Many businesses (particularly those that are family run) do not have formal Partnership Agreements in place. This in the main arises from a number of misconceptions, notably:

1. that you can work through the stresses and strains of a business relationship by leaving it to honesty, good faith and trust
2. it incurs unnecessary legal costs at the outset by committing to paper what you actually do in practice

The old adage “prevention is better than cure” was never more true. Written Partnership Agreements help you curtail disagreements before they become acrimonious and litigious.

People and circumstances change and may react differently to the strains and stresses of working together. The excitement you feel at the start of a new venture may end in bitter acrimony and dispute as to who contributed what (both in terms of money and time), and who is entitled to reap the spoils of the venture. You therefore need a written document setting out at the outset the terms in respect of contributions and expectations that you all have, the monies and property that each partner contributed to the business, what you are entitled to draw throughout the term, and the percentage you own of the partnership assets.

This is in addition to how decisions will be made as the partnership proceeds and how disputes will be resolved in the face of deadlock.

You should also include a buy-out mechanism or an expulsion mechanism if the circumstances permit so that everyone knows where they stand. Succession plans need to be considered for retiring partners and also a mechanism for admitting new partners to expand the business.

In the absence of a written agreement, The Partnership Act 1890 shall apply. The Act assumes all partners are equal and does not recognise the right to expel a partner. A partnership also automatically dissolves on the death of one partner so the absence of a Partnership Agreement fundamentally affects succession planning.

It is therefore prudent to consider these issues at the outset and then commit what has been agreed to paper. If you are an existing partnership that has been trading for a number of years, it is never too late to put a Partnership Agreement in place or review an existing Agreement.

For further information please call us on (01267) 237741 or make an appointment to see one of our specialist solicitors.

If you purchased your current property prior to 1st December 1988 there is a distinct possibility that your property is not currently registered at the Land Registry as only 60% of land in England and Wales is registered.

The Government and the Land Registry are actively encouraging landowners of unregistered land to register their land at the Land Registry.

The Government has indicated that it requires all property in England and Wales to be registered as part of the e-conveyancing process.

The Land Registry are currently discounting their fees by 25% for voluntary first registration in order to encourage land owners to register their property in advance of the Government target date.

Although registration of your land is not compulsory until your land is sold, given away or mortgaged, this has not always been the case and making a voluntary application brings many advantages to give you peace of mind:-

• the Land Registry will guarantee your title
• it will prevent third parties from making claims against your land.
• the title to your property will be condensed onto one single document and stored electronically at the Land Registry.
• it is not necessary to have a physical set of deeds and thus reduces the necessity for bulky storage of papers either with yourself or your bank or your Solicitor.

We can offer fixed fees for this work so please speak to one of our specialist Property Solicitors on (01267) 237441 to discuss how UTK can assist you.

 

 

Every year, more and more people like to leave a gift to charity in their Will. These legendary acts are a vital source of income for our favourite causes and are instrumental in enabling them to continue their work.

That’s why we’re taking part in Remember a Charity in your Will Week to help raise awareness of the importance of gifts left in Wills.

If you could pass on one piece of advice to your younger self, what would that be?

That’s the question Remember a Charity asked charities, their supporters, the general public, politicians and celebrities. The response was hundreds of legendary quotes – words of wisdom from now to future generations. These quotes form the narrative for this year’s Remember a Charity in your Will Week.

Writing a Will is one of the most important things you will ever do. It’s a common myth that you have to be wealthy to leave a gift in your Will to help a charity, but nothing could be further from the truth. After taking care of family and friends, you too can do something legendary by including a charity in your Will.

Find out more at www.rememberacharity.org.uk or speak to one of our Wills and Probate team on (01267) 237441 about updating your Will.

Solicitors who deal with property transactions are at particular risk of being used by people to try to launder money – where criminals try to hide the proceeds of their crime.

Therefore if we are acting for you in a purchase transaction, we will need to be satisfied as to the source of the money that you intend to use to fund your purchase of the property. If you have inherited money from a relative, you could show us a copy of the estate accounts showing the sum you received or provide a copy of the bank statement showing where you deposited the money. If these are savings then a bank statement should suffice to confirm this.

We will also carry out due diligence to confirm your identity so will also ask you to provide photographic ID such as a passport or driving licence and also ID to confirm your address such as a recent utility bill or bank statement.

We are often asked by clients who are moving house whether they need to instruct us to undertake conveyancing searches.

As part of the home buying process we would normally carry out various searches in relation to the property you are purchasing or leasing.

The searches are undertaken and their results considered and reported on before we invite our clients to enter into a legal commitment. If any adverse issues arise from those search results, then these are clarified before we advise you to proceed.

However the information obtained from the searches does not reveal any aspects of the physical condition of the property – for this you should instruct a qualified surveyor to inspect the property and report to you on it.

Arguably, if you are a cash purchaser, you could instruct your solicitor not to undertake any searches at all. However this would be contrary to our advice and best practice. If you are obtaining a loan which is to be secured over the property, your lender will require a number of searches to be undertaken.

These are normally the following:

1. Local Authority search
Information provided by this search is provided by your Local Council and will reveal a variety of issues on a more local level which will include a history of any planning applications or building regulations applications, consents or refusals in relation to the property, public rights of way, footpaths and bridal paths, nearby road schemes, road adoption and any other issues in relation to the property in the records held by your Local Council.

2. Environmental Search
This reveals information in relation to contaminated land, flooding issues or problems and issues in relation to radon gas. It will also include a report on current and historical land uses in the vicinity which may have an impact on current or future saleability of the property which may affect your decision to proceed as a result of land contamination.

3. Energy and Water Search
The data provided in relation to this search is from the local water company in which the property is situated. It would normally reveal whether the property is connected to mains water supply and drainage, or whether the property has a private water supply and if it is reliant upon a septic tank or other private drainage arrangements in respect of both surface water and foul water from the property. It will also reveal the route and position of any drains, sewers or water mains in the vicinity and whether they pass through the property upon which we will be able to advise both the legal and practical implications of this affecting the use and enjoyment of the property.

There are a variety of other searches which we may undertake, depending upon the type of property that you are proposing to purchase or lease and where it is situated e.g. a Coal Mining Search or a Radon Gas Search. All the searches undertaken by Ungoed Thomas and King are done online to ensure the results are available as quickly as possible. We also obtain the searches direct from the data provider, as opposed to a personal search which is provided by an intermediary search company which will not be as comprehensive as the official search which we obtain on our clients behalf.

On receipt of search results we report to our clients enclosing a copy of the search result but also summarising and explaining its implications. If any issues arise from the search results, we will raise this with the current property owners’ legal representatives, so that before you enter into a legal commitment to purchase or lease the property you are fully aware of all legal and practical issues.

For further information in connection with the service that we can provide for our clients purchasing a property please contact our property team on 01267 237441.