A person under the age of 18 is regarded as lacking capacity. Accordingly, unless the court allows the child to conduct their own proceedings, a litigation friend will need to be appointed to act for the child in the civil proceedings. The status of a litigation friend is that they are an officer of the court appointed to look after the interests of the child. Generally, a litigation friend is not

A live-work unit is a single residential unit (eg a studio or loft) that includes a work area, such as a home office, so that the occupant can work from home. The inclusion of the work area may be a requirement of planning consent. This Q&A assumes that the unit is in the UK. For VAT purposes the question is whether the unit is ‘designed as a dwelling’. If it consists partly of a dwelling or dwellings, and partly of something else, then there will need to be an apportionment: only the relevant part is treated as a dwelling. HMRC considers live-work units at paragraph 16.4 of VAT Notice 708 (buildings and construction). This states that if there

The legislative framework for advance decisions (known as ‘living Wills’ prior to the introduction of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA 2005)) is contained in MCA 2005, ss 24–26, supported by section 9 of the Mental Capacity Act Code of Practice. Further guidance can be found in Practice Notes: Advance decisions and Advance decisions—advantages, disadvantages and limitations. You will see from this law and guidance that

The simple fact that a loan is between two private individuals is no bar to enforcement of that loan or any legal charge over it. Loans are more generally thought about in the context of advances made by banks and other corporate lenders. Corporate lenders frequently ensure they are protected against a failure to repay by a legal charge over the borrower’s property. However, such matters are not their exclusive domain. Of course friends and family may well make loans to each other. They may wish to have security. Often there are problems with such arrangements. The problems are not because such arrangements are unenforceable but because the participants have not addressed the necessary formalities and/or there is a dispute about what was or was

A service occupancy licence is a licence granted to an employee to occupy accommodation where the employment contract expressly requires that they live at the property for the better performance of their duties, or it is essential for the performance of those duties (Northern Ireland Commissioner of Valuation v Fermanagh Protestant Board of Education). As to the contractual requirement, this must be established as a matter of fact and not merely by way of a term included in the contract, but it is sufficient to satisfy the condition if it can be shown that the duties would be better performed by someone living on the premises than someone living anywhere else (Surrey CC v Lamond (1998) 31 HLR 1051 (not reported

Landlord’s gas safety obligations Under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, SI 1998/2451, in the case of a lease for less than seven years, a tenancy for a periodic term or a statutory tenancy arising out or a lease for less than seven years or a tenancy for a periodic term, there are duties upon the landlord to ensure that there is maintained in a safe condition: (a) any relevant gas fitting, and (b) any flue which serves any relevant gas fitting, so as to prevent the risk of injury to any person in lawful occupation of the relevant premises. It is the duty of the landlord

Depending on the circumstances of the tenancy, we have provided information below that will enable you to determine whether or not an assured tenancy has been created, or if it is a tenancy that cannot be assured. We have highlighted the landlord’s rights to terminate the tenancy in both situations. Creation of an assured tenancy An assured tenancy will automatically exist under the Housing Act 1988, s 1(1) (HA 1988) if the following criteria are met: • the tenant (or if joint tenants at least one of them) was an individual • the tenant (or if joint tenants at least one of them) occupied the dwelling house as their only or principal home • the tenancy was not one that could not be an assured tenancy (see below) Landlord’s rights Our Practice Note A summary of types of private residential tenancies provides information on various different types of private

Privity of contract and liability Although contractual rights and benefits generally are (subject to express contractual provisions to the contrary) assignable, contractual obligations or burdens are not. However, in certain circumstances, contractual obligations or burdens may be 'vicariously' performed by way of sub-contracting. Sub-contracting is the delegation by one party of some or all of its obligations under a contract between it and a customer to a third party (the sub-contractor) for performance by the sub-contractor. Where vicarious (ie sub-contracted) performance is permitted, there is no transfer of the contractor’s liability under the main contract to the sub-contractor. The contractor remains liable to the customer under the main contract for

Liability of members of LLPs on insolvency This issue is set out in our Practice Note: Compulsory liquidation of a Limited Liability Partnership under the heading 'the Obligations and liabilities of members'. Section 74 of the Insolvency Act 1986 (IA 1986) provides that, when a LLP is wound-up, members will be liable to contribute to the assets of the LLP to the extent that they have agreed with each other or the LLP to do so. Such agreement is usually set out in the partnership agreement ie clause 25.1 of the Model LLP Agreement, which states: 'For the avoidance of doubt no Member has agreed with the other Members or with the LLP that he shall in the event of the winding up of the LLP contribute in any way to the assets of the LLP in accordance with

An unincorporated association: • is an organisation formed when two or more persons (the members) carry on activities together for a common purpose • does not operate for the purpose of generating profit • is not a separate legal entity from its members and officers, which means that the officers and members are personally liable for the debts and obligations of the association, and • may not enter into contracts, own assets, sue or be sued in its own name The members agree how the unincorporated association is to be governed and run

Sch 12 of the Local Government Act 1972 (LGA 1972) outlines how to give valid notice to members of a public meeting. LGA 1972, Sch 12, Pt I, para 4(1A) explains that Meetings of a principal council shall be held at such place, either within or without their area, as they may direct five clear days at least before a meeting of a principal council in England— '….(b) a summons to attend the meeting, specifying the business

In general, it would perhaps be unusual for the governing instrument of a charity to specifically deal with a change of name. Such would be a power and, again, it would be unusual for a governing document to record such an individual power. The Charity Commission Model form does not deal with the issue and the Charities Act 2011 only deals with situations where the charity name may not be acceptable to the Charity Commission. On the assumption that the charity has trustees, the only requirement in respect of the name of the charity would be for them to act in the best interests of the charity in accordance with their general duties and responsibilities. Any decisions they make must, of course, be recorded and