Private Client

  • A Guide to the Adoption Process

    The most important requirements for adoption are that the adopter must be over 21 years of age, the child to be adopted must be under the age of 18 and joint applications to adopt can only be made by married couples and civil partners. Unmarried couples can...

  • Accessing Your Own Land

    Prior to the introduction of revised procedures (set out in regulations under Section 68 of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 , which came into effect in July 2002), people who had to cross common land in order to reach their homes were sometimes...

  • Are You a Sophisticated Investor?

    In March 2005, the rules relating to approaching people regarding financial promotions were relaxed so that so called ‘sophisticated investors’ and high net worth individuals (HNWIs) could be more easily approached with a view to making...

  • Assessing Mental Capacity - Guidance

    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...

  • Asset Valuation Problems - Chattels

    When dealing with an estate, an increasing problem for executors is the valuation of assets in the form of the chattels of the deceased. In probate terminology, chattels are the ‘everyday’ assets such as furniture and ordinary possessions, as...

  • Avoiding Inheritance Tax with Discounted Gift Schemes

    Inheritance tax (IHT) is payable at 40 per cent on the net value of a person’s estate above £325,000 (the current nil rate band as of 2013/14). It affects an increasing number of people owing to the rise in house prices in recent years. One...

  • Business Assets and Divorce

    Divorce is seldom an easy business, but the problems are compounded when there is a family business involved. The division of the spoils has traditionally been the subject of a great deal of argument, but recent cases have at least clarified the thinking of...

  • Buying Abroad - Considerations

    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...

  • Buying a House and Consumer Protection

    With the appointment of an Ombudsman for Estate Agents (OEA), the laying down in statute of the duties of estate agents and the passing of the Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Act 2007 (CEARA), a property purchaser might reasonably conclude that...

  • CGT and Shares in Estates Valuation Trap

    In the UK, there are quite generous exemptions from Inheritance Tax (IHT) which apply to business assets. One problem with making use of such exemptions is the effect this may have on the subsequent value of the relevant assets for Capital Gains Tax (CGT)...

  • Capital Gains Tax for Owners of Two Homes

    Ownership of two homes in the UK is becoming more commonplace as couples who both own houses marry, houses are inherited, parents buy houses for their children to live in, or people just buy a place in the country, either to let or to escape to at weekends. ...

  • Changing Wills For Benefit

    A will expresses the final wishes of the deceased person and it is commonly thought that a will is irrevocable after death. However, provided everyone agrees, it is normally possible to vary a will provided that the application is made within two years of...

  • Charity Trustees - Guidance

    The regime governing charities has been progressively tightened up over the years, making the sort of scandals that were once not uncommon much more of a rarity. This means that trustees now have to adopt a more professional attitude to the management of a...

  • Child Custody Explained

    Arrangements over the custody of children (called residence arrangements by lawyers) after the breakdown of a relationship are usually best decided without the intervention of the court. Unfortunately, it is not always possible for the two parties to...

  • Child Maintenance Explained

    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 ...

  • Civil Partnerships - What they Mean for You

    The first civil partnerships were formed on 21 December 2005, after the Civil Partnerships Act 2004 came into effect on 5 December 2005. Same-sex marriages contracted abroad, however, have been recognised as valid civil partnerships from 5 December...

  • Cohabitation Agreements - Protection for Unmarried Couples

    One of the most common myths in English law is that there is such a thing as a ‘common law marriage’. It simply doesn’t exist and this misapprehension has led the Law Commission to suggest proposals giving additional rights to cohabiting...

  • Cohabitees and Death - Who Can Claim?

    When one member of a cohabiting couple dies, it can come as an unpleasant surprise to the bereaved partner to discover that not all of their late partner’s estate will pass to them in the absence of a will. It is only when this happens that many people...

  • Compensation for Loss of a Chance

    Most claims for damages are claims for damages or losses which have actually happened. For example, if a lorry mounted the pavement and smashed a garden wall, the claim would be for the cost of restoring the wall to its former condition. The law relating to...

  • Correcting Your Credit Rating

    Most people require credit at some time, whether it is in the form of a credit card, a loan or an overdraft. However careful you are, it is possible to find yourself blacklisted for credit purposes. When you apply for credit, the lender will apply to either...

  • Current Laws on Electrical Work

    Since 1st January 2005, all electrical work carried out in dwellings has had to comply with  Part P of the Building Regulations and be carried out by a person who is competent to do the work. All work which involves adding a new circuit to a...

  • Dealing With an Insolvent Estate

    One of the rules that applies to the administration of estates is that whilst a person appointed as executor under a will can refuse to accept the appointment, once an executor ‘intermeddles’ in the estate, in principle he or she cannot then...

  • Divorce and Foreign Nationality

    Approximately one in six marriages in the European Union is between persons of different nationalities. Not surprisingly, approximately one in six divorces also involves spouses of different nationalities. This can make for some complexity on divorce as to...

  • Divorce and Foreign Residence: Children

    When a marriage breaks up, it is usual for the couple to separate physically as well as legally and in some cases the physical separation can be considerable. With the increase in international travel and residence abroad, marriages between persons of...

  • Divorce and Money

    When it comes to dealing with money and divorce, it is important to know what has to be taken into account and the powers available to arrive at fair decisions. For most couples, the basic problem is how to finance two separate households from income and...
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Latest News

 
Court Upholds Deferment of Payment After Business Fails
 
Mortgage Debt Not Regulated by Consumer Credit Act 1974
 
Undue Influence Claim Fails
 
IHT Changes For 'Non-Doms'
 
Businesswoman's £2.7 Million Divorce Award Upheld
 
Fair Comment Still Comes at a Cost
 
Court Rejects Will Made Under Undue Influence
 
National Trust Membership Rules Out Judge in Planning Dispute
 
Child Maintenance - What's New?
 
Start of Year Tax Planning