News and Blogs

A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) is a powerful legal document, enabling you (the Donor) to appoint an individual or individuals of your choosing (your Attorney(s)) to manage your financial affairs and/or to make decisions regarding your welfare, should you become unable to make such decisions yourself in the future. An LPA is, therefore, an important document and there can be serious...

If you have been appointed as a property and financial affairs deputy, or if you are acting as an attorney under a property and financial affairs Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) for a relative or friend (known as the donor), you will realise fairly soon that this can be a challenging and time-consuming role. There are many things to consider when looking after someone else’s money. You...

Whether you are buying a property alone or with another person, purchasing your first or your fifteenth home, planning on living in it or letting it out: whenever you acquire property, you should consider whether you need to make or update your Will as a result.

Fundamentally, your Will determines who receives your estate when you die. This includes any property you own solely or as tenants in...

Further to the Prime Minister’s announcement on 4 January 2021, declaring another national lockdown, Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced “top-up” grants for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses adversely impacted by the new lockdown, with the proposal expected to cost £4.6 billion and benefit over 600,000 businesses.

Who is the grant available to and how much is...

We published an article on 22 May 2020, detailing the effect of the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill which was designed to provide greater protection for businesses during the pandemic. 

The Bill came into force on 26 June 2020 and became the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020. We described the central aspects of the Act in our earlier article which can be summarised as...

What is the new ‘Use an LPA’ digital service?

A new ‘Use an LPA’ feature has quietly been introduced to the Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) service offered by the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG).

Historically, you had two options in how to put an LPA into effective use. You could provide the original to the third party – a bank or building society for a...

Married couples are often advised, for Income Tax efficiency, that assets should be held jointly. Typically the division is 50:50 but sometimes it is heavily weighted to one party (say, 90:10) so that the lower rate tax payer receives most of the income from the asset, typically rental income, and overall this is taxed at the lowest rate possible.

There are potential tax efficiencies in doing...

Employers frequently decide to open negotiations over the termination of employment. For instance, there may be a possible redundancy situation or a performance problem, and the employer may prefer agreeing the termination of employment on mutually acceptable terms to implementing formal procedure. However, such discussions are not without risk.

Many people incorrectly believe that all...

In an effort to revive and reenergise the declining footfall throughout high streets and town centres, the government has introduced new use classes and permitted development rights (‘PDRs’) as part of an initiative titled ‘Project Speed’. These changes have been designed to reduce the ‘red tape’ and unnecessary bureaucracy facing commercial property owners...

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the government brought in restrictions to try to slow the spread of the virus, which included the mandatory closure of many businesses, including much of the hospitality industry.

Given the financial losses caused by such closures, many businesses sought to claim from their business interruption insurance. However, many insurers took the stance that these...