FLK 2 FINAL STUDY CARDS

Question 1

LAND LAW

How long does a local authority have to take enforcement action for failure to obtain a building regulations completion certificate? Can it take any further action?

Answer 1

The local authority has 12 months to bring an enforcement action based on the failure to obtain a certificate.

Yes, it may seek an injunction to force an owner to bring the property up to standards, if the work was not up to standards, at any time if the work is deemed to be dangerous

Question 2

LAND LAW
When must a mortgage charge be registered at Companies House?

Answer 2

Within 21 days after completion

Question 3

CRIMINAL PRACTICE
What is the maximum extension of custody without charge?

Answer 3

96 hours (4 days)

Question 4

CRIMINAL PRACTICE
Can a suspect’s access to legal advice be delayed and if so, how?

Answer 4

Yes, up to 36 hours IF::

1. indictable only or either way offence
2. Authorised by Superintentant or above
3. Reasonable grounds access to advice will interfere with evidence/others/alert suspects/hinder recovery of property related to offence

Question 5

WILLS & ESTATES
What is considered when someone’s unmarried partner is not left any inheritance and they apply to court for some of the estate?

Answer 5

Court considers if Will/intestacy failed to make reasonable financial provision for applicant. For unmarried partners, the standard applied is the financial provision required for the partner’s maintenance such that they can live decently and comfortably according to their situation. (measured objectively)

Question 6

CRIMINAL LAW
What type of offence is Robbery?

Answer 6

Indictable only

Question 7

CRIMINAL PRACTICE
What is the general presumption of bail for most offences and how is it different for murder?

Answer 7

Defendants generally have a right to bail. The presumption is reversed for murder suspects (the presumption is against release instead of in favour of release)

Question 8

ETHICS
What should you do if I am buying a home and my mother, who is providing the deposit for me, phones you up directly to ask you to register a charge on the property in favour of her?

Answer 8

You should advise moms that you cannot accept her instructions because of a conflict of interest and send her away for independent legal advice.

Question 9

LAND LAW
How should a legal easement over UNREGISTERED land be protected? What happens if the document is not a legal easement?

Answer 9

No need - legal easements on unregistered land bind the world. The purchaser does not need notice of the legal interest.

If the document is not a legal easement (i.e. an equitable easement), it should be registered as an easement on the land charges register under the name of the burdened property owner

Question 10

CRIMINAL PRACTICE
If a store is burgled which was caught on poor quality CCTV and the owner recognizes the perpetrator as a former employee who worked at the store a few weeks ago but the former employee denies the allegation, should an identification procedure be arranged?

Answer 10

No as the suspect is known to the witness. The witness has seen the suspect recently-he stopped working at the store a few weeks ago-and so will be able to pick the suspect out at an identification procedure. The quality of the footage being poor means the witness may be mistaken in their assertion that it is the former employee; conducting an identification procedure will not redress this issue

Question 11

CRIMINAL LAW
Explain the elements of criminal damage?

Answer 11

Unlawful damage to another person’s property caused intentionally or recklessly.

Question 12

WILLS AND ESTATES
A woman dies and her appointed executor predeceases her. She leaves her estate to a charity and to three of her children provided they reach the age of 21. Her husband is living. One of her children is 18, the other two are 25. Who can administer her estate?

Answer 12

The two kids who have reached the age of 21 have the best entitlement to act as administrator. The 18 year old only has a contingent interest

Question 13

WILLS AND ESTATES
What is it called when a will fails to appoint a valid executor and someone else is appointed?

Answer 13

The estate is administered by an administrator under a grant of letters with will annexed

Question 14

LAND LAW
If a property is in a conservation area and the current owner built an annex in the garden 3 years ago (without planning permission), can the local authority take enforcement action against a new buyer?

Answer 14

Yes as planning permission would have been required and the authority has FOUR years to take action

Question 15

TAX
On 1 July 2022, a woman made a cash gift of £2,500 to her sister. On 1 May 2023, she made a cash gift of £2,000 to a friend. On 1 June 2023, she made a cash gift of £50,000 to a discretionary trust. The woman has not made any other lifetime gifts.

What is the gross chargeable transfer value for inheritance tax purposes of the gift made to the trust after taking account of all available exemptions

Answer 15

£48,500

£48,500. The annual exemption is set against potentially exempt transfers, even if they never become chargeable. The annual exemption is offset against the earliest gift in the tax year automatically. The 2023/24 annual exemption (£3,000) is therefore reduced by the amount given to the friend (£2,000), as this was before the gift to the discretionary trust (£50,000). The current year’s annual exemption (£3,000) must be offset prior to the offset of any brought forward amounts (£500, as the woman would have used £2,500 of the prior year’s annual allowance to offset the gift to her sister). (No small gift exemption would apply because it is available only if the entire gift is £250 or less.) Therefore, the gross chargeable transfer value is £50,000 (the gift to the discretionary trust) less £1,000 (the remaining 2023/24 annual exemption after the gift to the friend) less £500 (the annual exemption from the previous year left after the gift to the sister), which equals £48,500

Question 16

LAND LAW
How is the benefit of a covenant enforceable by a covenantee’s successors in title?

Answer 16

(1) the covenant touches and concerns the land of the covenantee;
(2) the covenant was intended to run with the legal estate held by the covenantee;
(3) at the time the covenant was made, the covenantee held the legal estate in the land to be benefited; and
(4) the assignee of the original covenantee now holds the legal estate

Question 17

LAND LAW
If there is already one mortgage charge registered against a registered property, how is a second charge registered? How is this different for unregistered land

Answer 17

A second charge is registered on the charges register of the title. For unregistered land, the bank should register a (c(i)) puisne mortgage on the Land Charges Register

Question 18

WILLS AND ESTATES
Can an executor use their power of appropriation to use an alternative gift to satisfy a legacy or interest in the estate if that executor is the beneficiary?

Answer 18

Typically the executor can do so for non-executor beneficiaries, however, unless the will provides otherwise, it is not permissible for a PR to make an appropriation in their own favour to satisfy a pecuniary legacy with an asset other than cash or the equivalent of cash, such as government stocks or quoted shares

Question 19

TAX
How is SDLT calculated?

Answer 19

SDLT is calculated on both the premium and the present value of the lease, but these are calculated SEPARATELY

Question 20

CRIMINAL LAW
When can you rely on self-defence?

Answer 20

2 limbs
1 - the trigger: Did the defendant believe the use of force was necessary? (subjective)

2 response: Was the amount of force used reasonable in the circumstances as the defendant believed them to be? (objective)

Question 21

CRIMINAL PRACTICE
Can the Court of Appeal increase the sentence on appeal by a defendant from the Crown Court

Answer 21

No - it can only quash the sentence imposed by the CC and impose an appropriate sentence

Question 22

CRIMINAL PRACTICE
What are the grounds for adducing a non-defendants bad character evidence?

Answer 22

(1) all parties to the proceedings agree to the evidence being admissible;
(2) it is important explanatory evidence, or
(3) it has substantial, probative value in relation to a matter which is a matter in issue in the proceedings and is of substantial importance in the context of the case as a whole

Question 23

LAND LAW
A tenant sublet his rented premises to a subtenant. The tenant then surrendered his headlease.

Will the subtenant have to vacate the premises due to surrender of the headlease?

Answer 23

No, If a headlease is ended by surrender, the sublease will not come to an end. The subtenant will become the tenant of the landlord on the terms of the sublease and will have to pay rent due under the sublease to the landlord

Question 24

TRUSTS
A trust of successive interests has been created with one minor life tenant and one remainderman.

When is the minor life tenant entitled to receive the income of the trust?

Answer 24

When they reach 18

Question 25

LAND LAW
What are the grounds for a landlord issuing a S25 notice to a tenant terminating their tenancy 6 to 12 months before the end of the lease term?

Answer 25

1 the landlord desires to demolish the premises;
2 breaches of obligations under the lease by the tenant;
3 the availability of suitable, alternative premises for the tenant; and
4 landlord’s desire to reconstruct or move into the premises.

Generally, if the ground serving as the basis for termination is not tenants fault, the tenant is entitled to statutory compensation. However, compensation is not available if suitable alternative premises are available.

Question 26

PROPERTY PRACTICE
What happens when a seller’s lawyer holds the deposit as agent?

Answer 26

The seller’s solicitor will hold the deposit and may pay over the deposit to the seller immediately after exchange

Question 27

PROPERTY PRACTICE
What happens when a seller’s lawyer holds the deposit as stakeholder?

Answer 27

The money is held by the seller’s lawyer and paid to them on completion only

Question 28

WILLS AND ESTATES
If you die and you named your civil partner as a beneficiary and executor, but you and them dissolved the partnership before you died, what happens to the gift and the executorship?

Answer 28

The gift will fail, and the civil partner will not be entitled to act as executor.

Question 29

CRIMINAL LAW
Is factual impossibility (for example, I go out to buy zol from the plug, and he sells me some menthol skyfs) a defence to the charge of attempt?

Answer 29

Nope as attempt is when you do something more than merely preparatory toward the commission of an underlying crime

Question 30

TRUSTS
If a trustee holds funds for 2 grandkids provided they reach 25 and one grandkid (aged 17) ass for an advance on the capital, can this be done? The trust was created in 2013

Answer 30

Yes, up to half the grandsons presumptive share if the trust was created before 1 October 2014. After that date the full amount can be advanced

Question 31

CRIMINAL PRACTICE
If I am charged with ABH (either way) and my co-defendant is charged with robbery (indictable only), where will I stand trial for ABH?

Answer 31

Crown court, as I need to appear at court on the same occasion as my co-defendant

Question 32

PROPERTY PRACTICE
How do you find out if a property is connected to the public water supply?

Answer 32

Drainage and water search

Question 33

PROPERTY PRACTICE
Explain the local search?

Answer 33

Two parts to a local search:
1 a search of local registrations that might burden the land and
2 enquiries to the local authority regarding information with respect to issues including roads, public rights of way, and planning

Question 34

TRUSTS
What is the given postulant test and when is it used?

Answer 34

Can it be said with certainty if someone is part of a class. Used for discretionary trusts

Question 35

TRUSTS
What is the complete list test and when is it used?

Answer 35

The beneficiaries (or ‘objects’) of a trust must be defined with sufficient certainty. The test for certainty of objects in a fixed trust is that it must be possible to draw up a complete list of all the beneficiaries

Fixed trusts

Question 36

WILLS AND ESTATES
For a successful revocation of a will, must the testator be present at the destruction if they order a third party to do it?

Answer 36

Yes - it must be done at the direction of the testator in his presence

Question 37

WILLS AND ESTATES
If you die and you leave property to your sister, who dies, but who leaves living children, do those children inherit instead?

Answer 37

No, living issue only inherit if you leave the property to your own issue.

Question 38

TAX
Question
A man died on 20 December 2019 and left an estate worth £2,200,000 to his friend. The man’s main residence, valued at £600,000, was included in the total value of the estate. The man did not make any lifetime gifts.

The residence nil rate band for 19/20 was £150,000, and the regular nil rate band was £325,000.

What amount of the man’s estate is chargeable to tax?

Answer 38

£1,875,000. To calculate the amount of the estate chargeable to tax, we reduce the amount of the estate by the nil rate band (£2,200,000 - £325,000 = £1,875,000). The estate cannot be further reduced by the residence nil rate band because that is applicable only if the recipient of the estate is closely related to the decedent, such as a lineal descendant. Here, the man’s entire estate was left to his friend.

Question 39

PROPERTY PRACTICE
What searches should you carry out for registered title with a mortgage?

Answer 39

An official search with priority and a bankruptcy search. After exchange and before completion, the buyer’s solicitor must carry out pre-completion searches to ensure the buyer is protected against undisclosed third-party rights.

Question 40

TRUSTS
What formalities are required for a trustee to retire without being replaced?

Answer 40

A deed - consent (if any) must also be obtained and at least 2 trustees should be left in office (or a trust corporation)

Question 41

TRUSTS
Can trustees advance capital to a child beneficiary?

Answer 41

Yes provided it is for the child’s advancement or benefit

Question 42

CRIMINAL PRACTICE
How would intoxication affect someones sentence?

Answer 42

Intoxication is an aggravating factor that may be taken into account.

Question 43

TAX
On 1 October 2022, a homeowner sold his holiday cottage for £200,000. He had bought the cottage in July 2002. The homeowner’s expenditure on the cottage prior to its sale was as follows:

• Legal fees on purchase £800
• Purchase price £110,000
• Re-decoration costs £2,100
• Cost of building a garage £7,500
• Replacement of a few roof tiles after a storm £150

In addition to the purchase price, which of these costs will be deducted in calculating the homeowner’s chargeable gain?

Answer 43

The £800 legal fees and £7,500 cost of garage only. Revenue expenses which merely maintain and repair the asset are not deductible (so the re-decoration costs and replacement of tiles are not deductible). However, any purchase costs and costs of improvement can be deducted, such as the legal fees on purchase, and the cost of building a garage, in addition to the acquisition costs.

Question 44

TAX
In December 1999, a woman purchased a house for £176,000. The woman has always rented out the house to tenants. In December 2000, the woman installed a new bathroom at a cost of £6,400. In January 2021, the woman sold the house for £642,000. The woman also paid stamp duty land tax at 1% of the purchase price (£1,760) when she bought the house. The capital gains annual exempt amount for tax year 2020/21 was £12,300.

The woman did not make any other capital disposals in 2020/21.

What is the woman’s taxable capital gain after applying the annual exempt amount?

Answer 44

On disposal of a chargeable asset, to determine the chargeable gain, we subtract the original acquisition costs from what was received on disposal. We can also deduct costs incurred at acquisition such as legal fees and stamp duty land tax paid. If capital improvements were subsequently made to the property, the costs of these improvements also are deducted from the disposal receipts so long as the improvements are still part of the property. Thus, the gain here is £457,840: £642,000 - (£176,000 + £1,760 + £6,400). We then subtract the annual exempt amount and multiply what is left by the applicable tax rate: £457,840 - £12,300 = 445,540 x .28 = £124,751

Question 45

ACCOUNTS

A firm of solicitors acts for a client in relation to a property conveyancing matter. On behalf of the client, the firm pays a bill from a surveyor of £300 plus £60 VAT. The invoice is addressed to the firm.

Which of the following entries should the firm make with regard to the payment?

Answer 45

Debit £300 - Business side of Client x’s ledger.

Question 46

PROPERTY PRACTICE
When is a bank entitled to sell a property?

Answer 46

The power of sale arises when the contractual date to redeem the mortgage has passed. The power of sale becomes exercisable only if one or more of the following is satisfied:
(1) interest payments are more than two months in arrears;
(2) there has been a written request for repayment of the capital and three months have passed without payment; or
(3) there is a breach of some other term of the mortgage