Lawson-West - your legal partner for life

• Always try to get the other driver's car registration number, name, address and insurance details. If the driver refuses to give you these details, make a note of the registration number.

• Take photos of the damaged vehicles - camera phones are great for this!

• Make a rough sketch of the road layout and show the path of the vehicles before and after the collision. It's best to do this as soon as possible afterwards.

• Never admit liability. Even if you think you are at fault, always speak to a Personal Injury solicitor or lawyer first.

• Seek medical help. You need to have your injuries recorded. Some injuries, such as whiplash or concussion, may not become apparent until 48 hours after the accident.

• Keep receipts of any expenses, such as painkillers, incurred. You may be able to recover compensation for these expenses.

• Let us know if there were any passengers in your car at the time of the accident, even children, as they too may be entitled to compensation.

Usually the injury claim is against your employer.

If you have been seconded to work for another employer and are injured while you are working for them, then they may be the appropriate defendant for your accident claim.

If you are attending another business's premises as occupiers, they may be liable for any injury claim resulting from an accident.

You are entitled to compensation for your injuries and any reasonable financial losses incurred as a result of the accident such as:

- loss of earnings

- loss of pension contribution

- travelling costs

- care costs

- medical expenses.

If in the future you can't work because of your injuries, you will be entitled to compensation for this. If you cannot return to work or return to a lower paid job - you will be entitled to a significant sum to cover future losses.

If you are unsure as to what accident injury compensation you are entitled to claim or what legitimate expenses you can recover compensation for, we can advise.

We handle all types of injury cases, including car accidents, accidents in public places and accidents at work. We also handle industrial illnesses including asbestos-related diseases, clinical and medical negligence and product liability claims.

Please call one of our Personal Injury specialist solicitors or lawyers today for advice.

A dangerous condition is any condition that a reasonable person would consider to be potentially harmful.

Yes.

If you would like further advice specific to your accident, please call us and speak to one of our Personal Injury specialist solicitors or lawyers today.

Probably not.

If the injury claim is valid, your Opponent's Insurers will want to settle without the need for filing a lawsuit.

However, if the insurance company thinks the injury claim is not valid, then they will refuse to settle and your solicitors will have to file legal proceedings.

No!

Lawson-West, solicitors, specialises in personal injury claims. All the accident injury compensation claims that we run are based upon a genuine no win no cost arrangement. This means that we cover the entire cost of running your accident injury claim which will include all:

- legal fees

- medical fees

- accountant's reports

- any other expenses.

At no stage do we ask our clients to part with any money and we will also insure you at our own expense (if we should not be successful) against any liability for the other side's fees.

Whether you win or lose it won't cost you a penny. For further information, please see our No win No Fee page or contact us and talk to one of our personal injury solicitors or lawyers.

This depends on a number of factors. The primary element of damages relates to the severity of your injuries. The more serious the injury, the more money you will get.

Pain and suffering damages are somewhat subjective, and will vary from case to case.

You may also be able to recover your medical expenses and lost wages.

If you contact us, Lawson-West, solicitors, would be happy to give your advice on accident compensation recovery and what you might get according to your circumstances.

We win 97% of personal injury cases.

We have great links with a local IFA and we would be only to happy to point you in the right direction. Call Lucy on 0116 212 1122 or Maggie on 0116 212 1168 and they will be pleased to help you.

If you are buying and selling, should you find a buyer for your house first or find property to buy first? I would recommend that you should always find a buyer for your house before you even start looking for a new home. If you find a house and cannot sell, you will risk the ever incurring cost of an open-ended bridging loan or alternatively, losing your dream home. Only if money is no object, should you find a house to buy before you find a purchaser for your house.

For sellers, certain times of the year are definitely more favourable than others. March to July tends to be the the busiest time in the property market, although late summer and early Autumn can also be busy.

Mid-summer tends to be a bit slower. This is due to people being on holiday or coping with children.

It's best to have three. But beware, some estate agents will tell you your house is worth more that it is in an attempt to gain your business.

If you are in the unlucky position where your sale or purchase does not proceed to completion, you won't be charged any professional legal fees at all. Note; There may be fixed cost charges such as search fees.

Go to the Residential Conveyancing section and click on 'get a quote' button, fill in your details and someone will contact you. Alternatively, you can call or Uppingham Road branch on 0116 212 1000 or our Wigston branch on 0116 212 1122 and they will be happy to give you a quote over the phone.

Conveyancing is the legal process in which a property is transferred between owners.

Exchange of contracts is carried out by us, over the telephone. It is the formal process whereby you become legally committed to proceed with the sale or purchase of your property. You do not need to be present at our office when exchange takes place.

Most people prefer to have at least a couple of days between exchange and completion to give them time to make removal arrangements. However, exchange of contracts can take place up to and including the day of completion i.e the day you pay for your new property and get the keys, or the day you receive the net sale proceeds if you are selling a property.

Yes, we can deal with your purchase of the property from the Local Authority. Once you have returned your Acceptance Notice to the Council we will contact them to request the relevant paperwork on your behalf.

Net sale/re-mortgage proceeds will be despatched to you on the day of completion by either a cheque in the first class post or by bank transfer to your chosen bank account.

Completion of your transaction must take place between a Monday and a Friday as the banks and most solicitors offices do not open over the weekend.

Registration at HM Land Registry generally takes between 5 and 8 weeks. Although you could expect to receive your title deeds within a month of completion, providing the property is not unregistered land.

Unregistered land is simply land which has never been formally recorded at HM Land Registry. The main reason land remains 'unregistered' is that the property hasn't been sold/mortgaged in the last 25 - 30 years, as registration was not compulsory at that time.

Selling unregistered land is not a problem, providing all of the original documents are to hand. Should you be purchasing a property which is currently unregistered, submission of your application to the Land Registry will trigger 'first registration' and title deeds will be produced in your name, as registration is now compulsory throughout the UK.

No, if you're buying a property for say £160,000 you will pay Stamp Duty Land Tax at 1% of the total purchase price i.e £1,600.

1% Stamp Duty Land Tax is payable for purchases of £125,001 up to £250,000. Purchases of £250,001 up to £500,000 incur Stamp Duty Land Tax of 3% of the purchase price.

No; although we would strongly recommend you obtain a local authority Search, a Drainage and Water Search and an Environmental Search, as a cash purchaser these searches are discretionary and you can proceed without them, should you choose to do so.

This process is called a transfer of equity. If the property being transferred is currently mortgaged, you will be required to obtain your Lender's written consent to change the ownership. A document called a 'Transfer Deed' is then drawn up and signed by all parties to the transaction, including the mortgage lender. Once this is done, an application will be submitted to HM Land Registry to change the title deeds.

Married couples or people living together purchase a house as 'joint tenants' which means that upon the death of one or other of them - that person's share automatically passes to the other.

There are five main types of searches that can be carried out, these are:

1) Local Authority Search - this reveals details of planning history along with any proposals for new roads or traffic schemes.

2) Environmental Search
This search is carried out to see if there are any landfill or waste disposal sites in the area. It also checks for toxic emissions, flooding, subsidence.

3) Land Charges Search
If you are buying the property with a mortgage the lender will ask your solicitor to carry out a search to make sure you are not bankrupt.

4) Drainage Search
This will show whether or not the surface and/ or foul water drains run into public or private sewer.

5) Land Registry Search
This is carried out just before completion in order to find out if there are new mortgages registered against the property that have not previously been disclosed.

We do all these searches on-line so we can highlight and advise on any potential problems as soon as possible, saving you time, trouble and money.

We will require from you £200 to start the searches on the property on your behalf.

It is difficult to put a time scale on the transaction. There are mortgages to organise as well as searches (we do our searches on-line to ensure we offer the quickest service possible) and surveys. It will also depend how many people are in the chain.

We estimate something around 6 to 12 weeks. We will always do what we can to progress the transaction as quickly as possible.

The keys are released when all of the money has been received by the seller's solicitor, this will happen on the day of completion.

Disbursements are the additional expenses which are required for the purchase or sale of your property, they do not form part of our legal fees. Disbursements are those expenses payable to other outside agencies, ie Local Authority searches, stamp duty and land registry searches.

Disbursements should be the same at all law firms.

With effect from the 5th December 2005, the new Civil Partnership Act came into force. This enables the registration of partnerships between two persons of the same sex, by way of civil ceremony, at a Registry office.

We can help and offer advice on:

• The benefits of a civil partnership and talk you through it to make sure you are fully aware of the implications.

• Inheritance tax issues/making a new Will. We can also put you in touch with independent financial advisers.

• Change of name on deeds.

Call us on 0116 212 1080 or 01858 445480 to find out more.

You have to show the court that your marriage has broken down 'irretrievably' (one or both of you feel that you cannot stay married to each other).

You can do this by proving one of five facts:

1 Your husband or wife has committed adultery and you find it intolerable to live with them.

You prove adultery by your spouse admitting it. If they won't you need to speak to your solicitor. If you continue to live with them for a period of more than 6 months after you find out about the adultery you will generally not be able to use this as your 'fact.'

2 Your husband or wife has behaved in such a way that you cannot reasonably be expected to live with him or her.

This covers all kinds of bad behaviour - you need to think about the main things that have made your spouse difficult to live with. These will be summed up in a petition in a few short paragraphs. You cannot rely on single events that took place more than six months ago.

3 You have lived separately for more than two years and your husband or wife consents to the divorce.

This is often called a 'no fault' divorce. You can have periods of living together as long as they don't add up to more than six months and you have been apart for at least two years.

4 Your husband or wife deserted you for a period of more than two years.

Desertion means leaving your husband or wife without his or her agreement and without good reason.

5 You have lived separately for more than five years

Your husband or wife does not need to agree to this. He or she cannot defend this petition, but can ask the court not to grant the final decree because of a major financial or other type of hardship.

When married partners separate, they have to agree how to separate their finances. If the marriage is very short, say, less than 3 or 4 years, and there are no children, it is possible that the court would look at who paid for things, and who brought sums of money into the marriage, such as a large deposit on the home.

But if the marriage was longer, or if you have children, this would not generally be the right answer.

Marriage is a joint venture, and it is generally accepted that all assets are joint property, regardless of who actually paid for them. Similarly, when sorting out the family finances on separation, debts and other liabilities would be considered joint, whichever name actually appears on the documentation.

So if you have a family car, which is being paid for on a loan in the name of one of you, it will usually be regarded as a family asset, and a family liability.

This is a clumsy expression. It means all the financial aspects of your divorce - the house, the car, the savings, the pensions, the bank accounts, the contents of the house, the debts, the income, the outgoings, etc...

You have a financial relationship with your ex-'other half', and you will need to sort it out. The divorce procedure doesn't do this automatically.

It will come as no surprise to learn that the costs of this aspect of your divorce depend entirely on how complicated your financial picture is, and how difficult it will be to divide it between you both and enable you to go your separate ways.

To give you some idea of the costs involved, if you and the other side can reach an agreement fairly easily, with, say, only a couple of details to clarify, we could document your agreement for you for around £300 - £400.

But if it is necessary to seek the assistance of the court in finding the fair answer, your costs will inevitably be far more. Around £300 - £500 per visit to court, is a starting point, and a great deal of preparation in disclosing financial details to the other side and checking theirs. You can expect an ancillary relief action in court to cost at least £1,500, if you settle it during the course of the process. If it proves impossible to settle it, and you have to ask the judge to hear the case and decide for you, your costs will be several thousand pounds.

From one point of view, this is true. For example, if the car loan is in your husband's name, the finance company can only sue him for the money.

If however, you need the car to take the children to school - it could prove a problem.

WRONG. If you are not married, however long you have lived together, you will have difficulty claiming interest in each other's property, possessions and investments.

This is particularly true for pensions and investments.

Yes, it is possible to oppose a Petition for Divorce commenced by your spouse. However statistically is very rare for Divorces to be opposed. It is often best to check before commencing proceedings, if there will be any opposition.

Opposing a Divorce can be an expensive excercise in legal costs, with a questionable benefit resulting from the outlay! It is important to consider very carefully what you have got to gain.

Your pension funds are part of the family assets. You have accumulated these funds during the marriage, at a time when the two of you anticipated growing old together and enjoying the fruits of your labours.

When you separate or divorce, and negotiate ideas about how to separate your family finances, you must consider the pensions along with the other assets. There are different ways in which pension funds can be dealt with in divorces now:

• Setting-off
The most popular solution. If there are other assets, such as a house, it is usually possible to reach an agreement where the person without a pension fund (or with a much smaller one) should receive a large proportion of the value of the other assets instead of part of the other one's pension fund.

• Earmarking
This option is more rare. It means that the person without a pension will receive a proportion of the pension-member's pension when that member reaches pension age. For example, if a husband will start to collect his pension at age 65, the ex-wife will wait until the ex-husband is 65 before she receives her share of the pension fund.

• Pension Sharing
Part of the pension-member's pension can be split off from the fund and used to create a pension fund for the other person. The split off section becomes the other person's own pension at the time of the split.

Your solicitor will:

• Meet with you. The first meeting with us is free
• Consider information and options
• Prepare documents
• Write letters
• Telephone or receive calls
• Appear for you in court
• Meet witnesses to take statements

In a straightforward divorce the court fees total £340, plus a fee to another solicitor to swear your affidavit, which is usually £9.

Your own solicitor's bill will be calculated on how much time he or she spends on your case.

This depends on several different considerations, the most important of which is children. If you have small children living with you when you divorce, the court will not let you finish the divorce until it is satisfied that the arrangements for the children have been settled in the best way available to them. The fact that the marriage is over, and Mum and Dad will not be living together with the children any more, is quite enough for the children to cope with, without having to move from the home they know and the school and friends they know, as well.

Usually a straightforward undefended Divorce with no delays or hold-ups caused by either party will take approximately 4 to 5 months from start to finish. If there are no other outstanding issues between the parties (for example regarding children or the family finances) or if these issues can be resolved within that time, it need not take longer.

However, where negotiations continue with regard to other matters they can take longer to resolve. That very much depends on how difficult it is to reach an agreement.

Of course this does depend upon your situation, but in may cases the costs you pay are much less than you would expect. Costs can range from £650 to £3,500 or more. This is why it's important you seek a solicitor who is prepared to offer free initial advice. This initial advice will include some guidelines as to likely costs.

We also bill clients monthly, to help ease any financial difficulties they may be going through and help them plan their finances.

Separation can be dealt with in one of four ways, and there are important differences:-

1. Divorce Proceedings
Either immediately or sometime in the future. These proceedings will result in the marriage being dissolved and each party being free to marry again.

2. Judicial Separation
The procedure for a Judicial Separation is the same as for Divorce, except for the Decree Absolute. The important difference is that it does not result in the dissolution of the marriage. However, the court pronounces that the parties while remaining married are not expected to live together. This is what many people think of as legal separation.

3 Formal Separation Agreement, or Deed of Separation
If no court proceedings for either Divorce or Judicial Separation are to be commenced, the parties to the marriage can still settle other matters by reaching an agreement privately between themselves, e.g. arrangements for the children and financial matters. A Separation Agreement can be drawn up and signed by both parties. This is a legal document. It settles practical issues, but it does not dissolve the marriage.

4. None of the above
It is perfectly reasonable to simply separate - in other words, live at different addresses. There is no obligation to do any of the above. However, it is usually a good idea to record in writing how you want to settle practical matters, so as to avoid misunderstandings and future arguments.

No. Perhaps you aren't sure that your marriage is really over. Are you just going through difficult times? Living together is not easy, and it may be that one or both of you would like time to think things over.

Before you talk to your tenant, you should seek legal advice immediately. Not all remedies are available to every landlord and you should call us to talk about what remedies are available to you.

Briefly, the remedies available to a landlord if the tenant breaches payment of rent covenants are:

1. Commercial Rent Arrears Recovery (CRAR).

2. Forfeiture.

3. Debt Action.

4. Bankruptcy or Winding-up.

5. Pursue a former tenant, a guarantor or surety.

And the following factors should be taken into consideration when deciding which remedy to pursue:

• How much rent is outstanding and how long it has been in arrears?

• Can the defaulting tenant pay?

• If it is an old lease, is the original tenant under a continuing liability and/or did any previous assignees give the landlord direct covenants?

• If it is a new lease, is there an Authorised Guarantee Agreement (AGA) in existence?

• What are the consequences of pursuing third parties?

• What does the Lease state (eg for forfeiture to operate there must be an express clause allowing for the same, or that particular remedy cannot be used)?

Call us for advice tailored to your lease and circumstances.

Generally a lease gives the right for landlords to have the rent reviewed periodically and, obviously, the landlord will be looking for an increase. Usually the landlord will suggest a new rent either directly or through a surveyor or agent and then it is up to you to try and agree the new rent with the landlord.

There should be provisions in your lease stating what will happen if agreement cannot be reached. We would be happy to advise you on the specific terms of your lease.

Contact us immediately. In most cases you will have a general right to stay, but your landlord can object on certain limited grounds.

If your landlord does think he or she has valid grounds for objection, he or she will serve a Section 25 Notice, but, instead of setting out his or her proposed terms, he or she will state the grounds under which he or she is objecting.

Even if your landlord proves his or her grounds, you may be entitled to compensation. It is therefore very important that you take action immediately. Leaving it too late could mean you lose all your rights, including the right to compensation.

Even if you do not want a new lease, you may still have to go through a legal procedure, otherwise you may have to keep paying rent.

Call us immediately to find out what your rights under the lease are as they depend on the type of lease you have.

In most cases, the law gives you a general right to a new lease and, in most cases, landlords are happy for tenants to renew their leases, provided the rent is increased to market level. Assuming that your landlord is happy for you to stay, he or she will serve you with a Section 25 Notice setting out their proposals for the renewal of the lease. There are things you can do to pre-empt this if you do not wish to wait and see.

However, the Section 25 Notice has the effect of legally ending your lease and legal steps need to be taken to protect you once you receive the notice.

It is therefore very important that you contact us as soon as you receive a Section 25 Notice from your landlord otherwise you may lose your legal rights.

If you lose your legal rights, the landlord could charge whatever rent he or she wants and could even make you leave the premises. Obviously, this could have a critical effect on your business.

Whilst we do not arrange finance ourselves, we would be happy to put you in touch with someone who may be able to put together a financial package when other lenders have failed.

SAV means Stock at Valuation.

Most businesses sell a product and, to enable their customers to have a choice, they hold a certain amount of stock. When you buy a business, this stock is not usually included in the asking price for the business. When you buy the business, you may need the stock to carry on trading.

So the value (cost price) of the stock is calculated and paid for when you take over the business.

In effect, if you purchase the Freehold as well as the fixtures and fittings and goodwill of the business, then you will own the property as well as the business.

If you purchase Leasehold, you will own the business and fixtures and fittings and will have the right to occupy the business premises for an agreed rent.

Buying a business starts with arranging an appointment to view your chosen business. Once you have met the sellers and hopefully had a chance to look at the latest profit and loss account information, you will be ready to put in your offer for the business.

Once your offer has been accepted, you should allow six to eight weeks for both sides' solicitors to agree the draft Sale and Purchase Contract details. You should also finalise your funding arrangements during this time. If it is a leasehold business, this period is also used to gather references for and obtain the consent of the landlord.

Once both sides are in agreement, all enquiries have been answered and the landlord has given his consent, the business purchase can then move to an Exchange of Contracts and Completion.

The process can vary from transaction to transaction but usually follows the outline below:

1. You need to gather together all the documents you have relating to the business - contracts of employment, contracts with suppliers and customers, accounts, etc - and pass these to your solicitor.

2. Talk to your accountant or tax adviser about the correct apportionment of sale price between goodwill, fixtures and fittings, and premises.

3. Obtain the consent of your landlord and any other persons whose consent is required. Generally your landlord will want to see references (normally one bank and two trade references) for the buyer of your business.

4. Your solicitor will then prepare the draft contract tailored to suit you and send it, with replies to standard enquiries and title deeds or lease, to the buyer of your business (the contract package).

5. The solicitor for the buyer of your business will then look through the contract package and raise enquiries on it.

6. The terms of the contract will be negotiated and the formal consent from the landlord or any other third party (such as a licensing authority) obtained where necessary.

7. Completion of transaction including transfer of business premises and assignment of goodwill together with valuation of stock will then take place.

We can offer you a free no-obligation consultation to discuss making or changing your Will. You can reach us through the "Contact us" box on the right.

Because we tailor-make your Will for you, the cost will depend on your own particular needs and circumstances. We will be happy to confirm our costs at the free initial meeting, or after we have determined your requirements.

If you don’t have a Will, anything which your children inherit passes to them at the age of 18. Teenage years are not necessarily the best time for someone to come into a sum of money! By making a Will, you can determine when your children will inherit, safeguarding the money for a time when they may really need it. We can easily put in a provision saying that your children are not to inherit until they reach, say, 21 or 25.

If you have children, you can name guardians to look after them if anything were to happen to you. The choice of guardians is up to you, but we would be happy to advise you on the factors to consider when making this important decision. If you haven’t named anyone to look after your children, it might be that members of your family need to go to court for permission to look after them. In the worst cases, it might mean that your children are taken into care until this is sorted out.

No. If you have any asset worth over £5,000, any stocks and shares or a property then your executors will usually need to apply for probate. If you don’t make a Will, they need to apply for Letters of Administration instead, which is very similar. Unless your assets are all owned jointly with someone else and pass to them automatically, you will need Probate before your estate can be paid out.

Yes. In most cases, there is no reason why the people inheriting your estate can’t be the same people as those dealing with the practicalities. We can tell you whether this will cause a problem in your particular circumstances.

Your Will is a private document whilst you are alive and becomes a public document after you die and probate is granted. Anyone can then obtain a copy from the Probate Registry for a small fee. While you are alive, though, no one has any right to see your Will unless you want them to.

Yes. The Intestacy Rules don’t allow for any gifts to charity out of your estate. By making a Will you can leave a set amount or a percentage of your total estate. It’s a great way to say “thank you” for the wonderful work they do – and it helps to save Inheritance Tax too!

Yes. By making a Will, you can set out exactly who is to get what amount. For example, if one of your children needs money more than another, you can leave then unequal amounts if you wish.

Not necessarily. The Intestacy Rules set out a strict order of who will inherit what. If you have children, your spouse may not inherit everything you own, whether or not you are close to your children or how wealthy they are in their own right. Your spouse might not even get the house, depending on how much it is worth.

Leaving a Will means you can be sure that everything would be dealt with in the way you would wish following your death. It's a great feeling to know that you won't be leaving your loved ones with a mess to sort out.

If you don't make a Will, the "Intestacy Rules" will govern how your estate is divided up when you die. They determine which of your relatives receives how much and can lead to some nasty surprises. The Intestacy Rules do not provide at all for your friends or even for a partner who you may have lived with for years - they will inherit nothing. Under the Intestacy Rules, your step-children are not counted as your children and will inherit nothing - even if their other parents have already died. When you die, someone will need to deal with the practicalities. If you don’t make a Will, you have no control over who this will be. It will usually be a family member. If you make a Will, you can choose who you would like to deal with things. You may prefer to appoint a professional, such as a solicitor or accountant - someone who will not be suffering the distress of bereavement.

If you are married, you can also save on Inheritance Tax by having a tax-efficient Will drawn up. That's more money for your children or your partner to enjoy. See our separate fact sheet on Inheritance Tax Planning for more information.

We have a ground floor meeting room at our office on Uppingham Road and also ground floor facilities in Wigston. We can also arrange home visits if it is more convenient for you.

Our office on Uppingham Road has ample car parking around the back, as does our office at 44 Long Street in Wigston. You can also park in these if visiting our office at 67.

If you are visiting our Harborough office, there is the Co-op car park which is situated just round the corner from us.

They do but we are more than happy to see you at any of our offices regardless of what you would like advice on.

Monday to Thursday 9am - 5pm and Friday 9am to 4.30pm.

In personal injury cases Lawson-West operates a unique 'no win = no cost' system which we believe is the safest and most effective option available.

For conveyancing we only charge you for our services once contracts have been exchanged.

In family cases we like to bill you monthly, as we appreciate that finances may be a concern.

It's always best to speak to a solicitor to talk your specific needs through.

Yes we do. Your first appointment for any of our services is free.

Yes we do - please call us on 0116 212 1000 for details of the times.

We have been established for 30 years.

We have 4 offices; 2 in Wigston, 1 on Uppingham Road, Leicester and 1 in Market Harborough.

There are six.