Blog Articles

The breakdown of a relationship isn’t something people really want to think about, but with 42% of marriages ending in divorce, this is a reality for a lot of people.

If the worst was to happen, and you and your partner were unable to reconcile, the next step is seeking advice and finding a solution that is best for you.

Alistair Dobson, head of the Lawson-West Family department, has provided some advice for things to consider before instructing a Solicitor.

The Court of Protection and its powers is an area I am advising clients on more and more. I was recently asked to dispel some common urban myths surrounding the Court of Protection for the benefit of my colleagues, and I realised that there were no urban myths because the Court of Protection was not common knowledge.

In December 2017 the Law Commission announced that one of its consultation areas would be Chancel Repair Liability.

What is Chancel Repair Liability?

It is a legal obligation on some property owners in England and Wales to pay for certain repairs to a local church. Homeowners have found themselves with a large bill to pay for repairs, under a medieval law which dates back to the time of Henry VIII.

The deadline for private and volunteer sector companies with 250 or more employees have until 4th April 2018 to publish their first gender pay gap reports.

The process of making a Will does not have to be as complicated as you may think. Don’t think of it as morbid instead think about it as another insurance policy or as making provision for the future.

Workers who are aged18 and over are entitled to 3 types of break - rest breaks at work, daily rest and weekly rest.

The growing price of property has resulted in 1 in 6 newly divorced couples having to continue living in the same house – a figure that has increased since 2014 when it was 1 in 10.

A recent case that was heard at an Employment Law Tribunal awarded a former restaurant worker nearly £9,000 to compensate for the discrimination she faced at work and the lack of professionalism shown by management when she raised a grievance.

We recently had an enquiry from a client who is a 50% shareholder, director and employee with her business partner in a company. Although the relationship was good when the company was formed two years ago, it has since turned acrimonious, both parties have separate goals and aspirations for the business and are not on speaking terms.

Today (Monday 8th January) is the day coined ‘Divorce Day’ by the media. This essentially means that this is the day people are most likely to make the call to a law firm or carry out internet research in order to find out more about the process of divorcing or separating from their spouse or partner.

The revised Electronic Communications Code, now known as The Digital Economy Act, came into effect on the 28th December 2017, it changes the rights under the Telecommunications Act 1984.

As well as being disruptive, the passenger also reportedly breached the airlines terms. This case highlights the importance of reading the small print and making sure you fully understand any terms and conditions that you have entered into be it in a business transaction or social pursuits.

The amount of paternity pay new fathers are eligible to claim could change forever depending on the result of an Employment Appeal Tribunal. The case is being bought by a father who took paternity leave after his wife was advised to return to work after being diagnosed with postnatal depression after the birth of their daughter.

There is a story in the news today (19/12/17) that has revealed there are properties in certain UK cities and towns that require a fairly low deposit meaning it is easier for first time buyers to get on the property ladder – and one of these places is North West Leicestershire.

The Purpose of a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) is to give the legal authority to a person/s of your choice (called your Attorney(s)) allowing them to make important financial decisions on your behalf if you lose capacity and are unable to make these decisions yourself.

A Freedom of Information request to local authorities revealed child employment permit requests have dropped 1/5th in five years. 23,071 were issued in 2016 compared to 29,498 in 2010.

When the former dance partner of a 70 year old Berkshire woman passed away, she expected to receive a large pay out from his Will as they had lived together as ‘man and wife’ for over seven years.

Whether it's Christmas holidays, summer holidays or any other holiday time, for separated parents making arrangements to spend time with their children can prove to be very difficult. It is important to try and make these arrangements as soon as possible in the run up to any holiday period.

Finally the Chancellor spreads some of his pre-Christmas cheer on first time buyers! During yesterday’s 2017 Autumn Budget, the Chancellor Philip Hammond axed stamp duty for first time buyers who are purchasing properties up to £300,000.

Anyone buying a house needs the money to pay for it, however, for us as experienced Conveyancers, we have the important task of making sure we know exactly where the deposit is coming from when you are buying a property.

You’ve just had an offer accepted on your dream home which has taken months to pick. It can sometimes be even harder to select the best Conveyancer to complete your purchase or sale. At Lawson-West, we have offices in Leicester, Market Harborough and Wigston, meaning you have the benefit of instructing a Solicitor within your local area.

Adding to the Lawson-West catalogue of seminars and events, we ran a mock employment tribunal on November 9th at our Leicester office.
The meeting room area was set up to replicate a court room setting and three barristers from London firm The 36 Group were in attendance too, with one acting as a Judge.

Lawson-West Solicitors in Leicester, Market Harborough and Wigston prepare many Wills each year for clients. As part of our service we provide free Will registration with Certainty which is a national Will database endorsed by the Law Society.

The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has confirmed that Uber’s appeal against the decision to class its drivers as workers rather than self employed has failed.

The Office of National Statistics has released figures for the amount of couples getting divorced in England and Wales in 2016 and recorded that rates have increased for the first time in a decade.

Here is something I guarantee you have not previously considered - what happens to your social media accounts when you pass away? Making your Will is an ideal time to think about your ‘online self’ alongside your ‘real’ assets and preparing for times when you are no longer around.

Recently, the charity Maternity Action have released a report on the impact of unfair redundancies on pregnant women and new mothers. The report calls on the Government to act urgently on its commitment to review redundancy protection, which was made in January 2017 but is yet to be acted upon.

I recently read an article entitled ‘you’d have to be mad to marry in later life’ where the author pointed out that marriage in your later years would most likely disinherit your children, cause family disputes and result in costly solicitor fees to sort out your estate. She cited ‘inheritance tax laws being so complicated’ as a reason not to remarry, and, after quoting all of these reasons, stated that later marriages are a ‘late-life lunacy’.

When thinking about our assets, most of us make a list of those things that we know are valuable: our homes, our bank accounts, perhaps our shares in companies and our pension pots, but do we think about those not so apparent assets?

The Supreme Court decision on 26th July 2017 declared Employment Tribunal and Employment Appeal Tribunal fees unlawful and abolished them with immediate effect but what does this mean practically for employers?

A former senior vice president is taking his employment discrimination case to the court of appeal after previous hearings at an Employment Tribunal and an Employment Appeal Tribunal. The case revolves around whether it is fair for an employee to be dismissed for refusing to co-operate in workplace discrimination against them.

Nearly three months after employment tribunal fees were abolished, the government has today revealed the scheme to refund those who were incorrectly charged.

When news about the collapse of the Monarch airline broke, it came out of the blue. Holiday makers were stranded; people waiting to go away had to make alternative arrangements and the issues did not stop there, what about the staff?

Use of Mediation in Resolving Litigation
This week marks “Mediation Awareness Week”, and so we thought that we would share with you our own views about the process of mediation in the context of litigation matters.

There has been a recent increase of people going to court for family law matters without instructing, or at least visiting, a Solicitor to gain professional legal advice about their case.

There have been many stories in the press of late, concerning the gig economy, but were you aware that foster carers are not classified as employees but as workers? This means they do not receive the benefits that employees do.

The Low Pay Commission recently carried out a report which concluded that it is women who are routinely paid less than the national minimum wage, and the main rationale behind this is because they are less likely to complain about it

The recent furore regarding the gender pay gap at the BBC has highlighted that, even in the biggest and most reputable organisations, there is still a way to go. It was notable that the best paid male BBC star earned 5 times what the best paid female star earned and that two thirds of the on-air high earners were men.

The newspapers have been filled with stories about Ryanair’s cancellation of over 2,000 flights affecting over 400,000 travellers. And, quite rightly, the emphasis of these stories is on the poor people who have had their flights cancelled or those who are stranded in their holiday destinations and are struggling to arrange flights home.

Fibromyalgia is a form of chronic pain syndrome, the symptoms of which leave people with overwhelming pain, headaches, sleeplessness and depression. Managing such a condition at work can be challenging but you should not be placed at a disadvantage if you are a sufferer.

It is widely acknowledged that the continual changes in employment law have made it tougher for employers to stay well informed of their obligations. This in turn with the already hard hitting tribulations which come with running a business, have meant that more and more employers are faced with situations which can lead to upset and disgruntled employees with potential for an increase in Employment Tribunal Claims.

CRAR is only available to landlords of written leases of commercial premises and will not be available where the premises are let or occupied as a residential dwelling...

In or about 2004, our Client experienced respiratory difficulties. These included a chest infection and wheeze, and were treated as a chest infection with underlying asthma. Our Client’s GP prescribed an inhaler, the use of which made no difference to the symptoms...

Family Solicitors are finding that their clients are using social media to talk about, or ‘bad mouth’ their ex-partners. It may be done in the heat of the moment or without much thought but these types of actions can have lasting consequences.

Previously, the Court of Appeal set out guidance for calculating awards given to parties who have suffered an act or multiple acts of discrimination - this award is known as an injury to feelings award. The scale to establish what a person can be awarded has been guided by the leading case Vento v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police since 2002. These are known as the Vento guidelines.

This week is migraine awareness week. Many employers do not understand the awful effects of migraines and they could do more to support staff with the condition.

Yesterday (5/9/17) there was a landmark decision by the European Court of Human Rights who ruled that a worker had his rights breached when his private emails were monitored by his employer without his knowledge. .

This case involved an engineer in charge of sales between August 2004 and August 2007. As part of his role, he was asked to set up a Yahoo Messenger account to handle customers’ queries.

Employers are being urged to offer support to workers who give birth to premature or ill babies.
The conciliation service Acas has urged employers to be flexible in giving time off to parents so they can attend hospital appointments.

A recent report carried out by XpertHR concluded that employee absence has increased to 6.6 days per person, per year meaning that employers are losing out on a rate of 2.9% productivity due to staff not being at work.

Roughly speaking, this means employers with 1,000 or more staff loose on average 8.8 days per employee.

If you are unsure about what you should tell your conveyancer, err on the side of caution and give us the information. If you don’t - and it turns out to be important - it could lead to delays in the process and in the worst cases, the sale or purchase falling through.