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There’s been a large increase in the number of couples drawing up living together agreements – sometimes known as cohabitation agreements or ‘no-nups’. Some family lawyers say the figures have doubled in the last few years. The increase coincides with the growing trend for parents to provide their children with large sums to help buy
A Government proposal could cut costs for many people planning to build a new home. Under the current system, new homes above a certain size are subject to the Community Infrastructure Levy. The levy allows councils to raise funds from developers undertaking new building projects in their area. The money raised is used to fund
Two women have successfully challenged their aunt’s will after discovering that they were to inherit nothing from her estate. The court heard that the aunt was very frail and confused in the latter years of her life. Her two nieces kept in touch with her but after the death of her husband, she was also
A father has won his appeal against a court decision that he should no longer have supervised contact with his two children. The man had originally been granted supervised contact because it was feared that he might abscond and take the children abroad if there was no supervision. The problem arose when he applied to
Setting up a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) has become easier and quicker following changes to the registration process. Lasting Powers of Attorney enable you to appoint someone you trust to look after your affairs if you reach a point in the future where you can no longer make decisions for yourself due to ill
There has been a surge in the number of unfair dismissal claims as people try to avoid tribunal fees which come into effect in the summer. There were 15,300 claims in the third quarter of last year compared with 10,600 in the previous quarter – a rise of 44%. It’s thought the sudden increase is
The Government has announced new measures designed to simplify and improve the employment tribunal system. The move follows concerns from employers that tribunal cases are both expensive and time-consuming for them. The proposals include: new strike out powers to ensure that weak cases that should not proceed to full hearing are halted at the earliest
When drawing up contracts with automatic renewal clauses it is important to ensure that you fully understand what is being agreed. Failure to do so can prove costly, as demonstrated in a recent case before the High Court. It involved an IT company and a bank that had entered into an agreement. There was a
Many UK small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) are struggling with cash flow and are relying on their reserves to finance growth, according to new research. The British challenger bank, Aldermore, surveyed 300 SMEs and found that 38% are depending on cash reserves to fund future development. A further 12% said they will turn to a
A contractor has been found liable for the damage caused by a factory fire even though the client was partly responsible for what happened. The contractor had been hired to refurbish a factory roof. This required providing a suspended scaffold cage which contained gas-powered heaters. Part way through the contract a fire broke out causing