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HMLR – PG9

February 2024 | Conveyancing

HMLR has updated PG9 (powers of attorney and registered land). Section 7 has been amended as a result of the Powers of Attorney Act 2023. HMLR will now accept a copy of a power of attorney if it has been certified by a chartered legal executive. Source: www.gov.uk.

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Partner – and employee

February 2024 | Employment

The EAT has heard an appeal where the issue was whether the existence of a pre-existing partnership, through which services are then provided to another party by one of the partners, and for which payment is made to the partnership, precluded the possibility that the partner in question was an employee, as defined by s230(1) …

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Defence – murder; loss of control

February 2024 | Crime

A was sentenced to life imprisonment after being convicted of the murder of his wife. He appealed on two grounds, including that the judge was wrong to withdrew the partial defence of loss of control from the jury. (The second ground was that the judge was wrong not to give any form of good character …

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HMLR – PG28

February 2024 | Conveyancing

HMLR has updated section 2.5 of PG9 (extension of leases). Section 2.5 relates to deeds of substituted security and has been updated to confirm that where the borrower is a company, HMLR will add a note to the register entry if evidence of registration at Companies House is not provided with the application. This brings …

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Relief from forfeiture – mercy killing

February 2024 | Wills, probate and administration

The court has broad discretion whether to grant relief from forfeiture. A recent ruling is likely the first in the context of a so-called mercy killing. The court granted full relief from forfeiture in a case in which the deceased (T) took his own life shortly after he assisted his terminally-ill wife’s (H) death in …

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Sentencing – unduly lenient

February 2024 | Crime

When is a sentence lenient, but not ‘unduly lenient’? In this case, A pleaded guilty to various offences under the OAPA, intentional strangulation and a threat to kill. For each offence, he was sentenced to an 18-month community order (plus an alcohol abstinence and monitoring requirement for 30 days, a rehabilitation activity requirement for 30 …

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HMLR – PG67

February 2024 | Conveyancing

HMLR has updated sections 3.1 and 8.4 of PG67 (evidence of identity) to make it clear that CLC-regulated licensed probate practitioners can now verify identity on forms ID1 and ID2. HMLR has agreed with the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) that CLC-regulated licensed probate practitioners can verify identity even though they may not be conveyancers …

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Sentencing – gravity of offence

February 2024 | Crime

A was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 28 years for murder, and nine years’ detention in a young offender institution for robbery (to be served concurrently). He was almost 19 when the robbery and gang-related ‘revenge’ killing took place. He appealed on the basis that the sentence was manifestly excessive for …

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HMLR – tie up with lenders

February 2024 | Conveyancing

On 16 January 2024 HMLR announced that it is working with mortgage lenders to ensure they will no longer need to chase conveyancers for updates on the status of their HMLR applications. In a new pilot, HMLR will provide ten of the top mortgage lenders with data on the progress of their applications directly. The …

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HMLR – requisition resources

February 2024 | Conveyancing

HMLR reports that in 2023 it sent almost a million requisitions, 70% of which came down to around 30 specific issues. None involved a certificate or consent, but collectively they took a huge amount of time and money to resolve. HMLR has created ten short videos designed to help firms lodge complete and correct applications. …

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