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 Government Legal Department (GLD)

For the purpose of answering this question, it is presumed that the loss claimed by the debtor counterparty has arisen as a result of the other counterparty entering into administration; ie it was not a loss or claim that existed prior to the administration (whether contractual or otherwise). The law of set-off (including, but not limited to, insolvency set-off) is a complex area of law. For further reading, see Practice Notes: Types of set-off and What is set-off and when is it available?

Environmental liability The company could be liable under a number of environmental regimes, including criminal liability under the: • Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as amended) (WCA 1981) • Environmental Protection Act 1990 (EPA 1990) • Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016 (EPR 2016), SI 2016/1154 Civil and other liability may also arise as set out below. Potential liability under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 Offence Japanese knotweed (Polygonum cuspidatum) is an invasive non-native species (INNS). It is an offence under WCA 1981, s 14(2) if any person ‘plants or otherwise causes to grow in the wild' a plant listed in WCA 1981, Sch 9 Pt II (eg Japanese knotweed). Whether or not the company has committed an offence is likely to depend on how and where its customers have used the product and whether this has caused it to grow in the wild. Defra and the Welsh Assembly

The Straightforward Consumer IVA Protocol 2016 (the Protocol) is aimed at what are known as straightforward consumer individual voluntary agreements (IVAs) comprising five years of monthly contributions from the debtor’s income and equity release from any property owned by the debtor, 54 months after the start of the IVA. The Protocol states that the possibility of a full and final settlement in the first year of the IVA would be an indicator that the debtor’s circumstances are unsuitable for the application of the Protocol. The question does not state that the third party lump sum payment in settlement would be in the first year of the IVA,

Serving a statutory demand The requirements for service of a statutory demand on an individual are set out in Insolvency (England and Wales) Rules 2016 (IR 2016), SI 2016/1024, rr 10.2 and 10.3 (replacing Insolvency Rules 1986 (IR 1986), SI 1986/1925, rr 6.3 and 6.11) Under IR 2016, SI 2016/1024, r 10.2, a creditor must do all that is reasonable to bring the statutory demand to the debtor's attention and, if practicable in the particular circumstances, serve the demand personally. Before the court will issue a bankruptcy petition it will require the creditor to file a certificate of service of the statutory demand and, if not satisfied that it has been duly served, the court will decline to allow the petition to be issued. Substituted

It is unfortunately not uncommon that hearings are vacated at the last moment by the court, after costs, including counsel’s fee, have been incurred. HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) do not offer compensation in circumstances where a case is vacated at short notice, and there is no formal application process for such compensation. However HMCTS do have a discretion to offer compensation where loss can be shown. The process to be followed is to send a letter of complaint to HMCTS with a request for compensation. However, it is extremely rare that HMCTS will offer compensation, and when compensation

A licence is permission to do an otherwise unlawful act. A licence can be exclusive, sole or non-exclusive. It need not be in writing unless it is an exclusive licence, see Practice Note: Licensing intellectual property rights. There are a number of specific exceptions to copyright infringement, the majority of which are laid down by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (CDPA 1988). These are known as permitted acts. CDPA 1988 provides for exceptions to copyright protection in respect of fair dealing with copyright works when they are used for certain stated purposes, such as private study and research, for quotation purposes or for criticism and review. For details of the various permitted acts that come under the banner of ‘fair dealing’, see Practice Note: Copyright—permitted

It is not uncommon that a party will enter into an Agreement for Lease (AFL) in respect of a building under construction or to be constructed. This provides the security of a tenant once the building has been completed, but also allows the tenant to require certain conditions, for example to prevent any variations to the building works that materially alters the size of certain rooms. An AFL will ordinarily oblige

See the following extract: Certain English principles of construction: Halsbury's Laws of England [752] (our emphasis): ‘Prima facie, a legacy is to be paid in the currency of the testator's domicile, but where a currency is expressly indicated the legacy must be paid in that currency, and where the testator makes a separate distribution of property in different countries, charging legacies on each, those legacies must be paid respectively in the currency of the country in which the property on which they are charged is situated. Where the legacy is payable in the currency of a foreign country, its value must be computed according to the value of the currency in that country, irrespective of the rate of exchange, and without any deduction for

A purported variation of a contract of employment that is, or will be, transferred as part of a TUPE transfer is void under regulation 4(4) 'if the sole or principal reason for the variation is the transfer'. However, under regulation 4(5) a variation to the contract of employment of a transferring employee will not be void: • if the sole or principal reason for the variation is an economic, technical or organisational reason entailing changes in the workforce (ETO reason), provided that the employer and employee agree that variation, or • the terms of that contract permit the employer to make such a variation For further information, see Practice Note: TUPE—variation of contract

Local authorities have responsibilities under the Care Act 2014 to provide information and advice about people’s care and support which extends to deferred payment schemes. Where appropriate the local authority must invite carers and/or families to participate in discussions, and should also provide them with all the information that would otherwise be given to the person they care for, subject (where required) to the consent of the person with care and support needs (if they have capacity) or someone else with appropriate authorisation (see Chapter 9 of the DHSC: Care and support statutory guidance (guidance)). As a deferred

Section 1(4) of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 (MCA 1973) would seem to allow a district judge in such circumstances to make the decree nisi, ie: ‘If the court is satisfied on the evidence of any such fact as is mentioned in [MCA 1973, s 1(2)] above, then, unless it is satisfied on all the evidence that the marriage has not broken down irretrievably, it shall, subject to below, grant a decree of divorce.’ However, Rule 7.20(2) of the Family Procedure Rules 2010, SI 2010/2955 provides that: ‘If at the relevant time the case is an undefended