Reports to [Insert, eg Risk and Compliance Director/Chief risk officer] Role type [Insert, eg Full-time/Part-time/Contractor][If a contractor role, length of contract] Primary location [Insert the primary location for this role—if there is a requirement for the role holder to regularly spend time in multiple locations, eg in each regional office, it is worth making sure this is made clear] Remote/hybrid/office-based? [Insert type of work model] Date role commenced [Insert date] Length of probation period [Insert] End of probation review date [Insert date] Role summary • [To support the Risk [and