The powers relating to the remuneration of personal representatives are contained in section 28 and section 29 of the Trustee Act 2000 (TrA 2000). As a general rule, the office of personal representative, like that of a trustee, is 'wholly burdensome', so that there is no entitlement in law or equity to charge anything other than out-of-pocket expenses for the execution of the duties of the office. There are, however, two exceptions to this general rule that might assist a professional executor in recovering his time costs: • Where the Will contains an express charging clause and the personal representative is acting in a 'professional capacity', he is entitled to be remunerated for his services even if these are capable of being provided by a lay trustee. 'Professional capacity' is defined as acting in the course of a profession or business which consists of, or includes, the

There is no hard and fast rule when it comes to interpreting easements; each one turns on its facts. However, the starting point with an expressly granted easement will always be the deed granting the easement which the court will interpret in its entirety and in its context. Unless clearly directed otherwise, the court will construe the grant in favour of the grantee or owner of the dominant land. In Oliver v Symons, the Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal from a High Court decision (and the Supreme Court then refused permission to appeal) that a right of way ‘to go, pass and repass, with or without motor vehicles and agricultural machinery or on foot only (as appropriate)…’ along a track, was limited to the width of the track itself. If the right of way was construed so as to allow wide agricultural vehicles to pass that needed to ‘swing out’ horizontally over the edges of the

Form LTBT1 is a form prescribed by the Regulatory Reform (Business Tenancies) (England and Wales) Order 2003 (the Order), SI 2003/3096 which provides that if the parties wish to contract out of (or exclude) the provisions of sections 24–28 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (LTA 1954) it is necessary for certain specified steps to be taken prior to such agreement being reached. Originally, it was necessary under LTA 1954 for the parties to obtain court approval of a contracted out lease (the Pre-2004 Procedure). The Order, brought into effect a new regime requiring the landlord to serve a warning notice in or substantially in the form set out in the Order, SI 2003/3096. The notice must be served before the lease is granted or,

The Commercial Rent (Coronavirus) Act 2022 (CR(C)A 2022) came into effect for the most part on 24 March 2022. It creates an arbitration process to resolve rent arrears that arose during lockdown, if landlords and tenants are not able to come to an agreement. It applies to a 'protected rent debt', defined in CR(C)A 2022, s 3 as a debt under a business tenancy consisting of unpaid protected rent. Protected rent is rent due under the tenancy where the tenancy was adversely affected by coronavirus (COVID-19) (as defined in CR(C)A 2022, s 4) and the rent

It is assumed that the properties in question are not subject to either a joint tenancy (given that otherwise they would pass outside of the estate automatically by virtue of the right of survivorship) or other restrictions contained within the deceased’s Will (which may be likely if the properties are owned jointly as tenants in common). Under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 (I(PFD)A 1975), an application for a claim must be made within six months from the date of the grant of probate. During this period, and ideally for four months after to allow for the subsequent service of proceedings, an executor should not distribute the estate. This Q&A refers to this ten-month period as the ‘limitation period’. (It is worth noting that if a person has a claim under I(PFD)A 1975, it is generally not

We have assumed that this question does not relate to a tokenised fund or a blockchain traded fund (BTF), but a fund that invests in cryptoassets, including cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoins or ethereum. Funds are a form of collective investment. See Practice Note: Collective investment schemes—essentials, which explains what a collective investment scheme (CIS) is and covers the definition of CIS set out in section 235 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA 2000). You will note from the Practice Note that a CIS can relate to property of any description. See also Practice Note: Web 3.0, digital assets and cryptoassets-essentials. You will note under the heading ‘Cryptoassets as property’ that case law has confirmed that cryptoassets are to be viewed as property. Note that CISs can be regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) or unregulated.

Private Client analysis: The court determined that a 19-year old woman with a degenerative disease lacked capacity to make decisions about life-sustaining treatment because she did not believe her doctors when they explained to her that she was dying. In reaching the conclusion, the judge found that the woman’s inability to believe the clinical realities of the situation was caused by an impairment or disturbance in the functioning of her mind or brain, even though the medical evidence was that the woman was not suffering from any identifiable psychological disorder or brain injury. The case poses some perhaps challenging questions about the place of diagnosis and the limits of hope in the face of death when it comes to capacity determination. Written by Alex Ruck Keene KC (Hon), barrister, 39 Essex Chambers.

We are not aware of any authority dealing directly with this point, but would assume that provided the claim is brought within the limitation period the usual rules of evidence apply, even in respect of evidence pertaining to events after the limitation period has expired. Evidence, in its bare sense, relates to proving or disproving a fact or matter in issue. The law of evidence indicates what may properly be introduced by a party (that is, what is admissible), and also what standard of proof is necessary (that is, the degree of conviction or persuasion that the evidence needs to produce). In short, the law of evidence governs the means and manner in which a party may substantiate his own case, or refute that of his opponent. For more information, see Witness evidence—overview. The question of admissibility of evidence is whether the evidence is relevant

In determining whether taking preparatory steps to procure the alternative supply of a product or stock will constitute a breach of an exclusivity clause, it is imperative to first consider the terms of the supply agreement agreed between the parties. Prior to entering into a supply agreement, it is likely that the parties will have discussed and negotiated commitments to exclusivity of supply and minimum purchase volumes. The parties would therefore be encouraged to incorporate a form of exclusivity clause. For an example exclusivity clause and an example minimum purchase volume commitment, see clauses 3 and 4 respectively of Precedent: Supply of goods agreement—pro-supplier. The decision in Globe Motors Inc v TRW Lucas Varity Electric Steering Ltd provides a reminder to parties

The HMRC inheritance tax manual: IHTM43042 domicile: domicile of first spouse or civil partner to die states: ‘Abdul domiciled abroad. His only asset situated in the UK was a US dollar account containing US$250,000. He left this and the remainder of his estate to his son, Jamil who lives in the UK. After the death, his wife, Soroya, moved to the UK to live with Jamil and died domiciled in the UK. The assets situated outside

There will be a difference in approach by the courts to the release of documents such as a witness statement according to whether a hearing is in public or in private. Family proceedings, unless otherwise directed, are in private (Family Procedure Rules 2010 (FPR 2010), SI 2010/2955, r 27.10). FPR 2010, SI 2010/2955, r 12.73 provides that for the purposes of the law relating to contempt of court, information (including witness statements) relating to proceedings held in private may only be communicated where the communication is with the permission of the court, or is to one of the categories of persons listed at FPR 2010, SI 2010/2955, r 12.73(1)(a), including a party, the legal representative of a party and a professional legal adviser. While FPR 2010, SI 2010/2955, r 27.11(2)(f) permits the media to attend hearings held in private, they are not allowed access to

We refer you to section 517M of the Income Tax Act 2007, which states: ‘No liability to income tax arises under this Part [9A] in respect of a gain accruing to an individual if— (a) the gain is exempt