Vesting Order Applications

Upon a company's dissolution and removal from the Companies House register, any remaining assets become ownerless and automatically transfer to the Crown, in accordance with the doctrine of bona vacantia. This encompasses land, buildings, and other remaining assets.

If your property has been transferred to the Crown as bona vacantia following the dissolution of a company, you can potentially recover it through a vesting order.

Bona vacantia refers to property that becomes ownerless when a company is dissolved, with any unclaimed assets passing to the Crown.

To get your property back, you may apply for a vesting order, which legally transfers ownership from the Crown back to you. Individuals with a legal or beneficial interest in the property, such as former directors, shareholders, or creditors of the dissolved company, can apply.

The process typically takes from a few weeks to a few months, depending on the complexity of the case and court processing times.

For professional legal assistance in reclaiming your property, Myerson Solicitors can effectively guide you through the vesting order process.

Yes. If more than six years have passed, the company cannot be reinstated to the register (unless it is for a personal injury claim).

Nonetheless, a vesting order offers an alternative legal method to recover the assets without restoring the company.

Frequently recovered assets include freehold or leasehold property, land, company shares, bank account funds, and intellectual property previously held by the dissolved company.

Individuals or entities with a legal or equitable interest in the asset may apply. This generally includes former directors, shareholders, mortgage lenders, personal representatives of deceased persons, or anyone with a beneficial interest in the asset.

Even if the title remains registered under the dissolved company's name, it is technically vested in the Crown.

A vesting order can be utilised to legally transfer the title to the rightful party, facilitating its sale, occupation, or further dealings.

The timeline varies depending on the case's complexity, available evidence, and court processing times.

Typically, with legal assistance, the application process can be completed within a few weeks to a few months.

Our client completed an asset sale of their business. As part of the sale, they intended to retain the freehold building.

Once the sale was completed, they dissolved their company on the understanding that the property had been transferred to them after the sale. Unfortunately, this was not the case.

Our client relied on rental income from the property for their retirement and was extremely concerned to have only found out that the property was not in their name when preparing their Will.

Myerson acted promptly in successfully recovering ownership of the property from the Duchy of Lancaster with our client being able to retain all rents they had also historically received.

Our client’s company owned hundreds of acres of farming land. These plots were sold over a number of years.

Due to a miscommunication with our client’s former solicitor following our client’s divorce, he had assumed 110 acres of land worth over £1million had been transferred into his name.

Alternative solicitors were instructed to restore the company, but missed the strict 6-year time limit.

Myerson are now seeking to recover the land by way of a vesting order and have secured an indemnity to cover our client’s costs from the negligent solicitors.

Rental investment properties were held in our client’s limited company.

Our client felt the management of the company was an administrative burden and decided she wished to dissolve the company and would own and manage the properties herself.

Our client sought advice from the company accountant, who provided our client with the necessary documents to dissolve the company, but did not warn our client that she would first need to legally transfer the properties out of the company or they would pass to the Crown.

Unfortunately, the dissolution forms were filed before any transfer took place.

We are now advising our client on potential recovery options including a vesting order as well as prospects of a professional negligence claim.