The residence nil rate band (RNRB) is an additional inheritance tax (IHT) exemption that applies where an individual wishes to pass on the family home. It applies where the deceased has direct descendants and whose estate includes a residential property interest which is given to children or grandchildren. In such circumstances an additional threshold is added before IHT is applied to the estate. However, where the deceased has sold their residence prior to their death it may be possible that the estate can in any event take advantage of RNRB even though there

Under section 146(1)(b) of TULR(C)A 1992, it is unlawful for an employer to subject a worker as an individual to any detriment by any act or deliberate omission where the sole or main purpose is to prevent or deter them from taking part in the activities of an independent trade union at an appropriate time, or to penalise them for doing so. For these purposes, ‘an appropriate time’ means: • a time outside the worker’s working hours, or • a time within working hours at which their employer has agreed that they may take part in the activities of a trade union (or make use of trade union services) It is not enough that the employer has subjected the worker to a detriment—it

It is assumed that both companies are private companies limited by shares, that the shareholders of the landlord company are the same as the shareholders of the tenant company, that the landlord company is the freeholder of the property to be leased and that there is no charge over the property to be leased (eg there is no mortgage over the property which would require the lender to consent to the lease). Directors owe various duties to the companies of which they are directors and to other persons. Historically, some of the key duties were fiduciary in nature. The main directors’ duties developed by the courts are now set out in statute in sections 171–177 of the Companies Act 2006 (CA 2006). For

Imposing a period of garden leave on an employee during their notice period will affect the enforceability of any post-termination restrictions which are expressed to run from the date of termination of employment, since their combined effect may go beyond what is reasonably necessary to protect an employer's legitimate business interests. In Credit Suisse, the Court of Appeal held that there is no basis for a set-off of the period covered by a post-termination restriction against a period of garden leave. If a post-termination restriction is valid, the employer is entitled to have it enforced, subject to the usual grounds on which an injunction can be withheld. Although the court can exercise its discretion in deciding the permissible length of 'garden leave', the courts have not rewritten a post-termination restriction so as to enforce

This Q&A assumes that were the joint tenancy to have been severed, the first spouse's interest in the property would have passed to the nil rate band (NRB) discretionary trust on their death and so would not have been in the surviving spouse's estate on their death, such that it would not now pass to the beneficiary. Where property is jointly owned in England and Wales, the legal estate is held by way of a joint tenancy. The beneficial ownership of the property can be held either as beneficial joint tenants or as tenants in common. A joint tenancy means that the co-owners each own the whole undivided asset, and therefore the interest in the property on the death of one co-owner is held by the survivor without an asset passing

The residence nil rate band (RNRB) is reduced in respect of an estate if the value of the estate exceeds £2m (the ‘taper threshold’). In that case, the RNRB is reduced by half of the amount by which the estate exceeds £2m. For this purpose, the value of the estate is the value of the person’s estate immediately before the person’s death (section 8D(5)(e) of the Inheritance Tax Act 1984 (IHTA 1984)). Pursuant to IHTA 1984, s 272, ‘estate’ is to be construed in accordance

It is not uncommon for the terms of a long leasehold to include a covenant by the lessee to use the property only as a private dwelling house, or for a restrictive covenant to have been entered into to the same effect. The scope of such a clause will depend on its wording, and standard covenants may state that the property must be used only as a dwelling house; as a private dwelling house; or as a single private dwelling house. The covenant may also include words to the effect of ‘in the occupation of the Lessee and their family’. If such words are included, the subletting of the premises at all would amount to a breach of covenant: Roundlistic Ltd v Jones. In Snarecroft Ltd v Quantum Securities Ltd, the High Court reviewed various authorities on the various permutations of such a clause. The letting of a property

There are various conditions that must be satisfied for the higher 3% rates of SDLT to apply. The conditions differ depending on whether the purchaser is an individual or not. The identity of the purchaser determines which conditions must be reviewed. Where the purchaser is an individual certain additional conditions apply and these are

This Q&A assumes that the tenant’s failure to top up a rent deposit has given rise to the right to forfeit under the terms of the rent deposit and lease. When there is a breach of covenant which gives rise to the right to forfeit (in this case, the tenant’s failure to top up a rent deposit), the landlord is put to election as to whether it wishes to forfeit the lease or waive the

The Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (PCR 2015), SI 2015/102, reg 10 excludes a number of a specific categories of service contract from the scope of the Regulations. This includes an exemption for land transactions, covering contracts ‘for the acquisition or rental, by whatever financial means, of land, existing buildings or other immovable property, or which concern interests in or rights over any of them’ (see PCR 2015, SI 2015/102, reg 10(1)(a)). For background reading, see Practice Note: Introduction to public contracts procurement—pre PA 2023 [Archived]. Where a contracting authority is simply entering into a standard leasing arrangement, the financial consideration provided by the authority relates solely to the acquisition of land, and nothing further is required from the lessor, then arguably the land transactions exclusion ought to apply. However, the situation would be different to the extent that the transaction involved some form of development agreement. Where for example, the

Refer to section 239 of the Inheritance Tax Act 1984 (IHTA 1984), which covers the issue of clearance certificates and which will answer your question. We give an outline of the provisions of this legislation below. An application for a clearance certificate for inheritance tax (IHT) paid may either be for: • a certificate of discharge of specified property, or • a general IHT clearance certificate Specified property Where HMRC is satisfied that IHT has been or will be paid on a chargeable transfer of specified property, it must, on application at any time of the person liable, give a certificate to that effect if the transfer occurred on death or if the lifetime transferor has died. In other cases, the Board has discretion as to whether it issues a certificate but it is under no obligation to do so (see IHTA 1984, s 239(1)). Such a certificate discharges

Part II of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (LTA 1954) applies to any lease where the demised premises are occupied by the tenant for the purposes of a business carried on by him (section 23 of LTA 1954). The only exception to this is where the parties to it have, before the tenant became bound by the lease, complied with the procedure contained within LTA 1954 to exclude that protection (LTA 1954, s 38A). Where the protection applies, the lease shall not come to an end unless terminated in accordance with the provisions of the Act (LTA 1954, s 24(1)). It is open however for the tenant to surrender the tenancy to the landlord (LTA 1954, s 24(2)). Unless terminated therefore either in accordance with the provisions of LTA 1954 or surrendered by the tenant, the tenancy is continued beyond the contractual fixed-term for as long as the tenant continues to occupy the premises for