It is commonly the case on the breakdown of a marriage that, by the time financial remedies proceedings come before the court, one or both of the parties to the marriage will have a new partner and may be cohabiting with them, either in a matrimonial property such as the former matrimonial home or elsewhere. In such circumstances, the court may take into account the resources of the new partner when considering a fair division of the matrimonial assets, if, for example, they are cohabiting in a property owned by the new partner. In the course of financial remedy proceedings, particularly if there are limited assets, it may well be the case that there are insufficient

On the death of a sole executor or a sole surviving executor where the estate administration is incomplete and there is an unbroken chain of executorships, the appointment of new executors is automatic: no further formalities are required (see section 7 of the Administration

This Q&A assumes that: • the property is registered at HM Land Registry in the sole name of the deceased • there is no form A restriction registered on the title We refer you to HM Land Registry Practice Guide 6: devolution on the death of a registered proprietor, which confirms at paragraph 2.1 ‘Grants of probate or letters of administration’, that: ‘You will need a grant of probate or letters of administration to deal with

Where one party has significant health issues or disabilities and the former matrimonial home has been adapted to meet their needs, the court may postpone a sale to allow that party to remain in the property, even if this delays the other party’s ability to realise their share. However, there is no legal principle which states that this must happen, and each decision will be highly fact-specific. This situation raises similar issues to an appeal heard by HHJ Booth in V v V. In this case, the court prioritised the severely disabled husband’s housing needs over those of the wife and children, given limited net assets of around

A non-owning spouse has a right to occupy the matrimonial home, and can register their ‘home rights’ with HM Land Registry, pursuant to section 30 of the Family Law Act 1996 (FLA 1996). Such notice provides a modicum of protection against a sale as it ensures that the purchaser has notice of their claim to an interest. The beneficiary of a notice will be informed of a pending sale (and a sale cannot take place without the consent of the beneficiary). This will enable them to make an urgent application to the court for a freezing injunction pursuant to section 37 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 (MCA 1973) to prevent the disposition of the property. FLA 1996, s 31 deals with

This Q&A considers a scenario in which the Will is not suffering from any physical damage, obliterations or unexplained deletions or amendments to the extent that a proactive plight and condition affidavit would be required (see Commentary: Affidavit of plight and condition and finding: Tristram and Coote's Probate Precedents [A6.11]). In this scenario, the Will is not illegible but is only truly legible when read with artificial means, save that such means are merely reading against a light rather than on a flat surface. Any legible

The Practice Note: Administration actions—removal of personal representatives—practice and procedure explains the procedure for making a claim under section 50 of the Administration of Justice Act 1985 to remove the original executors and appoint a substitute. The procedure to be followed once the order substituting or removing the personal representative (PR) has been made is set out in Commentary: Jurisdiction and procedure: Butterworths Civil Court Precedents [352.1]. This commentary explains that, once an order is made substituting or removing

When filing a divorce petition via a paper application the marriage certificate must be filed with the petition. If it is not possible to lodge the marriage certificate at the time that the petition is filed and it is urgent that the application (petition) is filed, permission may be obtained from the district judge for the petition to be filed without it on the solicitor’s undertaking to lodge it at the very earliest opportunity and within any time limit set by the court. In such a case, the Family Procedure Rules 2010 (FPR 2010), SI 2010/2955, provide that the applicant or their solicitor must file a statement with the application explaining why the required document is not available

This question focuses on whether a simple written release of a restrictive covenant between the covenantor and the covenantee will be binding on the covenantee’s successor in title in circumstances where the release has not been registered. Thus, HM Land Registry will not have removed any notice relating to a restrictive covenant as the question assumes that no conclusive evidence of its discharge has been provided to HM Land Registry. To enforce a restrictive covenant, the covenantee’s successor will have to show that he is entitled to the benefit

The statutory Acas Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures states that employers should allow an employee to appeal against any formal decision made. Also, if a decision is taken to dismiss an employee, the employer should inform the employee as soon as possible of the reasons for the dismissal, the date on which the employment will end, the appropriate period of notice and their right of appeal. Further, employees should let employers know the grounds for their appeal in writing, and the appeal should be dealt with impartially and, where possible, by a manager who has not previously been involved in the case. According to the Acas guide: Discipline and grievances at work (pp.34-35): • appeals may be raised by employees on any number of grounds, eg new evidence, undue severity or inconsistency of the penalty an appeal must never be used as an opportunity to punish the employee

We have assumed that: • the premises are in England • the outgoing tenant's lease has come to an end Occupied hereditaments—liability An occupier of the whole or part of a hereditament is liable to pay business rates. Rateable occupation in relation to non-domestic property is determined in accordance with rules explained and developed by extensive case law. These rules, which applied under the General Rate Act 1967 (GRA 1967) (now repealed), have been preserved under the Local Government Finance Act 1988 (LGFA 1988), but any express statutory rules contained in GRA 1967 must be ignored. The courts have accepted that there are four necessary ingredients in rateable occupation: • there must be actual occupation • the occupation must be exclusive for the particular purposes of the possessor • the possession must be of some value or benefit to the possessor, and • the possession must not be for too transient a period These

Case study The owner is building an extension on property A and needs to erect scaffolding on property B to do so. The works are not repair works and therefore the Access to Neighbouring Land Act 1992 (ANLA 1992) should not apply. If the owner of B refuses to grant a scaffolding licence, are there any statutory provisions that the owner of A rely on? The ANLA 1992 can facilitate matters on occasions, however a court will usually only grant an access order pursuant to ANLA 1992 where it is necessary to: • carry out maintenance, renovation or repair of a property (or parts of it) in order to preserve it • clean or repair sewers, drains, cables or pipes • remove or fill in