We have assumed that this Q&A is referring to a judgment creditor considering making an attachment of earnings application against the judgment creditor in a civil or commercial matter. Attachment of earnings orders An attachment of earnings order allows a judgment creditor to enforce a judgment by having sums deducted automatically from the debtor’s earnings (including pension payments and statutory sick pay). The employer is ordered to make payments out of the wages into court and the court then releases them to the judgment creditor. Therefore, this requires the co-operation of the debtor’s employer. See Practice Note: How to apply for an attachment of earnings order. The County Court has exclusive jurisdiction over attachment of earnings orders in civil cases and since 6 April

Following changes made to the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 (LRHUDA 1993) in 2002, in relation to all claims for a lease extension under LRHUDA 1993, s 42 after July 26 2002, the tenant is required to have been a qualifying tenant of the flat for at least two years. The two-year period is measured back from the date on which the notice is given. If a lease is held in trust for two years it could be argued that a mere change in the composition

Family Procedure Rules 2010 (FPR 2010), SI 2010/2955, 9.26B provides that the court may direct that a person or body be added as a party to proceedings for a financial remedy if: • it is desirable to add the new party so that the court can resolve all the matters in dispute in the proceedings, or • there is an issue involving the third party and an existing party that is connected

This Q&A raises two particular issues, namely: • jurisdiction in respect of applications for non-molestation orders made by persons outside the UK, and • whether a non-molestation order can be made to prevent harassment which is occurring via email or social media It is assumed that the behaviour complained of is of sufficient degree to amount to harassment. A person’s eligibility to make an application for a non-molestation order is not based on the place of residence of the applicant, but rather on their relationship with the person against whom the order is sought. Section 42 of the Family Law Act 1996 (FLA 1996) provides that the court may make a non-molestation order on the application of a

We have assumed that • deed of variation in question was intended to benefit from relief under section 142 of the Inheritance Tax Act 1984 (IHTA 1984) • the surviving spouse was not granted a qualifying interest in possession under the deed of variation For a variation intended to benefit from inheritance tax relief under IHTA 1984, s 142, see Practice Notes: Variation of Will or intestacy

Since the coming into force of the Child Support Act 1991, the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) and its precursor bodies have had sole jurisdiction in matters relating to child support, the courts retaining jurisdiction only where income exceeds a set minimum (ie, top-up orders), where the parties agree (though either can seek a CMS assessment after 12 months) or where there is a foreign element, in some circumstances. For further guidance, see Practice Notes: Child maintenance and financial provision—spouses and civil partners and Child support—top-up maintenance orders. The CMS works out its calculations based upon the yearly gross income of the paying party. This

A pension attachment order is not a separate type of order capable of being made on divorce: it is simply a type of financial provision order eg a periodical payments order or a lump sum order. It is not clear from the question whether the periodical payments order is therefore part of the pension attachment order or separate from it. See Practice Note: Pension attachment orders. Nonetheless, this may be of little consequence. Note that the proceedings must have been commenced after 1 December 2000 for a pension sharing order to be made. A pension attachment order and a pension sharing order can be made against an armed forces

We have assumed that the scheme to which the buy-in policy relates is a defined benefit (DB) scheme to which the funding requirements of Part 3 of the Pensions Act 2004 apply. As explained in Practice Note: Actuarial funding valuations, a full actuarial valuation of a DB scheme is required at least triennially (ie every three years). However, in the years, where no full actuarial valuation is required, scheme actuaries must prepare an actuarial report. The purpose

Pursuant to section 31(2)(g) of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 (MCA 1973), the court has the power to vary or discharge a pension sharing order before the decree has been made absolute. The variation would not then take effect until the decree absolute (MCA 1973, s 31(4B)). If the parties do not yet have decree absolute, and the pension sharing order has not been implemented, then the transferor may seek a variation or discharge of this part of the order. The discretion of the court when considering such an application is considered to be almost unfettered. See Practice Notes: Pensions on divorce etc—variation and appeals and Variation of financial

A ‘pension trust’ is another way of describing a trust-based pension scheme. It is a legal arrangement under which assets of the pension scheme are held by trustees for the benefit of the scheme’s beneficiaries. A trust-based pension scheme cannot operate without trustees to carry out the functions and make decisions on how to administer the scheme (whether that is a sole corporate trustee or a board or individual lay-trustees). When a sole trustee resigns or is otherwise removed, a new trustee must be appointed to take over that role. Accordingly, when the former corporate trustee in this case was removed prior to its dissolution, a replacement trustee should have been appointed

Since the coming into force of the Land Registration Act 2002 (LRA 2002), the means by which title to land can be acquired by adverse possession differs according to whether it is registered or unregistered. Common to both types of land however is the need to show a period of adverse possession. Neither the LRA 2002 (in the case of registered land) nor the Limitation Act 1980 (LA 1980) (in the case of unregistered) defines what a person must do to be regarded as being in adverse possession or how that state of affairs may be brought to an end. The LRA 2002 however provides that the concept of adverse possession is the same in both cases (LRA 2002, Sch 6, para 11(1)). In those increasingly rare cases where title is not registered, then after the elapse of 12 years of adverse possession

Significant changes were made to the section 21 regime by the implementation of the Deregulation Act 2015 (DA 2015) which, inter alia, made amendments to the Housing Act 1988 (HA 1988) and Housing Act 2004, and the Assured Shorthold Tenancy Notices and Prescribed Requirements (England) Regulations 2015 (ASTN Regs 2015), SI 2015/1646. DA 2015, s 37 introduced into section 21 the power for regulations to prescribe the form of a section 21 notice, with the ASTN Regs 2015, SI 2015/1646 being made to this effect. ASTN Regs 2015, SI 2015/1646, reg 1 provides that the regulations apply in relation to an assured shorthold tenancy (AST) of a dwelling-house in England granted on or after 1 October 2015, but do not apply to one which came into being