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From 1 April 2013 the Small Claims limit (which might now be regarded as a misnomer) will increase for all non personal injury and landlord & tenant housing disrepair claims from over £5,000 to over £10,000. Costs recovery in so called...
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Until the recent case of Phillips v Francis (2012) landlords and tenants could be forgiven for thinking that the Section 20 Landlord & Tenant Act 1985 consultation procedure for qualifying works, in its current from, meant that a landlord did not need to...
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It is easy to keep putting off making a will. However, having a valid will is the only way to guarantee that your estate goes to who you want it to when you die. If a person dies having made a will, the distribution of their estate is normally...
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Divorce is almost never easy and the financial negotiations can be protracted and difficult, particularly when there are business interests involved. In this article we consider some of the issues surrounding divorce for company directors. In the first...
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UK consumer protection legislation is robust, giving them substantial rights and imposing significant obligations on traders. Indeed, in some cases the actions of a vendor may be sufficient to constitute an ‘unfair commercial practice’ (UCP). UK...
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One of the conditions which must be satisfied for a will to be valid is that the person making it must be of sound mind. With an ageing population, cases involving disputes over a testator’s mental capacity are becoming more common – it is...
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Following changes in the tax legislation governing the income tax payable by non-domiciliaries, and some relevant tax cases, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have issued a guidance booklet (HMRC 6) . This replaces the old guidance, which was contained in...
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The Court can potentially deal with: The matrimonial home and all other assets including land, contents, life policies, stocks and shares, motor vehicles, pension benefits, maintenance and in limited circumstances, maintenance for the child of the family. ...
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Statute Before a court makes an order, it has to look at a checklist of considerations. These are set out in Section 25 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973. These factors are listed below but provide scant guidance as to how the Courts apply the factors....
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Family Judges and Lawyers commit to take Bitterness and Cost out of Divorce 6 Years on, London Family Lawyers Celebrate the Success of Collaborative Law Keynote Address by: Lord Kerr Justice of the Supreme Court The RT Hon the Lord Kerr of...
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Does the recent financial turmoil affect your marriage or relationship? The sad answer is that it’s very likely that it does. If you are thinking of separating or are in the process of separating then in most cases the main family asset is likely to...
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Statute Before a court makes an order, it has to look at a checklist of considerations. These are set out in Section 25 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973. These factors are listed below but provide scant guidance as to how the Courts apply the factors. ...
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An explanation of the Legal Phrases you may Encounter Acknowledgement of service form – the form by which the respondent (or co-respondent) acknowledges having received the divorce petition. Affidavit – a formal statement sworn on oath...
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The Court can potentially deal with: The matrimonial home and all other assets including land, contents, life policies, stocks and shares, motor vehicles, pension benefits, maintenance and in limited circumstances, maintenance for the child of the family. ...
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HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) offer useful guidance on the mechanics of the transfer of the unused IHT ‘nil rate band’ between spouses or civil partners and gives several examples of this complex relief. One important point for executors is...
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One of the biggest problems now facing executors is that as the recession progresses, most assets, other than cash, are falling in value, which can mean that the value of an estate for Inheritance Tax (IHT) purposes is greater than the market value later on....
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The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission (CMEC) – a statutory non-departmental public body – was established in 2008 to take on the work of the Child Support Agency. At the same time, the Child Maintenance and Other Payments Act 2008 ...
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Until the recent publicity afforded by television shows on the subject, many people might not have realised that ‘heir tracing’ companies exist, let alone that they research ‘promising’ estates by looking at public records and then...
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After another cold, wet summer and with dull economic prospects at home, you might be thinking of buying a property abroad or even making a permanent move to foreign climes. If so, as well as it being essential to take independent and high quality legal...
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Whether you are planning to refurbish and sell a house or to construct a whole new apartment block, almost all your plans will be governed by planning laws and any local restrictions. Planning restrictions are more stringent in conservation areas, for...
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Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) is a self-assessed tax. The onus is on the taxpayer to make the necessary land transaction return, calculate the tax and pay it across. This is a fundamental change from the old Stamp Duty regime which taxed documents of...
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The levels of statutory legacy (the amount that surviving spouses or civil partners are allowed to inherit if their spouse/civil partner dies without leaving a will) were increased from 1 February 2009 to the following: • £250,000 (from...
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This fact sheet provides guidance for those involved in the development of residential properties whether new builds or conversions of existing properties . On 1 September 2008, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) introduced new procedures in...
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In recent years, increased mobility and growing rates of home ownership have meant that ever-larger numbers of people nowadays inherit properties from relatives who lived many miles away. Similarly, many buy-to-let properties have been purchased in areas...
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The Nil Rate Band For 2007/2008 the nil rate band was £300,000 and this rose to £312,000 for 20/08/2009 and to £325,000 from 6 April 2009. The nil rate band (NRB) is the proportion of your estate which will not be subject to any...
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