There has, since its inception, been a great deal of confusion regarding the ‘double Inheritance Tax (IHT) nil rate band’ legislation – whereby the unused proportion of the IHT nil rate band of the first of a couple to die is passed to the second: this is termed the ‘transferable nil rate band’ (TRNB).
One of the problems stems from those cases in which the estate of the first deceased merely passed across to their spouse and the formal documentation relating to the estate was either not prepared or not retained.
HM Revenue and Customs have attempted to make the use of the TRNB simpler by issuing a new code of practice which allows an estate making use of a transferred TRNB to be an ‘excepted estate’ provided certain conditions are met.
In practice, this will simplify the administration of many estates. However, there are still conditions which may cause difficulties for many people, such as the conditions that the first deceased must have:
- been domiciled for IHT purposes in the UK at the date of death; and
- not have owned foreign assets (i.e. a holiday home) worth more than £100,000 at the date of death.
The guidance can be found at
Tags: inheritance tax, lawyers leeds, probate, solicitors leeds
Posted May 13th, 2011 in General |
Not many prosecutions are brought under the Consumer Protection From Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, which are designed to protect consumers form the activities of unscrupulous traders.
Recently several companies were taken to court by the Office of Fair Trading for breaches of the regulations.
One of the companies offered invitations to claim ‘prizes’ by sending unsolicited letters to people. The ‘prizes’ which were the subject of the prosecution were either an LCD TV (allocated to less than 1 per cent of the applicants) or a ‘Zurich watch’ which was allocated to more than 99 per cent of the respondents. The Zurich watch actually contained a movement made in Japan.
To obtain the prize, it was necessary to obtain a ‘prize code’. This was done by the ‘prize’ recipient telephoning a premium-rate number – which cost £8.95. They then had to send a further £8.50 because the watch was an ‘electrical item’. The total cost to the consumer was therefore £17.45 and the supplier made a profit of approximately £7 on each ‘prize’.
The court concluded that there was in reality, no prize: the claimant had bought the watch.
In each case, the OFT found that the Regulations had been breached and that the ‘prize’ element of the promotion was a sham.
There are many unscrupulous traders in the market and promotions that offer ‘free prizes’ are seldom genuine. There are also examples of companies that target vulnerable people (i.e. the recently bereaved).
If something looks too good to be true, it is almost certainly because it is. Do not commit yourself without thinking through your options.
Tags: consumer law, consumer rights, legal advice, legal rights
Posted May 12th, 2011 in General |
The laws against corrupt practice in the USA are both strong and pervasive, as a recent case illustrates.
It involved a London solicitor who is a US citizen and who was charged in the USA in connection with corrupt practices with regard to contracts worth more than £4 billion that had been awarded in Nigeria to a consortium represented by the solicitor. He paid bribes to high-ranking Nigerian officials between 1996 and 2004.
He fought extradition to the USA on the grounds that the time-lag between the offences and the case coming to trial prevented a fair trial and that the offences were too distant from the US for the courts there to have authority.
Despite that fact that only one of the member firms of the consortium was American, he was extradited to the USA and negotiated a plea bargain with the US authorities. This involved him agreeing to forfeit nearly $150 million.
He is scheduled for sentencing in June and could face a maximum prison sentence of five years for each of to two offences.
Tags: bribery, corruption, lawyers, litigation
Posted May 12th, 2011 in General |
The new ‘mediation first’ rule applicable to divorce and separation have been well publicised, but moves to make the process more jargon-free have not received much attention.
The following changes have been made which will, it is hoped, help the participants in family proceedings better understand the process.
Old legal term New legal term
Ancillary relief Financial order
Divorce decree Matrimonial orders
People without mental capacity Protected parties
Guardian ad litem Children’s guardian
Next friend Litigation friend
Tags: divorce, divorce advice, divorce law, divorce solicitors
Posted May 11th, 2011 in Family, General |
Under UK law, anyone who is allowed unopposed occupation of a piece of land for more than twelve years (10 years for registered land if appropriate procedures are followed) can acquire legal title to the land. Although numerous safeguards were introduced in the
Land Registration Act 2002, which introduced a system of notices before the title could be transferred, this continues to be the case.
The UK's approach to 'squatters' rights' (known in legal circles as adverse possession) has been ruled to be lawful according to a ruling by the European Court.
If you allow people to make use of land you own without taking measures to protect your rights you run the danger of giving them permanent legal rights over your land or even losing legal title to it. Contact us for advice.
Tags: evicting squatters, property law, property solicitors, squatters
Posted May 9th, 2011 in General |
The AWR will give agency workers the right to the same basic terms and conditions of employment as if they had been recruited directly by the hirer, once they have completed a qualifying period of 12 calendar weeks in a particular jobs, but will not fundamentally affect employment status or how agency staff are placed and managed.
The 50-page guidance covers:
- the scope of the AWR;
- qualifying for equal treatment;
- how to identify basic working and employment conditions and the relevance of a ‘comparator’;
- pay;
- working time and holiday entitlement;
- pregnant workers and new mothers;
- pay between assignments;
- information, liability and remedies;
- information a Temporary Work Agency (TWA) must have before supplying an agency worker; and
- compliance information required by a TWA from a hirer.
Employers are advised to consider how the AWR will affect them and have procedures in place by 1 October to ensure compliance. For individual advice, contact us. Alternatively, click here for further free guides.
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Tags: agency workers, employment law, lawyers, solicitor, temporary staff
Posted May 9th, 2011 in General |
It may be assumed that when a couple purchase a property in equal shares, that is how ownership remains, but it isn’t necessarily so.
In a recent case, the High Court had to rule on the ownership of a house, which had been bought for £30,000 by a cohabiting man and woman who lived in it between 1985 and 1993. When the relationship broke up, the man moved out and ceased to contribute to the mortgage and running expenses of the property, and made no contr
ibution towards maintenance of the couple’s children. He bought another property and moved there. The couple cashed in a joint insurance policy to assist him to finance his new home.
In 2008, it became necessary to determine the respective shares of the ownership of the property, by which time its value had risen to £245,000. The County Court ruled that the share of the woman who had remianed in the house should be 90 per cent. On appeal, the High Court upheld this decision.
After a further appeal, the Court of Appeal ordered that the split should be 50:50. The case is now to be heard by the Supreme Court and may be expected to set a precedent for how similar cases will be decided in the future.
Tags: cohabitation, family law, family solicitors
Posted May 6th, 2011 in Family |
HM Revenue and Customs have reported an upsurge in a common ‘phishing’ scam, in which an email is sent advising that the recipient is due a tax refund and that all that is required to make the refund is your bank account and security information.
On receipt of this information from anyone fooled by the scam, the fraudsters proceed to clear out the bank account.
HMRC NEVER advise of tax refunds by way of email. See their online security advice.
For more information, click the link below.
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Tags: advice, law, legal scams
Posted May 5th, 2011 in General |
A motor cycle rider who challenged Westminster Council over parking charges for motor bikes and then pursued it all the way to the Court of Appeal has seen it rejected.
Warren Djanogly claimed that the introduction of roadside parking charges by the Council, by an order made in 2010, was invalid.
Unfortunately for him, the Court ruled that the achievement by the Council of a traffic management benefit through the introduction of the parking charge was sufficient to make the order legitimate.
Posted May 4th, 2011 in General |
Keeping your head (and thereby taking a reasonable approach) when all about you are losing theirs can pay dividends in court.
In a recent case involving the break-up of a limited liability partnership (LLP), a partner who had been effectively expelled by the other members made an offer to them, in open correspondence (correspondence which is not legally privileged), that they should buy out his share in the LLP at fair market value.
The offer was rejected. When the case went to court, the court ordered that the ex-partner’s share should be bought out by the other members of the partnership at fair market value.
Because he had made the offer in open correspondence, the court ruled that the ex-partner’s costs should be settled on an ‘indemnity’ basis, which means he will receive approximately 90 per cent of his costs from the losers. Normally, the winner can expect to receive about 70 per cent of their costs from the loser.
The courts generally react favourably to litigants who are shown to have tried to adopt a reasonable approach.
We can help you negotiate a successful outcome to your commercial dispute.
Tags: civil litigation, courts, dispute resolution solicitors
Posted May 3rd, 2011 in Commercial Litigation |
