Section 31 of the Trustee Act 2000 (TrA 2000) provides that a trustee is entitled to be reimbursed from the trust fund for expenses the trustee properly incurs when acting on behalf of the trust. There is nothing in the TrA 2000 which suggests that this basic provision may be excluded by the trust instrument. This stands in contrast to most of the other provisions of the TrA 2000 with each of the TrA 2000, Pts II, III and IV contain TrA 2000, ss 6, 9 and 26 providing that the provisions of that Part may be excluded or restricted by the trust instrument. Similarly, the general duty of care under the TrA 2000, Pt I applies as provided in TrA 2000, Sch 1, para 7 of which allows it to be excluded. The other operative sections in the TrA 2000, Pt V (TrA 2000, ss 28 and 29, dealing with the remuneration

From a practical perspective there is no reason why the deal could not be documented now and state that it is deemed to be effective from an earlier date. However, the date of signature should always be accurately recorded. • unilateral and bilateral contracts can both be accepted by conduct • silence in a bilateral contract cannot constitute acceptance and in unilateral contracts the requirement to communicate acceptance is waived in favour of performance • acceptance must be communicated to the offeror • for agreements reached by post, the acceptance does not have to be received by the offeror; acceptance occurs as soon as the written acceptance is posted (the postal rule) • the position in relation to couriers as a method of delivering acceptance

One of the key changes introduced by the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020 (DDSA 2020) is the introduction of a period of 20 weeks between the start of the proceedings (when the court issues the application) and when the applicant(s) may apply for a conditional order. Section 1(5) of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 (MCA 1973) provides: ‘(5) The court may not make a conditional order unless— (a) in the case of an application that is to proceed as an application by one party to the marriage only, that party has confirmed to the court that they wish the application

All planning permissions are subject to a condition which specifies the time period for implementation. This will either be an express condition set out in the decision notice, or where that is not the case, sections 91 and 92 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (TCPA 1990) operate to impose an implied condition that: • in the case of full planning permission, development must be commenced within three years of the grant of planning permission, or • in the case of outline planning permissions, applications for any reserved matter must be made within three years of the grant of outline planning permission, and development must be commenced within a further two years of the final approval of the last reserved matter If

STOP PRESS: From 6 April 2017, the Insolvency Rules 1986, SI 1986/1925 were revoked and replaced by the Insolvency (England and Wales) Rules 2016 (IR 2016), SI 2016/1024. The content in this Q&A may have been affected by this change. An application to set aside a statutory demand is made under rule 6.4 of the Insolvency Rules 1986, SI 1986/1925 (IR 1986) (IR 1986, SI 1986/1925, r 6.4) and must be issued at court within 18 days from the date of service of the statutory demand (or 18 days from any other date of 'effective service' such as an advertisement appearing in a newspaper under IR 1986, SI 1986/1925, r 6.3). For further reading on the service of a statutory demand, see Practice Note: What is a statutory demand? If a statutory demand has not been properly served, then it is arguable that the

Requirement to serve a claim form and particulars of claim Both the claim form and the particulars of claim must be served in accordance with the provisions in CPR 7 and CPR 6. If practicable, the particulars of claim should be set out in the claim form (CPR PD 16.3(1)). However, the particulars of claim can be attached to the claim form as a separate document (CPR 7.4(1)). In this case note that: • the particulars of claim must either be served with the claim form, or within 14 days after service of the claim form (CPR 7.4(1)(b)) • the particulars of claim must be served no later than the latest date for service of the claim form (CPR 7.4). The latest time for service of the claim form is within four months of issue of the claim form (CPR 7.5(1)) • the claim form must state that the particulars of claim will follow (CPR

Children may give evidence in proceedings, whether or not they are using a litigation friend to bring proceedings. The requirement to have a litigation friend for children under the age of 18 (unless waived) exists because those under the age of 18 are assumed not to have capacity to make the complicated decisions required to be a party to legal proceedings. These include taking and understanding legal advice, making tactical decisions about when and how to litigate, following rules and orders of court, and taking an informed view

Non-parties, on application, may access certain documents from the court record under CPR 5.4C. Anyone wishing to obtain copies of documents to which non-parties are entitled under CPR 5.4C (See CPR PD 51O, para 15): • may use the public kiosk service at the RCJ at the Rolls Building, London to examine the electronic record of proceedings governed by the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 so as to determine whether any documents in relation to those proceedings are publicly available • must complete the appropriate office copy request form • must pay the appropriate fee Non-parties to proceedings can view and copy: • statements of case but not any documents attached to the statement of case. Court permission is not required, although the requirements in CPR 5.4C(3) must be met • other documents filed at court, communications

Part II of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (LTA 1954) provides security of tenure in respect of business tenancies that fall within its provisions. LTA 1954, s 24 provides that such a tenancy does not come to an end notwithstanding the expiration of the term of the lease, unless the lease is terminated in accordance with its provisions. Those provisions specify the need for the provision of notice; a party can apply to the court for the grant of a new lease on like terms, which will be granted unless one of the specified grounds for opposition set out in LTA

It is established that forfeiture will be effected (ie the lease will be determined) at the point of service of forfeiture proceedings (not at the point of issuing proceedings) (Canas Property Co Ltd v K L Television Services Ltd). The period between service of the proceedings and the final determination of the landlord’s claim for forfeiture by the court is often referred to as the ‘twilight period’. As the landlord has elected to treat the lease as at an end, they cannot, during this period, seek to rely on or enforce the tenant covenants in the lease. However, any claims

In principle, equity follows the law and rights which a party can have at law are, broadly, capable also of existing in equity. Accordingly, a right to forfeit an equitable lease is recognised in equity. Moreover, given that the jurisdiction to grant relief from a forfeiture was originally generated by the courts of equity, it might be anticipated that the common form of landlord and tenant dispute involving forfeiture and relief simply plays out in equity in the same way as for legal leases. However, formally, this is not what happens. Instead, the litigation will focus on whether the court should grant specific performance of the lease in the tenant’s favour (ie reflecting the principle that—in equity—the tenant should not be granted an equitable remedy where the tenant is guilty of a relevant wrong). Here, in practice, in most cases the end result is likely

The basic requirements for contract formation are: an intention to create legal relations, offer, acceptance and consideration. Unless prescribed by statute, it is not necessary for a contract to be in any particular form or even in writing. The requirements for contract formation may, however, be evidenced in writing. There is no doubt that in principle contracts can be formed through offer and acceptance via email. An email will generally satisfy a requirement for writing and where a contract is required to be signed (such as a disposition of an interest in land under section 53 of the Law of Property Act 1925) the addition of a name to the end of the email may be sufficient to satisfy a statutory requirement for signature (see eg Hudson v Hathway), and can include an automatically generated signature (Neocleous v Rees). There is no reason why, provided the necessary ingredients for a contract are present,