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The government has issued guidance on who must pay the higher rates of Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) when buying a residential property in England. The basic position is that you will be liable for the higher SDLT rates when you buy a residential property (or a part of one) for £40,000 or more, if
A mother has won her appeal against a court order that she should return her two children to Germany to live with their father. The decision means the children can continue to live with her in England. The children and parents had all lived in Germany since the children were born. The parents separated in
The government has extended its ban on landlords evicting businesses until the end of the year. The move is in response to the continuing COVID-19 crisis. Ministers say that where companies can pay their rent, they should do so, as this support is aimed at those businesses struggling the most during the pandemic. It’s hoped
The High Court has settled a dispute between two partners who had worked together for many years in a restaurant business. Tariq Mahmood Malik and Mahboob Hussain Junior had opened a restaurant known as the “”Nawaab”” in 2003. They were equal joint owners of the property in which it was situated and equal joint shareholders
The government is extending the temporary measures it introduced to protect businesses from insolvency during the COVID-19 pandemic. The measures are contained in the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act and were due to expire on 30 September 2020. They will now continue until the end of the year and in some cases, into next year.
A heating engineer involved in a dispute with his employer over whether he should be paid for time spent travelling to jobs was unfairly dismissed. That was the decision of the Employment Tribunal in a case involving Thomas Holloway, who worked for Aura Gas from January 2015 until September 2019. He worked 45 hours per
The High Court has settled a trademark dispute over the sale of whisky and bourbon using the word ‘eagle’. Sazerac Brands LLC produced and sold ‘Eagle Rare,’ a well-established, high quality Kentucky straight bourbon whisky. Their EAGLE RARE marks were registered for alcoholic beverages, spirits, whisky and bourbon. Liverpool Gin Distillery Ltd and Halewood International
Landlords can now bring possession proceedings again, but the government has also announced new measures to give tenants extra protection over the winter, especially at Christmas. The government has changed the law to increase notice periods to 6 months meaning renters now served notice can stay in their homes over winter, with time to find alternative support or
A “vindictive” husband who caused an “”unnecessary haemorrhage of money”” by pursuing unnecessary legal action has had his divorce settlement slashed by the courts. The case involved a couple who had married in 2005 and separated in highly acrimonious circumstances in 2016. They had two children, aged 13 and 19. During their relationship they had
There has been a large increase in house sales following the introduction of the Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) holiday. After a 14.5% rise in July, residential property transactions in August rose a further 15.6% as more people decided to buy a new home. The increase came after Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced a stamp duty