A man is walking along a street when a woman runs towards him shouting loudly and waving her arms. The man is confused by what the woman is shouting, but genuinely believes that the woman is about to attack him. A reasonable person in the man’s position would not have believed that the woman was about to attack him.

As the woman approaches the man, the man pushes her to the chest with both hands, causing her to stumble backwards. The force he used to push her would have been reasonable if the man were being attacked. The woman is shocked and angry, but not injured. The woman explains to the man that she was trying to warn him about some roof tiles that were falling from a nearby building.

A police officer sees the incident and the man is arrested and subsequently charged with common assault. The man intends to rely at court on the defence that he acted in self-defence when he pushed the woman.

Which of the following best explains whether the man can rely on self-defence?

The freeholder of a commercial building (‘the Landlord’) granted a lease of the whole building to a tenant.

The tenant is concerned that the building does not benefit from enough natural light and now wishes to create two new apertures in an external wall of the building to accommodate windows.

The tenant is seeking the consent of the Landlord to make these alterations.

The alterations covenant in the lease is as follows:

“The Tenant may not make alterations to the Building save for non-structural alterations.”

Can the Landlord withhold consent to the tenant’s proposed alterations without giving reasons?

A man attacks a victim at a nightclub, violently banging the victim's head backwards against a wall and intending to cause the victim really serious bodily harm. The victim is badly injured and goes to the doorman who works at the nightclub to ask for help. The doorman thinks the victim is drunk and throws her out of the building.

Soon afterwards the victim is found lying on the pavement and is taken to hospital. Her condition is very serious due to massive brain damage, sustained as a result of the man’s actions together with some deterioration in her condition while she is lying on the pavement. She is placed on a life support machine which is switched off when it becomes clear she has suffered brain stem death.

The man is charged with murder.

Which statement best explains the man’s potential liability for murder?

A woman died six months ago leaving an estate of £60,000 to be divided equally between her three children at the age of 21. Her son is 24 and her two daughters are 19 and 14. Her son is about to receive his share of the estate. The trustees have received a request to advance capital to help set up the elder daughter’s new catering business. The woman’s will does not extend the trustees’ powers of advancement.

What is the maximum amount the trustees can apply in accordance with the request?

Three men and a woman enter an office where the woman works between 9am-5pm, Monday to Friday. The group enter the office at 10pm on a Saturday night to have a party. The woman lets them in using her keys.

After half an hour they become bored and so one of the group suggests that they look around to see if there is any alcohol they can steal. Whilst inside the office the group search through the drawers and find some whisky which they drink. They also find £300 which they steal.

Which of the following best describes whether they are guilty of burglary?

A woman is the owner of the registered freehold of a workshop.

She orally agrees to give an artist the exclusive right to occupy the workshop as his studio. They agree that the arrangement will last for 12 months and that the artist will take immediate possession. There will be no upfront payment but a monthly market rent will be payable.

The artist confirms the terms of the arrangement in an email which the woman reads but does not acknowledge.

The artist takes no further action in relation to the arrangement but, before the artist moves into the workshop, the woman tells him that she has changed her mind.

The artist claims the arrangement has created an enforceable agreement allowing him to occupy the workshop as his studio.

What has been created by the arrangement?

A client goes to see his solicitor because his neighbour’s roof has recently fallen into disrepair and he wants to see if he can do anything about it.

He shows his solicitor a deed in which the neighbour gave a covenant for the benefit of the client’s house: “not to let the roof fall into disrepair.”

Which of the following best describes why the client is likely to be able to sue the neighbour under this covenant?

A firm of solicitors is acting for the executors of a deceased man’s estate. It has just obtained the grant of probate. When it applied for the grant of probate, the firm paid the probate application fee of £273 from its business bank account. The firm receives £5,225 from the deceased man’s bank, being the closing balance of the deceased man’s account with the bank, which it pays into its general client bank account.

The firm has received, but not yet paid, an invoice for £100 (no VAT payable) addressed to the firm from a local valuer who provided a probate valuation of the deceased man’s furniture.

The firm submits a bill to the executors as follows:

Professional charges                              £1,000
VAT                                                            £200
Paid disbursement (probate fee)         £273
Unpaid disbursement (valuation fee)  £100
Total £1,573

What is the maximum amount the firm can transfer to its business bank account?

The police are called to a bar in relation to an allegation of an assault. The attending police officers speak to a man who is bleeding from a cut to the face. A woman is arrested at the bar on suspicion of assaulting the man occasioning him actual bodily harm. The arresting officer notices blood on the woman’s hand.

The woman is taken to a police station. Her detention is authorised and she is subsequently interviewed under caution in the presence of her solicitor. On the advice of her solicitor, the woman exercises her right to silence in the interview and does not give an explanation for the blood on her hand.

The interviewing officer warns the woman that an assault is being investigated and that she is being asked to account for the blood on her hand as it is believed that the blood may be present because she committed the assault. She is reminded that the interview is being recorded and the record may be given in evidence at a court hearing, and that an inference may later be drawn by a court if she fails to account for the blood during the interview. The woman continues to exercise her right to silence.

The woman is charged with assaulting the man occasioning him actual bodily harm. The woman pleads not guilty and refuses to give evidence at her trial.

Can the trial court be invited to draw an adverse inference from the woman’s failure to account for the blood on her hand in her interview under caution?

A woman dies leaving all her estate to a charity. The following document is found by the executors amongst the woman’s papers:

“I hereby confirm that I am holding my holiday cottage on trust for my son and daughter-in-law.”

The document is dated a year ago and is signed by the woman. The signature is not witnessed.

The woman had taken no further action in relation to the cottage of which she was the sole registered proprietor. Her son and daughter-in-law (who are both adults) knew nothing about the document. They became estranged from the woman and had not been in contact with her in the six months prior to her death.

The son and daughter-in-law are claiming the cottage is held on trust for them and does not form part of the woman’s estate.

Which of the following factors is relevant in deciding whether the cottage is held on trust for the son and daughter-in-law?

A man intends to create a trust to benefit his daughter during her lifetime but ultimately he wants the trust fund to pass to his grandson.

The man transfers the trust fund to trustees to hold on trust for his daughter for life remainder to his grandson provided the grandson qualifies as a solicitor in England and Wales.

After the trust is created, the daughter and grandson are involved in a car accident. The grandson dies at the scene of the accident and the daughter dies shortly afterwards in hospital. The grandson was in his second year of a law degree in London.

The trustees seek advice as to who is entitled to the trust fund.

Which of the following statements best describes who is entitled to the trust fund?

A woman died and was survived by her husband and son who is aged 30 years. Under the terms of her will, the woman created a trust fund of her residuary estate in the following terms:

“to pay the income from my residuary estate to my husband for the remainder of his life and after his death I GIVE my residuary estate to my son if he survives my husband and attains the age of 25 years but if he does not so survive then to my sister absolutely.”

The husband is discussing the possibility of bringing the trust to an end with the trustees.

Whose consent is required to bring the trust to an end now?

A woman was travelling on a train late at night when she was approached by a man holding a large knife. The woman ran away and fell, injuring her knee. The man had not intended to cause the woman any injury and had not realised that his actions created a risk of injury. The man did realise that his actions created a risk that the woman would fear that she would be subjected to immediate unlawful force.

Can the man be guilty of assault occasioning actual bodily harm?

A solicitor acts for a client who is found guilty of theft. The client asks the solicitor to present a plea in mitigation on her behalf. At the hearing the client gives the court a false address and date of birth in order to conceal the fact that she has previous convictions.

Which of the following statements best describes what the solicitor should do?

Three friends own a registered, freehold property together as beneficial tenants in common in equal shares. The property is subject to restrictive covenants.

One of the friends has died. The executors of his estate have recently obtained a grant of probate.

The property is being sold to a buyer. She will hold the property on trust for herself and her adult son.

The contract for the sale has been exchanged. This incorporates the Standard Conditions of Sale (Fifth Edition – 2018 Revision) with no relevant amendments.

The transfer is being drafted in readiness for execution.

Who, if anyone, must execute the transfer in addition to both of the surviving friends?

A man is arrested at 11pm on a Wednesday, under suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm with intent to a woman. He is brought to the police station arriving at 11.30pm and his detention is authorised at 11.45pm.

The police investigations are ongoing. There are searches to be undertaken, witnesses to be located and medical evidence to be obtained. There will be a delay in obtaining the medical evidence as the woman is undergoing extensive surgery. The investigating officers anticipate that they will need to use the maximum powers of detention available to the police before charge and may need to seek a warrant of further detention from the Magistrates’ Court.

Until what time can the man be detained before charge without a warrant of further detention?

A solicitor is acting for a client who is the sole owner of a freehold property.

The property is not a listed building and is vacant, but was used as office premises until five years ago.

The client plans to carry out internal works to the property so that she can let it as a single private dwelling house.

She has asked for the solicitor’s advice about whether her plans constitute ‘development’ and therefore whether she will need to obtain planning permission.

Will the client require planning permission for her plans for the property?

A solicitor supplements his income with buy-to-let flats. The solicitor decides to sell one of the flats and use the capital for another investment. One of the solicitor's clients offers the full asking price for the flat and the solicitor accepts his client's offer.

In the full knowledge that the solicitor is the seller, the client instructs the same solicitor in writing to act as his solicitor in the transaction. The solicitor accepts the instruction and prepares all the documents. The transfer is completed without complications.

Were the solicitor's actions in accordance with the SRA Standards and Regulations?

A man separated from his wife several years ago. They remained friends and did not divorce. The man began to cohabit with his partner three years ago.

Six weeks ago, the man, his wife and their daughter (aged 21) were in a car crash whilst on their way to attend the daughter’s graduation ceremony. The man was killed instantly. The wife and daughter died the following day.

The cohabitee is still alive. The man has no other relatives. He died intestate and his net estate passing under the intestacy rules is £1,500,000.

Which of the following best describes how the man’s estate will be distributed?

A woman bought a house in Wales for £300,000 five years ago. She has carried out extensive renovation and refurbishment works to it.

Contracts for the sale of the house to a buyer have been exchanged. The sale price is £450,000.

The buyer’s solicitor is preparing for completion. He is currently drafting a financial statement for his client and needs to include the tax payable upon completion of the purchase.

Which tax will be payable by the buyer upon completion of the purchase?

A woman holds a grudge against her former employer.

The woman goes to the former employer’s house intending to smash a window of the house with a brick. She sees a car on the drive of the house and realises that someone may be inside the house. She also realises that, if she throws the brick, the life of anyone inside the house could be endangered either by the brick or by flying pieces of glass resulting from the brick smashing the window. However, she does not intend to harm anyone or to endanger anyone’s life.

The woman throws a brick through the kitchen window. The window smashes and pieces of glass are thrown into the kitchen as a result. The son of the former employer is sitting in the kitchen. The brick flies past him and narrowly misses hitting him. He is cut by several pieces of flying glass, causing life threatening injuries.

Which of the following best describes why the woman is guilty of aggravated criminal damage?

A solicitor is acting for a tenant of business premises in connection with an application for the grant of a new tenancy, following service by the tenant of a request under s.26 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (1954 Act).

Although the landlord is not opposing the grant of a new tenancy, the tenant is concerned that they will not reach agreement on the terms of the new tenancy.

The solicitor advises the tenant that in default of agreement the court has the power to order the grant of a new tenancy for a new duration.

The tenant has asked for clarification on the extent of the court’s powers.

If the landlord and tenant do not agree the terms of the new tenancy, what order can the court make?

A man died ten months ago domiciled in England and Wales. A grant of representation to his estate was issued seven months ago. By his will, the man left all of his estate to his favourite charity. The man’s widow is considering whether to bring a claim against his estate under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 ('the Act'). There are no circumstances in which a court would give permission for a late application to be made under the Act.

Which of the following statements best explains whether the widow is able to bring a claim under the Act?

A man was convicted in the Magistrates' Court of theft four months ago. He received a suspended sentence order of six months’ custody. The operational period of the suspended sentence is 12 months. A requirement to complete 80 hours of unpaid work was attached to the suspended sentence order and the man has completed the unpaid work.

The man has now been convicted in the Magistrates’ Court for an offence of criminal damage committed one month ago.

Can the Magistrates’ Court activate the custodial sentence?

A man died intestate a month ago. He had never been married or in a civil partnership. At the time of his death, the man was living with his partner, with whom he had been cohabiting for 20 years, and her daughter (aged 23 years). The partner’s daughter lived with the man and his partner throughout their relationship.

The man had a son (aged 25 years) from a previous relationship and a daughter (aged 19 years) whom he and his partner adopted ten years ago.

Who is entitled to share in the distribution of the man’s estate?

A leasehold flat was owned by a brother and sister as tenants in common in equal shares. The sister died last month and under the terms of her will, the whole of her estate is given to her adult daughter absolutely. It is estimated that the flat is worth £200,000 as a very similar flat in the same block sold for that figure last month. The sister’s estate will be subject to Inheritance Tax (IHT).

If the estimated worth of the flat is correct what will be the value of the sister’s half share for IHT purposes?

A man owns the freehold of a commercial building and intends to grant a lease of the building to an insurance company.

The man is registered for Value Added Tax (VAT) and, prior to granting the lease, exercises an option to tax the building.

The insurance company makes only exempt supplies for the purposes of VAT in the course of its business.

What effect does the man’s option to tax the building have on the rent payable to the man by the insurance company?

A solicitor is acting for the purchaser of a property in England with registered title.

The purchaser is buying the property with the aid of a mortgage.

Contracts have been exchanged, requisitions on title made, and the solicitor has conducted a pre-completion priority search of the title.

Following completion, the solicitor will need to deal with post-completion matters involving payment of Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) to HM Revenue & Customs and registration of the dealing at the Land Registry.

Registration at the Land Registry must take place within 30 working days of which date?

A man has been charged with robbery. He was not represented at the police station because he declined legal advice. The man agreed to take part in a video identification procedure and was positively identified by one of the witnesses to the crime.

The man has a visible scar under his right eye which was mentioned by an eyewitness in their initial witness statement. No attempt was made by the video identification inspector to conceal the scar on the man’s face when his image was placed in the compilation of images for the video identification procedure.

A solicitor has now been instructed to represent the man at his forthcoming trial in the Crown Court, where the man will plead not guilty. As part of the solicitor’s trial preparation, she has reviewed the images used in the video identification procedure and has noted that only two of the other eight images shown in the video identification procedure show similar looking males with a visible scar under their right eye.

The solicitor establishes that as a consequence there has been a provable breach of Code D of PACE 1984.

Which of the following statements best states whether evidence of the video identification procedure will be admitted in evidence at the man’s trial?

A client has entered into a contract to sell her house.

After exchange of contracts, the client seeks advice about whether she may keep the light fitting in the sitting room. This is held to the ceiling by three small screws and was made by the client’s late father.

The light fitting is not mentioned in the contract.

May the client remove the light fitting before completion?

A burglary takes place at a jewellery shop in the early hours of the morning. The police were called to the incident by the manager of a bar which is situated opposite the jewellery shop ten metres away. The manager of the bar viewed the burglary via the bar’s closed circuit television (CCTV) system, however no recording of the burglary is available because the CCTV system was faulty.

The manager gave a statement to the police indicating that, despite the poor street lighting, he recognised the offender as a man who used to work in the bar until one year ago. He names the man to the police.

The man, who has previous convictions for burglary, is arrested by the police. In his police interview under caution, the man agrees that he used to work in the bar, but denies that he committed the burglary. The police are considering whether to hold an identification procedure.

Would an identification procedure serve a useful purpose in this case?

A woman telephones the emergency services and speaks to a civilian call handler. She sounds in distress and is crying. She alleges that her husband, whom she names, has just assaulted her by punching her to the face. She states that she has locked herself in the bathroom of their house to make the call because she is scared that he will assault her again. She asks for police officers to attend at their address. The call is recorded.

When police officers arrive a few minutes later the husband is still in the house. The woman is locked in the bathroom and is still upset and crying. The attending police officers coax the woman out of the bathroom and note that she has reddening and bruising to her face. The husband is arrested on suspicion of assaulting the woman. The woman refuses to give a statement to the police officers.

The husband exercises his right to silence when he is interviewed by police officers under caution. He is charged with common assault. He pleads not guilty and his case is adjourned for trial. The woman refuses to come to court to give evidence stating that she is not in fear of her husband and that she wants their relationship to continue. The prosecution wishes to rely upon the account given by the woman during her telephone call to the emergency services at the husband’s trial.

Can the woman’s account given during the telephone call be admitted at the husband’s trial as part of the res gestae?

A man died one month ago leaving a will by which he appointed his friend as his sole executor.

The executor has not yet applied for a grant of probate. He wishes to protect himself against claims of unknown creditors and has decided to place advertisements in the London Gazette, a newspaper circulating in the district in which any land forming part of the estate is situated and any other newspaper or publication he considers might be appropriate.

Which of the following best describes how the executor can protect himself against claims from unknown creditors through advertising as above?

A firm of solicitors is acting on behalf of the executors of a will. The administration of the estate will be completed shortly and the executors have asked the firm to pay the legacies due under the will.

As a separate matter the firm also acts for one of the beneficiaries of the will in connection with the beneficiary’s purchase of a property. The beneficiary is entitled to a legacy of £20,000 from the will. The beneficiary gives written instructions to the firm to use this £20,000 legacy to repay the £2,000 the firm has already incurred in surveyor’s fees and searches (for which the firm has billed the beneficiary) and retain the balance of £18,000 and use it as part of the purchase price.

Which of the following statements best explains the action the firm should take?

A freeholder (‘the Landlord’) granted a ten year headlease to a tenant.

After a year, the tenant, with the Landlord’s consent, granted a sublease for a term of five years to a subtenant.

Two years later, the tenant surrendered its headlease to the Landlord.

Which of the following statements best describes the position of the subtenant?

A man finds a caravan in a field and decides to set fire to it. He gives no thought as to whether there is anyone inside the caravan before he sets fire to it.

In fact there is a woman inside the caravan who cannot escape because of the smoke and who is burnt to death when the caravan is destroyed by the fire. The man intended to unlawfully destroy property but not to harm anyone.

Which of the following best describes the man's liability for unlawful act manslaughter?

A woman died leaving an estate comprising two bank accounts and a freehold property. Her will divided the residue of her estate equally between her son and her daughter.

Five years ago the woman and her son (who was then 22) had a serious argument and her son left the family home. None of the family has seen him since. The personal representatives (PRs) have questioned other relatives and friends to attempt to ascertain the son’s whereabouts but with no success.

Three months ago the PRs placed advertisements complying with s.27 of the Trustee Act 1925 in the London Gazette and in a local newspaper. The PRs have had no responses to these notices from either the woman’s son or anyone claiming to be a creditor of the estate. They propose to distribute the entire residue to the woman’s daughter and pay only the creditors they currently know about.

Which of the following statements best describes the PRs’ protection from claims by creditors and beneficiaries as a result of the enquiries made and s.27 of the Trustee Act 1925 notices placed?

An adult man has been charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm upon his girlfriend with whom he has a child. He has pleaded not guilty and the case has been adjourned for trial.

The man has a condition of bail not to contact his girlfriend. The police receive a report from his girlfriend’s mother to say that the man is at his girlfriend’s flat. When the police attend the flat they arrest the man on suspicion of breaching his bail condition.

The man admits visiting his girlfriend at her flat. He explains that his girlfriend telephoned him and asked him to visit because their child was ill. His girlfriend has confirmed that the man’s account is correct.

The police allege that the man has breached his bail condition.

Which of the following statements best represents the position regarding the allegation that the man has breached his bail condition?

A solicitor has been contacted by a woman who asks him to represent her father by attending him at the police station. The father has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and is in custody at the police station.

The solicitor is fully aware of the circumstances of the allegation as he represented the woman’s brother several days ago when the brother was arrested for the same offence. The brother has now been charged with the offence. The firm will carry out the usual conflict of interest check.

Does the SRA Code of Conduct for Solicitors, RELs and RFLs permit the solicitor to represent the woman’s father at the police station?

A solicitor is acting for the buyer of a freehold property with registered title.

The seller’s solicitor tells the buyer’s solicitor that the property benefits from a legal right of way on foot, across a neighbour’s registered freehold property, to reach a road.

What will the buyer’s solicitor look for when examining the Land Registry official copy of the title to the property to confirm that the right of way is properly registered?

A freeholder (‘the Landlord’) has granted a commercial lease of a property to a tenant.

The lease provides that the property may not be used other than for retail purposes.

The tenant is a bookstore and requests Landlord’s consent to assign the lease to a supermarket. The bookstore is an independent trader that is finding it difficult to pay the rent. The supermarket is operated by a highly profitable national chain.

The Landlord wishes to withhold consent to the assignment because it operates another supermarket opposite the property and is concerned that the assignee will take trade away from its own business.

The relevant wording of the alienation covenant in the lease is as follows:

“The Tenant shall not assign underlet or charge the Property without the prior written consent of the Landlord.”

Can the Landlord lawfully withhold consent to the assignment on the basis of the assignee’s business?

A firm of solicitors is acting on behalf of a client who is selling his property and purchasing a new property. On exchange of contracts for the sale, the firm receives a deposit of £25,000 which is to be held as stakeholder.

Which pair of double entries best shows how the receipt of the deposit should be recorded in the firm's accounting records?

A freeholder granted a 15 year commercial lease of a property in 2012 to a newsagent.

The newsagent subsequently assigned the lease to a clothing retailer.

The clothing retailer assigned the lease to a chemist.

The chemist assigned the lease to a bookstore.

All the assignments were made with the landlord’s consent.

For the assignment to the clothing retailer, the freeholder required an authorised guarantee agreement from the newsagent.

Similarly, the freeholder required an authorised guarantee agreement from the chemist when the lease was assigned to the bookstore.

The bookstore has failed to pay the latest quarter’s rent.

Apart from the bookstore, from whom can the freeholder recover the outstanding rent?

A business lease dated 15 July 1989 was granted to a company (‘the Tenant’). It commenced on 24 June 1989 for a term of 50 years.

The Tenant is in the process of assigning the residue of the term of the lease to another company (‘the Assignee’).

The lease provides that assignment of the lease can only occur with the landlord’s consent (not to be unreasonably delayed). The Tenant has applied to the current landlord (‘the Landlord’) for consent to assign the lease and the Landlord has indicated its consent in principle subject to the completion of a licence to assign.

The Landlord’s solicitor is drafting the licence to assign. She is drafting the covenant to govern future liability under any tenant covenants in the lease.

Which one of the following possible covenants should the Landlord’s solicitor include in the draft licence to assign?

Under the terms of a man’s will, the whole of his estate was given to his daughter. The man had a serious disagreement with his daughter and decided that he no longer wanted her to be the beneficiary of his will. He tore his original will into four pieces.

The man and his daughter are now reconciled and the man regrets his decision to tear up his will. He wants his daughter to inherit the whole of his estate.

Is the man’s will valid?

A man died on 4 May 2022. He left his entire estate to his nephew. He was a bachelor and did not make any lifetime gifts. His estate comprised a house free of mortgage worth £175,000 which he had lived in for over 20 years and bank and building society accounts with balances totalling £550,000. He also owned a house worth £170,000 free of mortgage which he inherited from his aunt and which has been rented out to tenants for the last 30 years. The man’s debts and funeral expenses totalled £9,000.

In the 2022/23 tax year the nil rate band is £325,000 and the main residence nil rate band is £175,000.

How much Inheritance Tax will be payable on the man’s estate?

A man has been arrested on suspicion of common assault. He is a professional football player earning £180,000 per year. It is alleged that the man punched a photographer who was trying to take a picture of him whilst he was having a drink with a woman in a bar. The man has never been in trouble with the police before and has requested that he is represented by the duty solicitor while at the police station.

Will the man be entitled to publicly funded legal representation in connection with the defence of his case?

A woman occupied a shop under a two year lease. At the end of the term, the lease was renewed for a further two years. The woman continues to occupy under the new lease. The new lease was made by deed and its provisions made no reference to s.62 of the Law of Property Act 1925.

The shop has an external storeroom at the rear, which is owned by the landlord. Although it is not included in either lease, the woman has always used it to store stock. At the beginning of the original lease, the landlord said he was happy for the woman to do this, as long as she kept the storeroom tidy, because he also uses it for storage.

Yesterday, the landlord revealed his plan to demolish the storeroom. The woman wants to prevent this by establishing that she has the right to use the storeroom.

Does the woman have an enforceable easement to use the storeroom?

A solicitor is acting for the seller of a freehold property with unregistered title.

The solicitor is preparing for deduction of title to the property to a solicitor acting for the buyer. He examines the deeds and documents relating to the property.

Which of the following is the best candidate for a good root of title when deducing title to the property?

A man is the trustee of a fund of £500,000. In breach of trust, he transfers £200,000 of trust money to his girlfriend to enable her to buy a house. The man does this because he wants to impress her.

The man’s girlfriend knows that the man is not wealthy enough to be able to afford to transfer £200,000 to her. She knows that he owes several creditors amounts totalling over £200,000. The man had said to her on many previous occasions that he is a trustee and that he would be prepared to take money unlawfully from the trust to use for his own purposes.

The man’s girlfriend did not enquire about the source of the £200,000, because she felt sorry for the man and did not want to hurt his feelings. In addition, she was keen to receive the money to use for her own purposes. Instead of buying a house, she spent all the money on parties and expensive holidays.

The man has now disappeared, still in debt to his creditors. The beneficiaries of the trust now wish to make a personal claim of £200,000 against the girlfriend.

Is a personal claim against the girlfriend likely to succeed?

By his will, a testator appointed his spouse, his friend and his adult son to be his executors. The testator and his wife divorced after the will was executed. The testator has now died. The son predeceased the testator and a grant of probate to the son’s estate was obtained by his nephew.

The testator left all of his estate to his niece who is 20 years of age.

Who has the best right to apply for a grant of representation to the testator’s estate?

A woman has died. A few days after her body was found, her husband went to a bar and became very drunk. He admitted to a friend that he had killed his wife because he was jealous of her relationship with another man. This conversation was overheard by the manager of the bar.

The man’s friend and the manager gave statements to the police detailing the man’s admission. The man has been arrested on suspicion of murder and interviewed under caution, during which he denied killing his wife and denied making the admission to his friend.

Is the man’s admission to his friend in the bar admissible at his trial as an exception to the rule against hearsay?

A man died in December 2022. He made three lifetime gifts only, which were all to his son, to help with the cost of repairs to the son’s house. The gifts were as follows:

May 2016          £3,000

July 2017          £4,000

August 2019     £7,000

What is the man’s cumulative total for Inheritance Tax purposes at the date of his death?

A woman owns a registered, freehold house. Within the last year, a property developer requested that the woman enter into an option agreement with him. In return for an option fee, the woman agreed to grant the property developer the option to buy her house at any time within five years of the option agreement. The option agreement has recently been exchanged.

Which of the following represents the best way for the property developer to protect the option agreement?

A woman decides to make a will at home. She handwrites the provisions she wishes to include on a piece of paper. She signs the will at the bottom and then asks two neighbours to come to her house to act as witnesses.

Whilst the witnesses are both present in the living room, the woman points to her signature at the bottom of the will and says: “I have already signed it.” The older witness and the woman then go into the kitchen to make a drink. Whilst they are in the kitchen, the younger witness signs the will beneath the woman’s signature. The older witness and the woman then return to the living room and, whilst all three are together, the older witness adds her signature to the will beneath the younger witness’s signature.

The will does not contain a date or an attestation clause.

Why is the woman’s will invalid?

A woman who is holding a laptop is walking home with her daughter when a man approaches them, points at the daughter and screams at the woman: “Give me your laptop or I’ll break the girl’s neck.” His intention is to cause them both to fear that he will use the violence he threatens and then steal the laptop. The woman throws the laptop at the man who takes it and the woman and her daughter run away. The man is later caught and charged with robbery.

A man was drinking in a public bar and became very intoxicated. He had an argument with another customer and suddenly smashed this other customer in the face with his empty glass causing a wound that amounted to grievous bodily harm. The man was so intoxicated that he did not know what he was doing. The man's intoxication was voluntary. The man was arrested by the police. He has been charged with wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

Which of the following best describes the man's liability for wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm?

A man died leaving a will by which he left all his estate to three trustees to hold on trust for the four children of his best friend. The children are to inherit at the age of 18. Two of the children have reached the age of 18 and have received their share of the trust fund. The other two children are still under the age of 18. The trust fund comprises a portfolio of shares. One of the trustees has just died.

Which of the following best describes whether it is necessary for a replacement trustee to be appointed?

A husband, wife, and the wife’s mother bought a house together 20 years ago.

The transfer deed stated that they held the property as joint tenants in law and equity.

The husband and wife separated a month ago, and the husband moved out of the house.

Last week, the wife was killed in a car accident. A few days before her death, the wife had made a will leaving all her property to her new boyfriend.

How is the title to the house now held?

A woman is buying a freehold property. She chose the property because it included a large detached garage which would be ideal for storing her collection of five vintage cars.

Contracts incorporating the Standard Conditions of Sale (Fifth Edition - 2018 Revision) (SCS), unamended, were exchanged last week. The woman has discovered that there was a fire at the property last night. Although the house is unaffected the garage has been destroyed. The woman is uncertain whether she wishes to proceed with the purchase because the garage will take six months to rebuild. She is concerned about any additional costs this might involve and does not know where her cars will be stored in the interim.

The woman asks her solicitor for advice.

What should the solicitor advise the woman?

Under the terms of his will a company director’s estate is to be held on trust to pay the income to his daughter for her life and after her death to be divided between all the present and former employees of his company.

The daughter consults a solicitor to ask whether the gift is valid. The daughter objects to the terms of her father’s will and is also concerned that it is not workable. Although the daughter has a complete list of past and present employees of the company she is not sure that all of them can be traced.

Which of the following statements provides the best advice regarding the gift?

A testator died leaving a will by which all of his estate passed to his adult son and adult daughter in equal shares.

The estate assets included shares in a company quoted on the London Stock Exchange with a probate value of £100,000. Half of the shares were transferred to the son and the other half were transferred to the daughter. At the date of the transfer, the total value of the shares was £150,000.

A month later the daughter sold all of her shares and the net sale proceeds were £85,000. Two months later the son sold all of his shares and the net sale proceeds were £45,000. The executor has not yet completed the administration of the estate.

Which of the following statements best describes the Capital Gains Tax position on the shares sold during the administration period?

A will trust contains the following provision:

“My Trustees shall hold my property on trust to permit my mother to live in the property for the remainder of her life and after her death to hold the property upon trust for such of my nephew and niece as survive my mother and attain the age of 21 years in equal shares.”

The nephew is now aged 20 years and the niece is aged 22 years.

Which of the following statements best describes the beneficial interests in the trust fund?

A man squeezed superglue into the hard drive of his colleague’s computer. The man intended only to play a practical joke by making the computer temporarily unusable.

He foresaw that his actions could cause damage to the computer and it was, in the circumstances known to him, unreasonable to take this risk.

He did not foresee that damage was a virtually certain consequence of his actions. In fact the computer was damaged beyond repair and he ought to have foreseen that this was a virtual certainty. His actions were unreasonable.

Can the man be guilty of criminal damage?

A farmer sells a field, which forms part of her farm, to a man. In the transfer the man agrees for himself and his successors in title to erect no more than four single-storey houses on the field.

What is the nature of the interest created in the transfer?