As the cost-of-living crisis continues, more and more tenants are unable to afford their rent and are falling into arrears. This can be financially devastating for landlords, especially if mortgage rates are biting hard. If you are a landlord whose tenants...
If you have been asked to be an attorney for someone under their power of attorney, whether for finances or health and welfare, then they have placed their trust in you to act in their best interests at all times. This will also be the case if they did not...
As a business owner preparing for a joint venture, you and your potential partner will need to decide how best to structure the business arrangement so that it provides the best platform for your mutual objectives. ‘Several factors will influence your...
Due to changes in ways of working since the pandemic or in response to the economic slowdown, some employers are downsizing their premises and asking employees to relocate to new premises or hubs. ‘Even if the change in location only involves a short...
If a neighbouring landowner uses part of your land for something, such as access or drainage, it is likely that they will have a formal right known as an easement. This could restrict your ability to redevelop or extend existing buildings on your...
One story which received a great deal of media coverage earlier this year was the publication of the results of a six-month trial involving around 2,900 workers who had moved to a four-day working week. The organisers of the UK trial heralded it as a...
Losing a mum or dad is never easy, and things can become even more distressing if quarrels arise between siblings about who should get what from their parent’s estate. Kenneth Amakye one of our Associate Solicitors highlights some of the main...
If you are a business tenant, a break clause in your commercial lease gives you valuable flexibility to move out if circumstances change, but the law on break clauses is full of traps for tenants. If you want to be certain of ending your lease...
Hotels and wedding venues are busy hosting wedding fairs and gearing up for the wedding season, with everyone focused on the details of the big day, from the colour scheme and menu to the choice of attendants and music. One other thing which now appears on a...
Once thought of as a device only for the rich and famous, trust funds are now routinely used by ordinary families to protect assets for a loved one in a tax-efficient manner. Although useful, trust funds can be complex mechanisms and disputes can and do...
While financial assets can be divided relatively easily when settling an estate, this is not usually possible with heirlooms such as a painting, a piece of furniture or individual pieces of jewellery. Even if items are not valuable, such items may be the...
Investment in another business may be part of your business growth strategy, especially if you operate in the same market or supply chain. Acquiring a slice of the pie through the purchase of shares is one way to secure such an investment and may seem...
Whether negotiating a new commercial lease, or renegotiating an existing one, it is important to plan ahead and be clear about your desired outcomes and where you have flexibility to compromise. ‘Your negotiating position will be influenced by the...
Recent advances in technology mean that there are now numerous ways to monitor employees, including via a webcam on staff computers or by checking browser histories, email content and phone records. Productivity-tracking software offers a raft of ways to...
You are likely to have spent some weeks, months or perhaps even years contemplating getting a divorce before you decided to apply, and even then, you may still wonder if it is not too late to save your marriage, particularly if you have children together. ...
If you need a cash injection for your business to help with growth costs, or to fund the purchase of plant and equipment, diversification, or expansion, then you will need to think carefully about the finance options open to you and their potential pros and...
Being able to share ideas and opinions over the internet has many benefits. It enables us to communicate quickly with one another and to relay information easily with the simple click of a button. But what few people realise is that when you post something...
Domestic abuse can impact men and women, of any age or race and is seen across all parts of society. Unfortunately, statistics from the Office for National Statistics reveal that domestic abuse is on the increase, with cases having risen by six per...
Redeveloping parts of a building in your portfolio, to create a more flexible layout or perhaps add additional floors, can be a good way to enhance investment value. This is easiest in a vacant building, but you may have good tenants and want to...
According to the Office for National Statistics, nearly as many children are now born to parents who are not married or in a registered civil partnership as to those who are. But do you have fewer rights where you are born outside of a legally recognised...
April is usually the month when the Government introduces new employment legislation, and in recent years has announced its commitment to introducing significant new rights, such as neo-natal leave and a duty to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. ...
When a commercial lease is due to end, both landlord and tenant will consider their business plans to decide whether they want to put a new or extended lease in place. Many business tenants have an automatic statutory right to ask for a new lease when...
Sadly, there are people who have believed they were legally married, only to find out years later their marriage was invalid. This normally only comes to light when a relationship ends, or when one party to the relationship dies as it can have an...
With people seeking greater flexibility and a better work-life balance, small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) now account for 99 per cent of all private businesses in the UK. ‘Launching and building your new startup is an exciting time and...
Many people mistakenly believe that a divorce severs your financial ties, but that is not the case. It is necessary to either agree your financial arrangements via a separate negotiation and have the settlement formalised by the court, or have the...
Many businesses are now at the stage where they have planned their longer-term working arrangements for staff who may be office-based, remote working, or a hybrid arrangement. Some of the changes to working practices which were introduced ‘on the...
If you are planning to appoint a new director to work in your business who will also acquire shares in your company then, as well as drawing up a service level agreement to govern their employment, you will also need to consider whether you need to make any...
Babies born by surrogacy have nearly quadrupled in the last 10 years, with 413 parental orders (used to transfer legal parental responsibility from the surrogate to the intended parents) reported in 2020. This is a rise from 117 reported in 2011. Two-thirds...
The High Court has decided that the “dignity and standing” of the Queen will be protected by not disclosing Prince Philip’s Will following his death in April 2021. This sort of protection is not new and has been used repeatedly by the...
Growing evidence of climate change has put sustainability firmly on the commercial property agenda. Owners, occupiers, and lenders are increasingly focused on ‘ESG’ which refers to environmental, social and governance issues. Lenders...
Making a will is an important part of lifetime legal planning, but do you need to put all your wishes in your will? Where should you set out your wishes for gifts or your funeral arrangements? Is it appropriate to explain your decisions about your legacy?...
If you have decided that the time has come to admit a new member to your partnership, then there are a number of important steps that you will need to take in preparation. To help you plan, partnership law expert Selwan Yousif who is a...
A new divorce law which will make it easier and less stressful for many couples to get a divorce has been delayed to 6 April 2022. No-Fault divorce was originally supposed to start in Autumn 2021, so this is a delay of around 8-10 months. The government...
While many adults drink alcohol responsibly, unfortunately there is a significant percentage of the adult population in England that misuse alcohol. Government statistics for 2020 show that over half a million adults in England were admitted to...
The ban on commercial evictions introduced to prevent mass repossessions and insolvencies due to Covid-19 has been extended by nine months to March 2022. Under the ban, commercial landlords face restrictions in relation to a wide range of enforcement...
There have been a number of changes in regard to marriage law since 2004, with the most recent being the introduction of opposite-sex civil partnerships in 2019. These changes have been important in providing clarity over legal rights and financial...
Preparation is the key to success with most things in life and is particularly important when you are trying to attract a buyer for your business. This is because any potential acquirer will almost certainly want to carry out pre-purchase checks to...
The risk of flooding in England and Wales is increasing year on year and exposing millions of homeowners to the possibility of property damage and the consequent misery that this causes. In some cases, there is nothing you can do but try to claim on...
Since the arrival of Covid-19 so many businesses have been forced to temporarily close their offices and relocate their workers to their homes. At first, many suffered teething problems, but it has since become clear that productivity can be just as high...
After postponements in 2019 and 2020, the 6 April 2021 is the third date scheduled for the off-payroll working rules to be extended to the private sector. The purpose of the change is to increase compliance with tax rules known as IR35. This change has...
If the pandemic has left you with empty commercial property , now could be a good time to look for alternative uses. To help businesses make the best use of commercial real estate, the Government has made the planning rules more flexible so that it is...
‘An Englishman’s home is his castle’ is a familiar phrase with its origins in the 16 th century, where it was widely accepted that no one should have the right to interfere with the use and enjoyment of a person’s property except in...
As the economic impact of the pandemic grows, many commercial landlords are struggling to collect rent and enforce their business tenants’ other lease obligations. While the Government has acted to protect business occupiers by restricting...
As many of the government measures to support businesses through Covid-19 come to an end, businesses which have limped along may need to take more drastic action and consider renegotiation with creditors, restructuring, disposal, or even winding up or...
If you are contemplating divorce, then you may need to consider whether it would be beneficial to commence proceedings prior to Brexit. This is particularly important if either you or your spouse are nationals of another EU country, if you last resided...
If you have occupied land for your business for 10 years, you may be able to apply to be registered as the new legal owner.
The shareholder agreement is often one of those documents that startups sometimes forgo or even ‘bootstrap’ by cutting and pasting from other documents without taking independent legal advice. Even if you put one in place when setting up your...
What might have started out looking like a small and innocuous plant to your neighbour can soon grow into a substantial hedge that extends well beyond their boundary, albeit innocently, reducing the amount of land which you can enjoy. On the other...
A commercial property portfolio is just like any other investment - to get the best out of it, you need to manage it well, and sometimes it will benefit from being restructured. The unforeseen impact of Covid-19 on the whole of the UK economy has underlined...
The Government’s coronavirus job retention scheme (CJRS) has helped many employers keep their staff. But, the winding down of the CJRS and the grim economic forecast mean that employers may need a more flexible workforce and for many sectors,...
