There has been a move over the last ten years or so to promote the use of mediation in dealing with farm succession planning.

We were instructed on behalf of a commercial landlord who was seeking to take back possession of its premises because the tenant was not paying rent. The tenant was in substantial arrears, but was continuing to carry on a restaurant business from the premises.

As a landlord, you have obligations under S11 of the Housing Act 1987 to keep your property in good repair. In particular, you are responsible for:

It is not unusual for property to be co-owned by family members within a farming family, regardless of whether or not those members are actively involved in the farming business.

Commercial leases are unlikely to include provision for rent suspension in circumstances of a health epidemic and tenants will be left to try and negotiate a rent-free period or discounted rent with their landlord.

There has been a flurry of Inheritance Act 1975 cases in the last few weeks, most recently the case of Re H where an adult child claimant was successful despite her being estranged from her father and having had no financial assistance from him for a number of years prior to his death, and he had left his estate to his elderly and disabled spouse.

A recent decision by the First-tier Tribunal has decided that contributions to, and subsequent loans from, a remuneration trust scheme were not ‘earnings’ or disguised remuneration.

My clients were two of three trustees, and the claim against them was brought by their third co-trustee, the surviving widow of the deceased.

I acted for the beneficiary of a trust who was concerned that trust assets to which he was entitled had been maladministered.

The Government has now published the long-awaited Commercial Rent (Coronavirus) Bill which contains details of the proposed arbitration scheme intended to deal with unpaid rent arrears accrued during the pandemic.