Blog
14th February 2019
Rugby fans like me will be happy that the Six Nations Championship is now well under way – but rugby, as a full contact sport involving heavy body collisions between two or more players, often results in serious injury to amateur and professional players alike. It is widely accepted that, by participating in a game, rugby players accept a certain risk of injury and, in…
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08th February 2019
Today the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, David Gauke, has announced that no fault divorce will become law. It is a decision warmly welcomed by family lawyers and represents a huge achievement for Resolution, the family law solicitors’ association, which campaigned so hard for this change. For years, the requirement to blame one party in order to achieve an early divorce has…
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08th February 2019
Cases involving falls from height are still too common despite the UK’s current working at height regulations. These rules place significant obligations on employers who require work to be done at locations from which, if there are no precautions in place, a person could fall a distance liable to cause personal injury. One such case arose from an incident involving the removal of asbestos roof…
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01st February 2019
Imagine you own a building you have earmarked for redevelopment but, in the interim, you would like to continue earning returns on your investment in order to meet costly outgoings. So you agree to grant some short-term one-year leases to your existing tenants. One tenant has expressed an interest in staying a little longer and, because that suits your circumstances, you agree to give them…
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29th January 2019
In the Chancellor of the Exchequer's 2014 Autumn Statement George Osborne announced that under new rules surviving spouses may inherit their deceased partner’s Individual Savings Account (ISA), referred to as an Additional Permitted Subscription (APS), and that it may stay as an ISA, meaning that they would not pay tax on any capital gains. However, recent figures from HMRC reveal that a low number of bereaved…
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28th January 2019
If I had a pound for every client who asked whether or not they need bother with a building survey in respect of their property purchase, I would be contemplating retirement rather than writing this article. I always advise in favour of a survey – it will reveal defects that the legal paperwork or a physical inspection may not expose and, as such, is well…
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18th January 2019
When acquiring a property your solicitor is likely to recommend you undertake a variety of searches to get the full picture before you buy. A legal title review will not uncover every potential issue, so it is a good idea to undertake additional due diligence via a highways search with the relevant county council. This type of search will show the extent of the public…
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11th January 2019
Every day, it seems, we see from the news headlines how dangerous it can be if your vehicle breaks down on a motorway or major road, or if you need to stop on a motorway hard shoulder. Other vehicles passing at high speed put you in an extremely vulnerable and frightening position, and it is even more perilous when you have broken down in the…
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31st December 2018
Dispute resolution solicitors regularly receive enquiries from clients who have found themselves in dispute with a builder they have engaged to undertake works on their property. Such disputes can be complex, with problems often arising because the parties did not make clear from the outset what it was they were agreeing. In a perfect world, a formal contract that reflects or incorporates an agreed specification…
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20th December 2018
During this season of goodwill, it is not unusual for our thoughts to turn towards the giving of gifts and, even in the current climate of austerity, it is possible to make significant gifts that will reduce your future Inheritance Tax (IHT) liability. The gifting rules are clear: everyone is allowed to make IHT-exempt gifts totalling £3,000 per year. One year’s allowance or part thereof…
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