Passle Posts Archive - Page 4 of 4

Christmas Holidays for Separated Parents

With the festive period fast approaching, separated parents will be making arrangements for the Christmas holidays with their children….

#FreeBritney

We all remember Britney’s (unfortunately) very public breakdown back in 2008. Images of her attacking a car with an umbrella and shaving…

Old 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…

Jingle 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…

Avoid 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…

Inheritance 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….

Shared 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%…

We’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…

Make 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…

How 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…

Bubble 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…

When 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…

Don’t call me!

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has fined Unite the Union £45,000 for instigating 57,665 unsolicited telephone calls to…

Show 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…

Work 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…

A 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…

More 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…

Utilising Companies House….

Companies House can give you a broad insight into your customer’s company directors’ names and service addressesaccounts…

Post 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…

Reclaiming 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…

Success in mediation voucher scheme

The Ministry of Justice introduced a £1million voucher scheme to promote mediation in family cases. Sir Andrew McFarlane, the President…

Debt 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…

A 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…

Recovering 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…

Worried 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….

More 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…

Advertising gold!

A ruling published today by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) shows how important it is to check your advertising copy before it…

Sign ’em up!

Are you still having difficulties with limited companies not paying their debts to you?! How about a sneaky tip to circumvent the…

Tsunami 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…

Winding-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…

Rewilding, farmers and inheritance tax

Rewilding, a form of environmental conservation where habitats are essentially left alone to regenerate naturally, is increasingly being…

Supply 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…

Perception 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…

It’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…

28 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…

Is 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…

You’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…

Scoring 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…

The 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…

A 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 …

Pay 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…

Property 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…

There’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…

Family 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…

Medicating 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…

Can 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…

Why 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…

Zombie Occupiers?

Following the coronavirus outbreak the government began restricting the ability of landlords to recover unpaid rent back in March 2020….

Fewer 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. …

The 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…

The 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…

Women’s Tour of Britain

After an 842-day hiatus, the AJ Bell Women’s Tour returns on Monday with a Grand Départ in Oxfordshire. …

Whether 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…

GIRFTS!

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…

Scary stuff!

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has today issued a timely reminder that advertisers must think carefully about the content of…

A 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…

Petition Frenzy?

The Covid Pandemic has been tough on some business and the Government has done everything it can to help protect these business with…

Digital 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…