Occupation orders made under Part IV of the Family Law Act 1996 (FLA 1996) (FLA 1996, s 30) provide a scheme for regulating the occupation of dwelling-houses between parties who are in, or who have been in, certain categories of relationship. The precise nature of the powers that the court has, the process for determining how they are to be exercised, and the duration of any order giving effect to them, depends on the nature of the relationship between the parties and the nature of any interest that they have in the relevant property. An application may be made under FLA 1996, s 33 by an applicant who is entitled to occupy a dwelling-house by virtue of a beneficial estate or interest or contract or by virtue

This Q&A refers to a lease of a commercial property where the headlease and sublease contain similar covenants. Right to forfeit A lease may contain an express proviso for re-entry or forfeiture by the landlord on specified events, such as non-performance or non-observance by the tenant of the covenants of the lease. Where the underlease does not operate as an assignment, there is neither privity of contract nor privity of estate between the head landlord and the undertenant, and so the undertenant is not personally liable for the covenants contained in the head lease. If, however, the head lease contains a proviso for re-entry on breach of covenant, he is liable to be evicted for such a breach (Spencer v Marriott (1823) 1 B & C 457 (not reported by LexisNexis®)). For further information, see Commentary:

Where a company is insolvent and so unable to pay its debts as and when they fall due (as defined by section 123 of the Insolvency Act 1986 (IA 1986)), there will be a limited pot of money available for creditors. The order in which creditors of an insolvent company are paid is set out in statute and unsecured creditors rank at the bottom of this hierarchy. The office-holder will determine the priority of creditors’ claims in accordance with these strict rules. If a creditor suspects the insolvency practitioner is acting incorrectly, they can challenge their conduct by making a court application. For more information, see: Challenges to an insolvency office-holder—overview. For details on the order of priority, see Practice Note: Waterfall of payments—a comparative guide.

A tenant may discover that through an error of fact or of law, they have made an overpayment of rent, and that overpayment has been made to a previous landlord. In such circumstances, the tenant may have a potential claim to recover the money by way of restitution, as monies had and received under the broader umbrella of the doctrine of unjust enrichment. It is necessary to establish that the paying party was mistaken in some way when making the payment (for example forgetting that rent had already been paid in a given month, or by erroneously setting up a standing order at too great a level), the payment was caused by

A third party debt order is a method of enforcement by which a judgment creditor may enforce a debt against money due and owing to the judgment debtor by a third party who is within the jurisdiction. This includes money held in the judgment debtor's name in a bank or building society or money owed to a self-employed judgment debtor in the course of his trade. The court has a discretion whether to grant a third

Section 89(4) of the Inheritance Tax Act 1984 (IHTA 1984) sets criteria for a trust beneficiary to qualify as a disabled person for the purposes of IHTA 1984. If these criteria are met, special tax treatment is available. For the special income tax and capital gains tax (CGT) treatment for vulnerable beneficiaries, a vulnerable person election must be made by the beneficiary and trustees in such form as HMRC may require. If a vulnerable person election is made, the trustees can then make a claim for special relief to ensure that they pay the same income tax as the beneficiary would have paid had the trust income been theirs. Note that the special income tax treatment will not apply if the trust is settlor-interested

Under the Working Time Regulations 1998 (WTR 1998), SI 1998/1833, reg 4(1) unless a worker opts out of their rights, their working time, including overtime, in any reference period that applies to them, must not exceed an average of 48 hours for each seven days. For more information, see the section of Practice Note: Hours of work and working time entitled ‘The maximum working week’. It is possible for employers and workers to agree that the worker will work more than 48 hours a week. In order to be valid, an agreement must: • be in writing

You have asked whether it is possible for an attorney under a foreign lasting power of attorney to deal with the sale of an English property under the foreign power. As you are probably aware, the international recognition of foreign enduring/continuing/lasting/durable powers of attorney is an area fraught with difficulties.  The current position is summarised in our Practice Note: International issues relating to the protection of vulnerable adults. We suggest you start by reading this Practice Note, in particular the section on Enduring and Lasting Powers of Attorney, and Section 63 and Schedule 3 of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA 2005). You will see from the above Practice

It may not be possible to add an attorney to a lasting power of attorney (LPA) once it's been registered with the office of the public guardian. However, an LPA can be amended if the donor still has capacity and if the amendment is to remove one of the attorneys. This can be done by a partial deed of revocation. If the attorney wants to add a further attorney, the donor may have to revoke the current LPA by deed of revocation and make a new one. However, this will not be possible where the donor has lost capacity.

The Land Registration Act 2002 (LRA 2002) introduced compulsory land registration of unregistered land following a trigger event, as set out in LRA 2002, s 4. Around 85% of land in England is now registered, with most of the remainder being held by large estates without sale or transfer and thus not triggering first registration. Land can also be registered voluntarily under LRA 2002, s 3. When property is registered, it is given a class of title. Freehold and leasehold interests can each be registered with absolute title, possessory title or a

For information on the right to holiday and holiday pay generally, see Practice Notes: Holiday and Holiday pay. In the case of an employee who is entitled to maternity leave, the period of two weeks beginning with the day on which childbirth occurs is a period of compulsory maternity leave during which the employer must not permit the employee to work. The compulsory maternity leave period must fall within a period of ordinary maternity leave. The compulsory maternity leave period is extended to four weeks in the case

UK immigration control—of which the Tier 2 route is a part—is concerned with the regulation of physical presence of individuals within the jurisdiction who require leave but do not have it. In a situation where a migrant outside of the UK is engaging in a contract for service (or employment) with a UK company, in order to work overseas for that company on a contract with a third party, it is not clear why sponsorship would be required. As it states in the Tier 2 and 5: Guidance for Sponsors (paragraph 1.2): ‘ … a migrant must have a sponsor before they can apply to come to, or remain in, the UK for work.’ In a situation where the intention is that the work