In order to confer a legal interest, an easement must be granted for a period equivalent to a fee simple absolute in possession or a term of years absolute. There does not to be any caselaw on whether an easement subject to termination rights can be granted in fee simple. However, Halsbury’s Laws of England, Vol 23, para 66 states that: 'Easements can be created by express grant (either

Case study Such discretion would be useful in relation to a family-run company, in the event that there is a deterioration in the health of the current majority shareholder, who is also the managing director, and it becomes necessary for the optionholder, who is to become the replacement managing director, to acquire shares in order to facilitate the running of the company. Can the future managing director be granted an enterprise management incentives (EMI) option which covers this eventuality? Schedule 5 to the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 (ITEPA 2003) sets out the requirements which must be met in relation to the terms of EMI qualifying options. These contain no restrictions on the circumstances in which EMI options may be permitted to be exercised, except that the option must be capable of being exercised within fifteen years from its date of

Section 1(2)(a) of the Law of Property Act 1925 provides: ‘(2) The only interests or charges in or over land which are capable of subsisting or of being

In order for the express grant or reservation of an easement to be valid as the creation of a legal interest (and to be capable of completion by registration in the case of registered land), the easement must be for an interest equivalent to an estate in fee simple absolute in possession or a term of years absolute: section 1(2)(a) of the Law of Property Act 1925 and section 27(2)(d) of the Land Registration Act 2002. An estate in fee simple absolute cannot (with certain exceptions arising under the Lands Clauses Acts or any similar statute) be divested (although it may be subject to a legal

The four essential characteristics of an easement are the existence of a dominant and servient tenement, the easement accommodating the dominant tenement, the owners of the dominant and servient tenements being different persons, and the right being capable of forming the subject matter of a grant (Re Ellenborough Park). A right will not be capable of forming the subject matter

An easement is a right benefitting one piece of land (the dominant tenement) by giving some right over another piece of land (the servient tenement). The most obvious example of an easement is a right of way. For an easement to exist there must be dominant and servient land, the easement must accommodate the dominant land, the ownership of the respective land must be distinct, and the relevant right must be capable of being granted: see re Ellenborough Park. For further information, see Practice Note: Easements—nature and characteristics. Easements are commonly expressly granted, either by a deed made between the respective owners of the land or by an express reservation upon the sale of part of land by a

Enterprise management incentives (EMI) share options can be granted over growth shares as long as those shares meet the requirements of paragraph 35 of Part 5 of Schedule 5 to the Income Tax (Earnings and

From a share incentives perspective, it is possible to grant unapproved share options over shares in the same company at different exercise or option prices. In all cases the articles of association and any investors' or shareholders' agreements should

In this Q&A: • the passing rent under the underlease is the same as the passing rent under the headlease (and will remain so following rent reviews under either/both), with the intention being that payment by the undertenant will fully satisfy the tenant’s obligation under the headlease, and • the superior landlord is not a party to the underlease, but its consent is required to the grant of, and the form of, the underlease (which includes the relevant provision) We have been unable to locate any content within our resources to confirm the position. However, as a matter of contract, it appears possible for an underlease to provide

General trust principles apply equally to personalty as they do realty. However, the specific principles devised by the House of Lords in Stack v Dowden in relation to real property to be occupied as a family home by cohabitants do not apply to investments (Laskar v Laskar). It is commonly assumed that monies in a joint account belong to the parties jointly, that upon their separation each is entitled to one-half, and upon their death, the funds in the account pass to the other under the right of survivorship. Certainly, where cohabitants have a joint account into which they both pay funds and from which they freely make withdrawals, it is realistic that the account should be regarded as being owned by them as joint beneficial tenants, absent some other intention (see, for example, Jones v Maynard). The right of survivorship

Novation Novation is the legal substitution of a new contract in place of an old one. It is the process whereby an existing contract is replaced with a duplicate or similar contract under which a third party assumes the rights and liabilities of one of the parties to the original contract. See Practice Note: Novation—why and how to novate a contract and Drafting and negotiating a novation—checklist. The effect of novation is to extinguish the existing contract and create a new contract. It does not necessarily cancel past rights and liabilities under the original contract, although the parties can agree to novate those as well. Novation can occur in all types of commercial contracts, from those comprising simple debts to takeovers, sale of businesses, banking transactions and construction contracts. Requirements for novation In order for there to be a valid novation, there are two essential requirements. It is necessary for all parties

Generally, as part of the transfer arrangement, a novation is executed at the time of the transfer, before the transferring company (transferor) ceases to exist. In such cases the novation is entered into between the transferor, the transferee and the other party(ies) to the novated contract. If the ‘novation’ occurs after the transferor ceases to exist, then the remaining original contracting party and the transferee can enter into a contract under which the transferee agrees to perform the ‘novated’ agreement and the original contracting party accepts such performance in substitution for the transferor’s performance. The parties will need to consider and address the extent to which the transferee is prepared to accept liability for the transferor’s performance of its obligations