It’s the final countdown (Part 1)…
On 6 April, the biggest reform to divorce law in nearly 50 years comes into force with the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020,…
Read moreDoes money grow on trees?
The Forestry Commission has published “A guide to planning new woodland in England”. With the introduction of Environmental Land…
Read more#Ad for Ad – The ASA impose further sanctions against rule-breaking influencers.
This week the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) announced that six influencers are subject to further sanctions for consistently…
Read more”I Cannae Pay…”
With nearly three quarters of SMEs across Scotland waiting on payments from customers there is certainly a domino debt effect. Collecting…
Read moreA justified Probate fee rise?
Probate fees are increasing from 26th January to £273, a rise of 26% for non-professional users. Although this is a much better…
Read moreA brilliant start to Family Mediation Week 2022
In fantastic news for those considering family mediation to help resolve their family law issues, the Government has pledged to boost its…
Read moreJanuary Blues or Debtors Ruse?
We are in the full flow of January and we are noticing a lot of debtors facing their own personal ongoing financial challenges. With the…
Read moreNew Years Debt Related Resolutions? …
With 2022 in full effect we are noticing debtors realisations that their arrears which they envisaged paying in January are not coming to…
Read moreThe ASA says Crypt-NO to misleading cryptocurrency adverts
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), the UK’s independent advertising regulator, has recently banned seven different cryptocurrency…
Read moreCryptocurrency: are you prepared for the loss?
Cryptocurrency, commonly known as cryptoassets, is a form of digital currency managed independently from a central bank and underpinned…
Read morePlan B – Selective Avoidance?
The government has moved to Plan B and part of that is for people to work from home if they can. This means a lot of companies and…
Read moreWhat’s the password?
Technology plays an essential role in people’s lives now more than ever, but surprisingly very few people consider this when preparing…
Read moreWill there be any come back on Bounce Back Loans?
Why would anyone be surprised that the non-payment of bounce back loans has already become an issue, when most of the loans were carried…
Read moreA Cap on Care Fees?
The Government have vowed in their recent white paper that from October 2023 ‘no one will be forced to pay unlimited and unpredictable…
Read moreWho needs enemies with fake family like this?
Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPAs) are meant to be made by individuals, with capacity, to set out who they would like to deal with their…
Read moreClimate Friendly Pledge from Major Landowners in England but what can Smaller Landowners Do?
The National Trust, the RSPB, the Woodland Trust, to name but a few have signed up to a climate friendly pledge to cut carbon following…
Read morePersonal Tax Liability for Directors of Insolvent Companies
The government has recently published its guidance on the powers granted to HMRC in the Finance Act 2020 to serve a ‘joint and several…
Read moreSame Day Deliveries on the Rise
The COVID-19 pandemic may have accelerated the demise of the high street, however, equally, it has shifted the demand for warehouse…
Read moreIntroducing the 50 Plus Champions
The Minister for Employment has recently called for employers to support women going through menopause in an effort to reduce long-term…
Read moreBig Tech Companies: you can run but you can’t hide…
The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has ordered Facebook’s parent Meta to sell Giphy – the largest supplier of animated GIFs…
Read moreSanta Claus, Or a Christmas Get Out Clause.
Now its nearing the most wonderful time of the year we find a lot of debtors either stop paying their installments altogether without…
Read moreWhat’s a Good Divorce Look Like?
29th November marks the start of Good Divorce Week 2021, a campaign by Resolution to highlight this issue; so I decided to survey friends…
Read moreTaming inflation in contracts
The UK annual rate reached 4.2% in October, and there is a similar situation of inflation hitting levels not seen for a decade in many…
Read moreSomeone’s Knocking At The Door, Someone’s Ringing The Bell….
So just open the door and let the High Court Agent in. If a debtor has buried their head in the sand and let a Judgment sit against them,…
Read morePAP – 4 years on
Back in October 2017, the Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims (“PAP”) was launched. PAP is part of the Civil Procedure Rules which govern…
Read moreCOVID-19 vaccinations for children: what if you can’t agree?
With COVID-19 vaccinations being rolled out to children over 12 years of age, many parents will have to make a decision about whether…
Read moreChristmas Holidays for Separated Parents
With the festive period fast approaching, separated parents will be making arrangements for the Christmas holidays with their children….
Read more#FreeBritney
We all remember Britney’s (unfortunately) very public breakdown back in 2008. Images of her attacking a car with an umbrella and shaving…
Read moreOld Enough to Marry?
Currently, in England and Wales, 16- and 17- years olds can marry with parental consent. Campaigners are advocating for the legal age of…
Read moreJingle Jingle All The Way
But will there be any money left in peoples pockets to Jingle? With Christmas looming around the corner a great number of people will…
Read moreAvoid Wriggle Room!
I write a version of this article about every 5 years. Clearly nobody reads them because otherwise I would not need to keep writing…
Read moreInheritance Tax: Some Common Sense?
Many an executor has been baffled by HMRC’s over-zealous reporting requirements in estates where no inheritance tax is actually payable….
Read moreShared Parental Leave Reform
Since Shared Parental Leave was introduced in April 2015, its uptake has been rather low. However this decreased during Covid by 17%…
Read moreWe’re watching you!
There are a number of reasons why a business may decide to use CCTV, including the security of its premises and the safety of employees…
Read moreMake the time for Mediation
Gone are the days of aggressive debt litigation. If someone owes you money and the Claim is defended, the Court will expect you to engage…
Read moreHow are you going to let raising costs of living affect your business?
Today the BBC released an article around the raising costs of living. Surely this is something that has been a hot topic for many years…
Read moreBubble Trouble Toil & Trouble…. Dangers of the ‘Opaque Debt Bubble’….
Consumers have a stark warning not to be so easily lured into the ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ option as debts are rising amongst consumers who…
Read moreWhen the lawyers are the only winners
A High Court Judge has expressed dismay at a case where the husband and wife spent £2.3 million on legal costs, but the net assets were…
Read moreDon’t call me!
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has fined Unite the Union £45,000 for instigating 57,665 unsolicited telephone calls to…
Read moreShow Me The Money!
Dear reader, let’s look at some ways to bring a County Court Claim to an early conclusion. Your debtor may be playing hardball and…
Read moreWork and Covid Vaccination Status
Health and care sectors apart, I was surprised to read how many organisations told a recent survey that they were planning to introduce…
Read moreA path of destruction
The Information Commissioner’s Office has published some useful guidance on the destruction of personal data. It is a key requirement of…
Read moreMore than a Red Flag
An eye catching commitment from the Budget is the reform to the UK tonnage tax system that will reward ships that fly the Red Ensign…
Read moreUtilising Companies House….
Companies House can give you a broad insight into your customer’s company directors’ names and service addressesaccounts…
Read morePost pandemic, are you the lucky generation?
The Nuffield Foundation’s latest audit has found that the wealth gap has widened over the period of the pandemic, and although the active…
Read moreReclaiming money owed by an employee
An overpayment of wages is more common than you may think. There are a multitude of reasons this could happen and usually when the…
Read moreSuccess in mediation voucher scheme
The Ministry of Justice introduced a £1million voucher scheme to promote mediation in family cases. Sir Andrew McFarlane, the President…
Read moreDebt Advice Black Hole
It is being reported today that free, face-to-face debt advice could be lost in favour of funds being reallocated to online or telephone…
Read moreA rise in Japanese knotweed claims
We did wonder what the stamp duty rush would throw back, we did not expect to see a rise in Japanese Knotweed Claims in the mix! Japanese…
Read moreRecovering debt from an EU country
Did you know that you can no longer make a European Payment Order or use the European Small Claims procedure to recover money you’re owed…
Read moreWorried about inheritance tax?
Recent research has suggested that although 40% of people are concerned about inheritance tax 70% have taken no action to address this….
Read moreMore hope for commercial landlords in reclaiming rent arrears
Since the Coronavirus pandemic, commercial landlords have been concerned on whether they are able to successfully pursue their tenants…
Read moreAdvertising gold!
A ruling published today by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) shows how important it is to check your advertising copy before it…
Read moreSign ’em up!
Are you still having difficulties with limited companies not paying their debts to you?! How about a sneaky tip to circumvent the…
Read moreTsunami of Debt
Independent businesses now owe four times as much debt as they did a year ago, and this is compounded by the fact that many have also had…
Read moreWinding-up courts back to business, but it is not business as usual
After a period of 18 months, the winding-up courts have re-opened their doors. Gone are the restrictions that a winding-up petition could…
Read moreRewilding, farmers and inheritance tax
Rewilding, a form of environmental conservation where habitats are essentially left alone to regenerate naturally, is increasingly being…
Read moreSupply and Demand…
Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic have hit the UK hard, just as we are over one hurdle, we find ourselves up against another. The latest…
Read morePerception versus Reality
Interesting to see the report below. Many employers are now finding it difficult to recruit and job vacancies are reported to be standing…
Read moreIt’s not easy being green
With the COP 26 summit on the horizon and sustainability high on the list of consumer concerns, businesses are understandably keen to…
Read more28 divorce petitions with identical wording?
If you have ever wondered if judges actually read what we sent them, here is confirmation that they do. A Deputy District Judge at Bury…
Read moreIs Energy Efficiency cost effective?
With the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)’s latest climate change assessment reporting of a world at crisis point, the…
Read moreYou’re winding me up!
Now that winding up a bad debtor company is an option, what does this actually mean?! First things first, the debtor will need to owe…
Read moreScoring An Own Goal
The article below encapsulates how debt can arise anywhere in society – even in such a noted setting as the Premier League where the high…
Read moreThe future of office space
The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales recently announced that more than half of UK business directors plan to…
Read moreA change to VAT when dealing with High Court Enforcement
A change in practice on charging VAT on High Court Enforcement fees, payable under Writs of Control has come into practice recently …
Read morePay Up!
Have you got an annoying debtor that will not pay up? Are you super keen to get them into Court so the Judge can give them a dressing…
Read moreProperty market boom
Whilst this article is predominantly about the huge amount of activity in the property market over the last 12 months due to the Stamp…
Read moreThere’s more to being a property lawyer than looking at title deeds
Due to the fast paced nature of conveyancing, it’s no wonder it has always been an industry targeted for financial crime (not to mention…
Read moreFamily courts experiencing massive increase in workload
The family courts are groaning with the amount of work they are having to deal with. A report published by the Law Society Gazette has…
Read moreMedicating Britain’s stockmarket
2005 was a great year by many metrics, especially if you are an English cricket fan but also it was vintage for the London Stock Exchange…
Read moreCan James Bond Coparent?
A year ago the internet was alight with rumours that James Bond would have a child in the latest movie. As a family lawyer, the idea…
Read moreWhy can’t I get a straight yes or no answer from my lawyer?
The perfect answer to this question is demonstrated by a case update I received from the Employment Lawyers Association, referenced…
Read moreZombie Occupiers?
Following the coronavirus outbreak the government began restricting the ability of landlords to recover unpaid rent back in March 2020….
Read moreFewer people are marrying but divorce rates are skyrocketing
According to data from the ONS, over the last 50 years fewer couples are getting married, but the divorce rate has increased tenfold. …
Read moreThe Stats Speak For Themselves…
The profound effect a Letter Before Action (LBA) can have is clear to see. As all small business owners know, cashflow is crucial to the…
Read moreThe Duke of Edinburgh’s will is secret. Is yours?
The simple answer to this is No. Once you die and a grant of probate is obtained to enable your executors to deal with your assets, your…
Read moreWomen’s Tour of Britain
After an 842-day hiatus, the AJ Bell Women’s Tour returns on Monday with a Grand Départ in Oxfordshire. …
Read moreWhether to take the house or pension in a divorce
This is an issue which crops up time and time again. Often, the two most valuable assets in a divorce case are the family home and the…
Read moreGIRFTS!
GIRFTS? What the heck is GIRFTS?! Well, it just so happens to be my favourite acronym. You probably have not heard of it because I…
Read moreScary stuff!
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has today issued a timely reminder that advertisers must think carefully about the content of…
Read moreA return to the norm for Landlords
Since the Covid 19 pandemic began in earnest, it has been a struggle for landlords to keep up with the almost constantly changing notice…
Read morePetition Frenzy?
The Covid Pandemic has been tough on some business and the Government has done everything it can to help protect these business with…
Read moreDigital Assets: A Call to Action
We are spending increasing time online and it is therefore crucial that digital assets are addressed as part of making a Will and estate…
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