Agriculture

Our agricultural legal team at DTM Legal includes members of the Agricultural Law Association (ALA) and the Country Land and Business Association (CLA). Our experts are distributed across our legal service areas, ensuring comprehensive support for all your agricultural legal needs.

About DTM Legal

With over 15 years of experience, DTM Legal is dedicated to providing exceptional legal services tailored to the agricultural sector. Our values of expertise, accessibility, transparency, and personalised service ensure that you receive the highest quality support. Our team’s deep understanding of agricultural issues and commitment to legal excellence means we are the ideal partner for your agricultural needs.

Our service areas include corporate and commercial matters, dispute resolution, commercial property, residential conveyancing, construction, property litigation, employment, trusts and estates, family law, business recovery and charity law. These services are all requested, at times, for an agricultural business.

Our Agricultural legal Services

We offer a wide range of legal services tailored to the agricultural sector:

Property

• Farm Sales and Purchases: Handling transactions involving agricultural farms, ensuring compliance with all legal requirements.
• Land Sales and Purchases: Facilitating the buying and selling of land, including legal due diligence and contract negotiation.
• Development, Planning, and Construction: Advising on land development, planning permissions, and construction projects.
• Land Promotion and Overage: Assisting with land promotion agreements and managing overage clauses.
• Utility Rights: Assisting with deeds of grant with the utility companies.
• Finance, Mortgages, and Charging Orders: Providing support for financial arrangements, including mortgages and charging orders.
• Land Rights: Sporting rights, boundary agreements, easements, way leaves, mineral rights and covenants.
• Lease Agreements, Tenancies, and Licences: Drafting and negotiating lease agreements, tenancies, and licences.
• Renewable energy: Our expertise extends to advising on and facilitating commercial property installations for renewable energy projects, helping you navigate agreements and compliance issues.
• Compulsory Purchase Powers: Advising on compulsory purchase orders and related compensation claims.
• Common Land, Town and Village Green: Providing advice on the use, management and sale of common land, town and village greens.
• Environmental, Telecommunication, and Infrastructure Agreements: Handling agreements related to environmental regulations, telecommunications, and infrastructure projects.
• Rights of Way and Boundary Disputes: Resolving issues regarding access rights, boundary disagreements, and related disputes, ensuring compliance with legal obligations.
• Diversification and Tourism: Advising on farm diversification projects, including tourism ventures, glamping, and other alternative land uses to enhance business opportunities.

Wills, Trusts, and Estates

• Succession Planning: Planning for the future inheritance of agricultural land, business and assets.
• Wealth Protection and Inheritance Tax: Advising on strategies to protect wealth and minimise inheritance tax liabilities.

• Wills: Drafting Wills that consider reliefs available for agricultural land and business and the protection of those assets.
• Trusts: Establishing, registering and administering trusts to protect agricultural assets.
• Lasting Powers of Attorney: Ensuring that if mental or physical health deteriorates you have the right people appointed to assist you.
• Deputy Appointment: When there is no Attorney appointed and a lack of mental capacity, ensuring there is someone to deal with your finances and property.
• Estate Administration:  Enabling the smooth transition of your assets to your intended beneficiaries upon death.

Family Law

• Divorce and Separation: Providing legal support for divorce and separation, ensuring fair settlements.
• Finances and Divorce: Managing financial arrangements and settlements in divorce cases.
• Cohabitation and Nuptial Agreements: Drafting cohabitation and nuptial agreements to protect client interests.

Dispute Resolution

Advising on disputes concerning:

• Partnerships
• Shareholders and Directors
• Contracts
• Construction
• Tenancies
• Inheritance / Probate
• Negligence
• Land and Boundaries
• Covenant Breaches

Corporate & Commercial

• Tenancy Agreements: Drafting and negotiating tenancy agreements for commercial properties.
• Partnerships and Their Dissolution: Advising on partnership formation and dissolution.
• Grazing Licences: Managing grazing licence agreements.
• Business Structures: Advising on appropriate business structures for agricultural operations.
• Commercial Agreements: Drafting and reviewing commercial agreements to protect client interests.
• Renewables & Diversification: Supporting renewable energy projects and business diversification strategies.
• Restructuring and Subdivision of Rural or Agricultural Estates: Advising on restructuring and subdivision to optimise business operations.

Construction

• Development Agreements: Tailoring agreements that align with your project’s objectives, ensuring clarity and mutual understanding between parties.
• Contract Amendments/Terms: Offering expert guidance on modifying existing contracts or establishing new terms to adapt to evolving project requirements.
• Appointments: Facilitating the appointment of professional services required for the project. Ensuring that the scope, fees, and obligations are established.
• Novations: Streamlining the process of transferring contractual obligations and rights between parties, minimising potential disputes.
• Warranties: Providing legal insights into warranties to safeguard your interests, ensuring clarity, and enforceability.
• Guarantees and Bonds: Advising on the intricacies of guarantees and bonds, offering solutions to mitigate risks and protect investments.

• Assignments: Facilitating the transfer of contractual rights or obligations, ensuring compliance with legal requirements and contractual obligations.
• Risk Reports: Conducting comprehensive risk assessments and reports, identifying potential pitfalls and offering proactive solutions to mitigate risks.
• Contractual Advice: Offering tailored advice on all contractual matters, ensuring compliance with legal standards and best practices.
• Adjudication and Arbitration: Representing clients in adjudication and arbitration proceedings, leveraging our legal acumen to secure favourable outcomes.

Employment & HR

• Absence Management: Advising on managing employee absences effectively.
• Business Transfers, Acquisitions, Sales & TUPE: Supporting business transfers, acquisitions, sales, and advising on TUPE implications.
• Confidential Information, Restrictive Covenants, and Business Protection: Protecting business interests through drafting confidentiality agreements and restrictive covenants.
• Contracts, Policies & Procedures: Drafting and reviewing employment contracts, policies, and procedures.
• Director/Shareholder Exits/Disputes: Managing director and shareholder exits and disputes.
• Disciplinary, Dismissal & Grievance Issues: Advising on disciplinary, dismissal, and grievance procedures.
• Discrimination: Handling discrimination claims and advising on compliance.
• Employment Status Disputes: Advising on disputes over employment status.
• Employment Tribunal Representation: Advising and representing clients in employment tribunal cases.
• Settlement Agreements: Advising, drafting and negotiating on terms of settlement agreements.
• Executive Service Agreements: Drafting director’s service agreements.
• Performance Management: Advising on performance management processes.
• Recruitment: Supporting recruitment processes.
• Redundancy, Collective Consultation & Organisational Change: Advising on redundancy processes and organisational change.

Advantages of Working with a Specialist Agricultural Solicitor

Working with a specialist in agricultural law provides numerous benefits:

• Expert Knowledge: Our solicitors have in-depth knowledge of agricultural law, ensuring that you receive expert advice and representation.
• Tailored Solutions: We understand the unique challenges faced by the agricultural sector and provide solutions that are specifically designed to meet your needs.
• Up-to-Date Advice: We stay current with the latest legislative changes, ensuring that our advice is always relevant and accurate.
• Comprehensive Support: Our wide range of services means we can address all your legal needs, from property disputes to succession planning.

Contact an Agricultural Legal Expert 

Are you looking for expert legal support in the agricultural sector? Contact us today to speak with one of our specialist solicitors. Call us on 01244 354 800 / 0151 321 0000 or submit an enquiry to learn how DTM Legal can help you.