Case study In financial remedy proceedings Form Es have been exchanged. The husband is engaged in civil litigation with the wife's step-father. The wife's step-father’s solicitors have written to the wife’s solicitors asking them to disclose to any financial information they have about the husband that may assist their client within the Form E. The wife has confirmed she consents to the release of information. What are the wife’s solicitors obligations? In both civil and family proceedings, the court controls the use of documents during the proceedings and in certain circumstances, at the end of proceedings. Family Procedure Rules 2010 (FPR 2010), SI 2010/2955, 29.12(1) provides that: ‘Except as provided by this rule or by any other rule or Practice Direction, no document filed or lodged in the court office shall be open to inspection by any person without the permission of the court, and no copy of any

The Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme (DVDS) is often referred to as ‘Clare’s Law’. It is a scheme that has been introduced to provide the police with procedures relating to the disclosure of information where it is necessary to prevent crime, and allows the police to disclose whether their partner has a history of violent and abusive offending. The purpose of DVDS is to provide a consistent scheme whereby the police can exercise their common law power to disclose such information. DVDS comprises of the right to ask, meaning that an individual may apply to the police for disclosure, and the right to know, where the police decide to disclose information to protect a potential victim. DVDS

It is not uncommon in a company insolvency to find that there is an overdrawn directors’ loan account—ie that the company has paid sums to its director(s) which have been recorded in the company’s accounts as loans. However, if the company subsequently goes into liquidation and the loan account is overdrawn, the liquidator will seek to recover the debt as it represents an asset of the company. If the liquidator concludes that

Interest generally accrues on judgment debts, and interest runs from the date judgment is given, unless the court or a rule or Practice Direction says otherwise. For further guidance, see Practice Note: Interest on judgment debts. A charging order is an indirect method of enforcement which secures the judgment debt rather than satisfies it. The debt may be satisfied at a later date by applying for an order for sale of the

It would appear that interest is not payable on arrears due under orders for periodical payments made, or registered, in the Family Court. The County Courts (Interest on Judgment Debts) Order 1991, SI 1991/1184 (as applied to the Family Court by the Crime and Courts Act 2013 (County Court and Family Court: Consequential Provision) Order 2014, SI 2014/1773, art 2) applies only to sums of £5,000 or more due under a lump sum order. However, there seems to be no such restriction on

Under section 42 of the Finance Act 1930, an instrument transferring property (such as shares) between two bodies corporate that are associated at the time the instrument is executed will be relieved from stamp duty provided certain conditions are met and a claim for relief is successfully made. This relief is often called intra-group relief or stamp duty group relief. To claim this relief, a group relationship or ‘association’ must be established between the transferor and the transferee. This association (or group relationship) must exist at the time that

There are two elements to this Q&A. The first is whether an easement of parking may be created, however, there is some uncertainty on this and therefore we refer you to the Practice Note: Dealing with parking rights which sets out the legal status of parking rights and the tests applicable to them (the ‘degree’ test and the ‘possession and control’ test) to determine whether they may be easements. Whether an easement of parking may be created is

Meaning of joint, several and joint and several liability For details on the meaning of the terms joint, several and joint and several liability and how such liability is established under a contract, you may find useful Practice Note: Joint, several, and joint and several liability and Precedent: Joint and several liability clause and the associated Drafting Notes. Privity

Power to appoint an agent Where land is held by co-owners, the land is held on a trust of land. Two or more trustees may authorise any person to act as their agent. This is provided for in section 11(1) of the Trustee Act 2000, which states: 'Subject to the provisions of this Part, the trustees of a trust may authorise any person to exercise any or all of their delegable functions as their agent.' This is known as ‘collective delegation’ and a common form of agent used is an attorney. Powers of attorney under the Powers of Attorney Act 1971 Land Registry Practice Guide 9, which is entitled 'Powers of Attorney and Registered Land' (the Practice Guide) states in its paragraph 2.1: 'The Powers of Attorney Act 1971 provides a short form of general power of attorney that can be used by a sole

Section 123 of the Local Government Act 1972 (LGA 1972) governs the disposal of land by principal councils. This provides that subject to the provisions of that section, a principal council may dispose of land held by them in any manner they wish (LGA 1972, s 123(1)), though save in respect of a short tenancy, this must not be for a consideration less than the best that can reasonably be obtained (LGA 1972, s 123(2)). The remainder of the section contains other prohibitions, save that LGA 1972, s 123(7) defines a disposal by way of a short tenancy as being the grant of a term not exceeding seven years, or the assignment of a term which has not more than seven years to run. Section 32 of the Housing Act 1985

Partnership property A partnership will normally be governed by the deed of partnership or partnership agreement (see Precedent: Partnership agreement). In the absence of any stipulations about partnership property in the partnership deed, the provisions of the Partnership Act 1890 (PA 1890) will apply. For further information, see: General partnerships—overview. PA 1890, s 20(1) specifies two types of partnership property, namely all property and rights and interests in property: • originally brought into the partnership stock or • acquired, whether by purchase or otherwise, on account of the firm, or for the purposes and in the course of the partnership business Unless the contrary intention appears, property bought with money belonging to the firm is deemed to have been bought on account of the firm. Partnership property must be held

Common land is owned either by a local council, privately or by the National Trust. The general public usually have the right to roam on it, meaning it can be used for certain activities like walking and climbing. For further guidance, see Rights of common and public rights of access—overview. Town and village greens (TVGs) are often used for sports and recreation (eg playing football), but some do have additional ‘rights of common’ over them such as the right to graze livestock. Unlike common land, there is no general right of public access to a TVG. Many greens are owned and maintained by local parish or community councils. Some are privately owned, see Practice Note: What is a town or village green? The government website summarises the relationship between common land and TVGs as follows: 'You can use town and village greens for sports and recreation, eg playing football or walking your dog. Some also have 'rights of common'