Forfeiture is the landlord’s express right to re-enter premises and end a lease due to a breach of covenant or the occurrence of a specific event detailed in the lease. A breach of covenant gives no right of re-entry unless a proviso for re-entry is included in the lease—the exact wording in the forfeiture clause of the lease is imperative. Our Precedent: Lease of whole building, for example, specifies that the landlord may re-enter the property and forfeit the lease immediately if the tenant or guarantor is struck off the register of companies. A well drafted lease will also provide that the right to enter for non-payment of rent applies whether or not formally demanded in order to avoid the common law requirement that an actual demand has to be made.

What options are available to two of the leaseholders if: (1) they wish to carry out repairs to the building where the third leaseholder objects For the purposes of this Q&A we are assuming that: • the proposed repairs fall within the landlord’s repairing obligations under the leases, and there has been a breach of that covenant (for more information, see our Practice Note: What is the appropriate standard of repair?) • if the cost of the repairs are to be recovered from the leaseholders in their capacity as leaseholders via the service charge and this is a residential property, then consideration has or will be given to the section 20 consultation procedure under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985. If the cost of repairs are instead

There are varying degrees of imperfect contract, ie void, voidable and unenforceable. See: Imperfect contracts: Halsbury's Laws of England [207]. Void contract A mistake may arise as to the nature of the transaction, identity of the contracting parties, the quality of the subject matter or terms of the contract. For more information, see Practice Note: Mistake. A contract will be void among other things where the parties contract on the basis of a fundamental common mistake or one party contracts on mistaken terms and the other party knows of

The starting point is to carefully check the provisions of the trust document. Subject to them, section 36 of the Trustee Act 1925 (TA 1925) will apply, unless expressly excluded (see TA 1925, s 69). TA 1925, s 36 states (our emphasis): • Where a trustee, either original or substituted, and whether appointed by a court or otherwise, is dead, or remains out of the United Kingdom for more than twelve months, or desires to be discharged from all or any of the trusts or powers reposed in or conferred on him, or refuses or is unfit to act therein,

It is not clear from the question whether the investments were sold by the personal representatives (PRs) during the administration of the estate or after the end of the administration period. If the investments were sold during the administration period, then, at the end of the administration period, each of the two legatees became entitled to a 50% beneficial interest in the remaining investments and they each became

This Q&A considers proceedings which are not subject to the disclosure pilot under CPR PD 51U and where standard disclosure has been ordered. Disclosure A party is only required to give disclosure of documents which are, or have been, within its control. CPR 31.8(2) sets out when a party is deemed to be in control: ‘(2) For this purpose a party has or has had a document in his control if— (a) it is or was in his physical possession; (b) he has or has had a right to possession of it; or (c) he has or has had a right to inspect or take copies of it.’ The circumstances set out in CPR 31.8(2) in which a party will be said to be in

This Q&A assumes that the executor in question is a sole executor. If the expenses which are disputed include the firm’s fees in acting in the estate administration, then the following Q&As may be useful in your research: • What rights does a residuary beneficiary have to challenge a firm’s professional charges for acting in the administration of an estate where the firm was instructed by lay executors who approved the invoice? • What are the rights of residuary beneficiaries to interim payments prior to the settling of any liability to IHT and must the PRs wait for the sale of assets before being liable to pay that IHT? Also, what are the rights of residuary beneficiaries to request information and dispute

Where one of two tenants of commercial property dies, the legal estate in that tenancy will pass to the surviving tenant under the doctrine of survivorship. This is because in England and Wales (unlike in Scotland), an interest in land which is jointly owned will always be held legally by way of a joint tenancy. A joint tenancy means that both of the tenants own the whole of the legal estate and on the death of one the survivor becomes the sole owner. No interest in the legal estate passes by Will or otherwise. The position may however be different regarding the equitable interests in the lease. It will therefore be necessary to determine whether the equitable interest in the lease was held by the two tenants as

Before taking action to recover, or forfeit on the basis of rent arrears, the lease should be checked to ensure that any pre-conditions have been complied with. For example, although often expressly excluded, there may be a requirement for rent to be formally demanded before becoming due. By section 166(1) of the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 (CLRA 2002), ‘A tenant under a long lease of a dwelling is not liable to make a payment of rent under the lease unless the landlord has given him a notice relating to the payment; and the date on which he is liable to make the payment is that specified in the notice.’ The notice must be in prescribed form. It will therefore be necessary to

The use of the specific phrase 'any part thereof' is likely to be interpreted by the courts as requiring the property to be solely used as a private dwelling house in single occupation; the proposed user would enlarge that to, when occupied, multiple occupation likely to also include a variation of use to short term holiday lets from a permitted user as a dwelling house under Class C3 of the Use Classes Order: see Moore v Secretary of State for Communities

This Q&A raises the issue of what happens when trustees are not able to agree how their powers should be exercised. It also considers the extent of the court’s power under the Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996 (TOLATA 1996). In the present case there is a sole trustee, but a sale can only be effected if both trustee and beneficiary agree to do so in writing. There is a sole trustee. Assuming the land to be registered, that person will be registered as proprietor at HM Land Registry and would therefore, without more, have the power to sell it to third parties.

Rights of way are notorious for causing legal disputes. Many rights of way will be express, as in this scenario, though they can arise by prescription and by other means. Where a right of way is express, as here, the terms of the easement will govern its use. First recourse should therefore be to the terms of the right of way, which may provide for