The Facts about digital divorce: On 4 January 2019, the Ministry of Justice confirmed that litigants-in-person (people who are not legally represented) had submitted more than 23,000* digital divorce petitions to the HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) since its online portal had opened on 1 May 2018. It would appear that the recent festive… Read more »
Article Category: Insight & Opinion
Mis-sold tax avoidance scheme: can I claim against my tax adviser?
If you are self-employed and/or run a business, tax is probably something your tax adviser (often your accountant or independent financial adviser) helps you with. Tax advisers should, and usually do, help you to find the best tax products for your business, i.e. those that will limit the tax you pay while ensuring that any… Read more »
Is it time to simplify the Inheritance Tax process?
The Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) published its Inheritance Tax Review in November 2018. The review demonstrates that changes desperately need to be made to the administration process. The purpose of the report: Dealing with estate administration often places a huge burden on executors. The OTS recognises that the responsibility of dealing with the estate… Read more »
Can you dismiss an employee without any prior warning for serious misconduct?
Most employers and HR professionals will generally follow a rule that in order to dismiss an employee without prior warning, the conduct of the employee will need to constitute gross misconduct. However, in the latest Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) case Quintiles Commercial UK Ltd (QCUK) v Barongo, the EAT decided the tribunal was too quick… Read more »
Covenant Consent: What is it and do I need it to extend a property?
When we are instructed to act for a client to sell their property there is sometimes confusion over what permissions are required for work that has been carried out on the property. One of the biggest misconceptions relates to covenant consent by a previous owner or the developer of a property. Many people believe that… Read more »
Property held in Trust: who’s responsible for the up keep
Property held in Trust is a great way to safeguard the property and avoid the lengthy and potentially costly probate process on death. For the trustees who hold the property it is important to consider any potential risk factors, your obligations and the health and wellbeing of the beneficiary residing in the property. There is… Read more »
Important changes to entrepreneurs’ relief announced in autumn budget
The recent budget contained a number of important changes, but one that slipped through largely unnoticed at the time of the announcement in Parliament related to changes to the availability of entrepreneurs’ relief. Background to entrepreneurs’ relief: Entrepreneurs’ relief is a tax relief that is widely used on the sale of certain qualifying business assets… Read more »
Full and final settlement: what should creditors be aware of when receiving a payment?
A debtor may sometimes try to settle a debt for less than the full amount that is due by informing the creditor that the payment is made “in full and final settlement”. This can often put a creditor somewhere between a rock and a hard place – does the creditor keep the part payment and… Read more »
Arguing over a Will: The 5 most common reasons
When a loved one passes away it is a very difficult time but this feeling can be made worse if the provisions of the Will are unexpected or there is conflict between the families over the distribution of the estate. There has been a surge over the last few years in claims arising out of… Read more »
Splitting up? How will your business continue after divorce?
The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics reveal 42% of all marriages now end in divorce. With 5.7 million small and medium sized enterprises in the UK in 2017, these figures suggest divorce could impact a significant number of businesses and individuals. On setting up a small business, often for tax purposes, it… Read more »
