Easter is later this year, 19 April 2018, which means you can start thinking early about your Easter Gifts. Chocolate eggs may seem the obvious choice but perhaps you are considering money instead. If you are, then you should consider what that means for you and your estate.
I would like to thank everyone who contacted me following my blog “New Start to the Year – Get your Affairs in Order – Part One”. For those who I have seen and spoken to, you will now be aware it is equally important to have your affairs in order during your lifetime, not just on death, in the event you suddenly suffer from a physical or mental incapability.
Often people consider writing their Will when they have suffered bereavement or a family member has been seriously ill. I have even come across people that are frightened of making a Will as they fear that once they have signed on the dotted line, they will meet their maker. I have to say it took me several years to persuade my father-in-law to make a Will, which he did a few years ago and guess what, he is still with us.
Proprietary estoppel provides a means by which a person may claim a right to property or land despite being legally documented. For example, if someone has promised that you inherit their property or land on death, but you subsequently find out that it is not reflected in their Will.
Dealing with someone’s estate can be a burdensome task and at the same time you are faced with the ever expansion of the modern world and you now have to consider “Digital Assets”.
So what is a digital asset? It is simply personal property stored in digital form whether that be electronic or online and you may not realise that you own digital assets until examples are given.
The Supreme Court ruled yesterday that a woman trapped in a ‘loveless marriage’ must stay married to her husband because he will not divorce her.
Taylor Wimpey has launched a Ground Rent Review Assistance Scheme. This comes following some heavy media coverage surrounding the issue of ‘doubling ground rent’.
During the life of a Court dispute, it is often the case that parties will be asked to grant an extension or will be seeking an extension of time to take a particular step. What should you do?
The basic position is that for claims which have been allocated to the Small Claims Track, usually with a monetary value of less than £10,000, the Court will not order a party to pay fees or expenses to the other party, subject to certain exceptions.
One of those exceptions is if the Court thinks a party has behaved unreasonably.
Landlords and Tenants should take heed of the importance of complying with the legal requirements centring around the protection of tenancy deposits.
As most Landlords will be aware, any deposit paid in connection with an Assured Short-hold Tenancy since 6th April 2007 must be registered with an authorised Tenancy Deposit Scheme. The Tenant must be provided with prescribed information within 30 days of receipt of the deposit. Landlords are required to register the deposit within 30 days of receipt.
Each year, thousands of Brits are cold called or approached in the street to be hailed as “competition” winners or presented with offers of “free holidays”. The catch being you have to attend a presentation in order to claim your “prize”.
The presentation is a high pressure sales pitch which can last several hours with many people finding it difficult to leave without signing up for a Timeshare, a decision they often later live to regret.
On 1st October 2017, a Pre-Action Protocol (PAP) for debt recovery claims will come into force.
The PAP applies to any business, including sole traders and public bodies, claiming payment of a debt from an individual, including a sole trader.
Divorce or separation can be a time of heartache and conflict, but there are occasions where couples mutually agree that their marriage is over. Sadly however, current divorce law makes an amicable separation difficult by forcing couples to place blame on each other unless they can wait two years to process their divorce.
According to a recent report in the Telegraph, more men than ever are receiving generous payouts from the divorce courts, with some also securing ongoing monthly maintenance from bread-winning wives.
This is likely to be an increasing trend, with women earning higher salaries and often being the main earner in a family. The Institute of Public Policy Research states that for 1 in 3 UK families, it is the wife who is the higher earner.
We were instructed by the parents of a girl who was born with brain damage leading to the neurological condition cerebral palsy which significantly affects her movement and
co-ordination.
Her parents wanted to understand how this had happened believing that it was entirely preventable. Our investigations found that during their daughter’s birth, medical staff had administered excessive amounts of a labour inducing stimulant.
The Ministry of Justice has now confirmed that the Government is pressing ahead with substantial increases in Probate Court fees.
This decision arises despite arguments against the move by The Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners, Solicitors for the Elderly and the majority of respondents to the Government consultation process.
From 6 April this year the new Residential Nil Rate Band (RNRB) will allow an additional £100,000 of property to be passed, by your Will, to direct descendants alongside the current individual Inheritance Tax free allowance of £325,000. This raises the value of property that a couple can pass on death without incurring an Inheritance…
The Energy Efficiency (Private Rented Property) (England and Wales) Regulations 2015 were made on the 26th March 2015. They introduced a change in the law whereby from the 1st April 2018, it will be unlawful to privately let residential and commercial properties with an EPC rating of ‘F’ or ‘G’, unless one of the exemptions detailed below applies.
It is important to note that the Regulations will not apply to properties that are not required to have an EPC or where a property is let for a period of less than six months or for a term of more than 99 years.
It’s not always straightforward to establish whether your landlord is responsible for resolving issues concerning damp in a rented property. This is due to the difficulty in finding the exact cause of damp without the assistance of a professional surveyor, unless the cause is visibly obvious; such as a leaking roof.
Our client’s wife had died just four months after her fourth child was stillborn. We were instructed to investigate whether it was an avoidable stillbirth. Her pregnancy had been normal however, one month before her due date there were signs that the baby’s growth was slowing but no action was taken to address this. Two…
© Copyright 2016 Linder Myers
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