Conference Agenda

Family Law Key Developments

Presented by Safda Mahmood

These presentations will take place between 9.30am and 5.00pm and include lunch.

6 hour of CPD for only £149+vat.

Private Children Law Developments

• Specific issue applications and developing case law surrounding vaccinations
• Removal of Parental Responsibility and Termination of Contact
• Scott Schedules in Fact finding hearings
• Enforcement of Orders and use of Special Guardianship
• Committal Applications

Domestic Abuse Law and Developments

• Developments surrounding the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 – The current position and what has changed?
• Non-molestation and Occupation Orders – Templates and Developments
• Enforcement and Participation

Divorce Law - Online Divorce Law and New Non-Fault Divorce - Are You Ready?

• Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020 – The essentials
• How does this Act change divorce law and procedure as we know it?
• Removal of the Facts for Divorce
• New Terminology
• Joint applications - How will this work and why is this such an important innovation?
• The Online Divorce Process – what do you need to know?

Financial Remedy and Cohabitation Cases - Developments

• Material Non-Disclosure
• Impact of COVID – 19 to financial remedy cases and whether a relevant Barder Event
• Conduct Issues in Financial Remedy Cases
• PD 36V – Family Mediation Voucher Scheme
• Use of Arbitration
• Developments in Costs
• Cohabitation and Estoppel
• Use of TOLATA 1996 and links with Schedule 1 CA 1989

Wills & Probate Key Developments

Presented by Professor Lesley King

These presentations will take place between 9.30am and 5.00pm and include lunch.

6 hour of CPD for only £149+vat.

Private Client Update

This session will provide a comprehensive review of recent developments over the next few months and will examine the implications for private client practitioners. The content will depend on what happens in the next few months but it is likely to include:

• The new Excepted Estates Regulations
• A look at the current issues in relation to applications for probate
• The latest on the Trust Register and implications for trustees of family trusts
• An update on tax in relation to estates and trust
• Decisions in the areas of wills, trusts and professional practice with particular emphasis on lessons to be learned and good practice.

The Most Common Trust Errors

Trusts are an essential part of the Private Client Practitioner’s Toolbox but it is surprising how often mistakes are made. This session will look at some of the common mistakes and how to avoid them.

• Not reading the trust deed
• Using an out of date precedent
• Not setting up the trust correctly
• Overlooking the rule against self-dealing
• Forgetting about fraud on a power
• Mis-managing appointments and retirements of trustees
• Tax errors
• Faulty trust documentation
• Faulty applications to court

Avoiding Challenges To Wills You Have Drafted

It is impossible to avoid challenges completely but relatively simple steps can reduce the possibility. This session will look at precautions you can take in the light of recent cases including:

• Re Williams
• Re Nodes
• Wales v Dixon
• Royal Commonwealth Society For The Blind v Beasant & Davies
• Coles v Reynolds

Residential Property Conveyancing Update

Presented by David Keighley

These presentations will take place between 9.30am and 5.00pm and include lunch.

6 hour of CPD for only £149+vat.

These sessions will look at recent case law and statutes and examine the implications for property law practitioners. Issues covered may include:

• Has the Supreme Court “killed” conveyancing undertakings?
• EWS1: Does anybody know what should solicitors do or not do?
• Implications of Supreme Court decision in Duval v Randolph Crescent 2020
• The 2021 Shared Ownership Model Lease
• Restrictive Covenants: lapse/obsolescence
• Joint Tenancy: Mistake
• The impact of short-term lets on Leasehold covenants
• Adverse Possession: Intention to possess following Amirtharaja v White [2021] EWHC 330 (Ch)
• Loophole in Code for Completion?
• Enfranchisement: meaning of “a house”
• Rent charges: Where are we now?
• Service Charges
• Miscellaneous Practice Points

Commercial Property Developments

Presented by Mark Shelton

These presentations will take place between 9.30am and 5.00pm and include lunch.

6 hour of CPD for only £149+vat.

Covid and Commercial Property

When Covid-19 first hit, at a time when no post-Brexit trade deal had yet been agreed with the EU, the impact on the business world in general, and commercial property in particular, was unknowable. All that could be said with certainty was that it would be significant, and mark the close of one era and the beginning of another.

The retail and hospitality sectors in particular have undergone a serious trauma, while the inability of many tenants to pay rent, and the restrictions placed upon landlords’ remedies, have upturned usual lease arrangements. The extent to which normal office life will return is open to question, while the government has ripped up the Use Classes Order, and is conducting a wide-ranging review of commercial landlord and tenant law generally.

We will survey the changes since March 2020, and assess how far the predictions of commentators have been justified by events.

Caselaw Round Up

While the effects of Covid-19 have generated important caselaw, the courts have not been idle in other areas.

The past year has, so far, seen notable decisions on:

• Break options and stripping-out
• Part 26A restructuring and ‘cross-class cramdown’
• Discharge of restrictive covenants
• Implication of repairing covenants
• The contracting-out procedure
• Enforcement of keep-open covenants

Others will no doubt emerge as time goes on.

Cases covered will include:

• Capitol Park Leeds v Global Radio Services
• Re Virgin Active Holdings
• Savage v 60 Kent Road (Maintenance) Ltd
• Stonecrest Marble v Shepherds Bush Housing Association
• TFS Stores v The Designer Retail Outlet Centres
• Sapphire 16 S.a.r.l. v Marks and Spencer

Termination Of Tenancies By Business Tenants

It might seem at first glance that termination of a commercial tenancy should usually be a very simple business. What makes it complicated is the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954, which is something of a paradox, since it was designed to make life easier for tenants. While it does give tenants important and valuable rights, it is a highly technical piece of legislation, and offers different means of termination at different stages of the tenancy.

When a tenant has decided to bring its lease to an end, it will often be a priority to do so as soon as possible, so as to limit the exposure to further rental payments. The complexity of the Act means that opportunities can be missed, unless the tenant’s advisors are on top of the law and procedure.

Lease Re-Gearing - Avoiding The Pitfalls

The Covid-19 pandemic and lockdowns led to a flood of lease variations, but this is work which crops up perennially.

These matters may look routine, and clients expect them to involve a minimum of fuss and expense, but they can raise a number of technical issues, and will require bespoke drafting. A deed of variation may inadvertently confer security of tenure on a contracted-out tenant and even a humble rent review memorandum can give rise to difficulties.

Getting things wrong can involve the inadvertent release of guarantors, adverse impact on rent review, and additional SDLT liability.

Vacant Property - Managing the Issues, Using the Opportunities

The point of investing in property is to have it producing income, so letting voids are bound to be unwelcome. They undoubtedly need managing, as a range of issues are likely to arise.

Is there any way of avoiding or reducing liability for business rates? How can the risk of break-ins and malicious damage be addressed? How can the premises be cleared and marketed, if the former tenant has abandoned goods there? Professional advisers need to be familiar with the tools at their disposal to tackle these problems.

At the same time, a vacant property presents an opportunity for repair, upgrades, statutory compliance work and perhaps re-purposing to accommodate change of use; we will consider upsides as well as downsides.