Simplified rules on buying or extending your leasehold home
October 5th 2018By Laura Bright Solicitor If you own a leasehold property and want to extend the length of the lease, or buy the property, the procedure (known as ‘enfranchisement’) is currently a complicated, costly and time consuming one. Radical reforms to provide a better deal for leaseholders who want to purchase the freehold or to extend the lease of their home have been put forward by the Law Commission. The proposals…
Parents who lose a child to be granted bereavement leave
October 3rd 2018By Carol Fish Head of Personal Injury Working parents who lose a child will soon be entitled to claim parental leave. The new Parental Bereavement Leave and Pay Act will give all employed parents the right to two weeks’ leave if they lose a child under the age of 18 or suffer a stillbirth from 24 weeks of pregnancy. Employed parents will also be able to claim pay for this period, subject to meeting…
Living together before marriage – “We’ll never split up!”
September 25th 2018By Laura Ousby Solicitor Living together as “husband and wife” without marrying does not present the same legal rights as marriage, particularly on separation. When couples move in together they think that it will be forever and they will never separate. After all, it isn’t very romantic to think that one day it may end. The reality is, however, that many cohabiting couples do separate and what they think will…
Building an engaged and loyal team is one of the best ways to project a business as a fantastic place to work …
September 24th 2018Building an engaged and loyal team is one of the best ways to project a business as a fantastic place to work, a conference heard. And having a plan to actively market a company to potential employees ‘who may not even know they want to work there’ will give bosses a head start in the increasingly tough battle for talent. The two themes were high on the agenda as representatives…
Farming Partnerships – Things to be Careful
September 21st 2018By Jonathan Carroll, Head of Agriculture Yet again a farming family dispute has led to huge legal costs, when a decent partnership agreement would have prevented it for a tiny fraction of the sums lost. The Wild family farmed Beard Hall Farm from 1965, which was owned by dad, Ben. Ben and his wife Jean brought their son, Malcolm, into the partnership in 1978 when he was just 16, but…
Changes to divorce law ‘could make separations less painful’
August 31st 2018Julian Nelson, Head of Family Law explains that the government is being urged to introduce major changes to divorce laws to reduce the stress and difficulties faced by couples when their marriage breaks down. A private member’s bill put forward by Baroness Butler-Sloss proposes a system of no-fault divorce. It would be the first major change to divorce laws in England and Wales for 50 years and could help up…
Developer can’t dodge paying extra £750,000 for land
August 28th 2018Elizabeth Crouch, Senior Associate and Head of Residential Conveyancing considers a recent Court of Appeal case where a developer has been ordered to pay an extra £750,000. A developer has been ordered to pay an extra £750,000 for land that was sold subject to the condition that the price would increase if planning permission for houses was granted. The issue arose after the developer purchased property from a landowner to redevelop…
Sleep-in care workers ‘not entitled to minimum wage’
August 24th 2018Joanne Stronach, Head of Employment & HR, considers the recent Court of Appeal cases regarding sleep in workers. The decision by the Court of Appeal in two recent cases – Royal Mencap Society v Tomlinson Blake and Shannon v Jaikishan and Rampersad (trading as Clifton House Residential Home) 2018 EWCA Civ 1641 – will have major implications for residential care homes. The Court of Appeal decided that care workers sleeping…
Brothers in dispute over house left in their mother’s Will
August 15th 2018The High Court has settled a property dispute between two brothers after one accused the other of using undue influence to persuade their mother to leave him her house in her will. The case involved an elderly woman who moved in with her son after her husband died. However, she later wanted to move back to her own home in Cornwall. The house needed significant repairs, so she decided to…
Getting the right person for the right job – how to attract talent!
August 9th 2018Recent surveys indicate that recruiting and attracting talented staff is one of the biggest concerns facing SMEs in Cumbria and further afield. Together working with the Family Business Network we are delighted to announce that we have brought together a number of exciting speakers to give their views and share their experiences on how to get the right person for the right job. We are pleased to confirm that the following speakers will…
