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Due Diligence (Part 1) What is Due Diligence? A due diligence review is an independent investigation of the target business by the buyer and its advisers. In English law, the principle of “caveat emptor” or “buyer beware”...
Extra hours worked over and above normal shifts on a regular basis could be now calculated as part of holiday pay – court rules The case of when to add extra hours worked to holiday pay formed part of a legal ruling recently. The Court of Appeal...
The idea of retiring in your 50s or even your 40s sounds like a pipe-dream to most, what with the increased cost of living, inflation and other economic factors slowly eating away at your predicted earnings. This hasn’t stopped the rise of the FIRE...
Dubbed a ‘slow, lethal killer’ by many financial advisers, pension fund charges can potentially limit your overall pension pot without you even noticing. All pension plans comes with charges, but the impact they have on your pension savings...
Following an in depth study conducted by the National Centre for Social Research (NCSR) and the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), it has been discovered that only one in four people making financial gifts are aware of the risks of inheritance tax. Further...
Introduction May was a relatively quiet month, virtually nothing of any importance happened at all. Well, apart from the European elections, Theresa May’s decision to stand down and the re-escalation of the US/China trade war. Not content with that,...
Today’s business leaders and employers need to consider gender equality as more than just women's rights. Gender discrimination affects lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. As an employer it is important to learn how to recognise, prevent...
In January this year the Government introduced a new IT based online system for granting Probate, but this has now stalled and some clients have been waiting up to 3 months for the application to go through. Probate — the legal authority to take...
Inheritance Act claims ; can you claim if the time limit has passed? The short answer is yes; at the Courts discretion. The six month limitation on Inheritance Act claims has been subject of debate in many cases. Recently in the case of Mrs Shantabi...
Is it unfair to dismiss an employee for proselytising? Not if the proselytising is improper, held the Court of Appeal in Kuteh v Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust. Religious beliefs and whether to share these with patients was at the forefront of this...
The recent case of Gaskin v Chorus Law Ltd & Anor provides guidance for beneficiaries. This is a common problem experienced by beneficiaries Eileen Gaskin died, intestate , in 2012 and a year later her daughter Marquita Murphy instructed Chorus Law to...
Introduction First the good news. None of the leading world stock markets on which we report in this Bulletin fell in April. With just one exception – China – all the markets made gains, with the German DAX index leading the way. Generally...
Equity release is no longer the niche lending area it once was. More and more homeowners over 55 are choosing to release cash tied up in their homes and there are few signs of this trend subsiding. Lending in 2018 increased by 27% compared to the previous...
A study found in 2018 that one in four adults have no savings. Many residents in the UK wish that they had cash to save, however high monthly outgoings and debt clearance seem to take priority. Saving for the little curveballs that life throws...
As defined contribution pension plans overtake defined benefit (in terms of money paid into schemes) for the first time ever, more and more people are taking an interest in how the two differ and the relationship between them. The Office of National...
We have all been there, traffic is building up behind you, there is not a gap in the opposite flow. Then, the chance appears and you just manage to manoeuvre around the cyclist who has delayed your journey by 10 seconds. Did you know that if you drive too...
As property lawyers we are often asked about freehold, what does it mean, can I buy it, is it worth it, why would I want to? Freehold property can be defined as any estate which is "free from hold" of any entity besides the owner. So the owner...
Lawyers are fighting for changes to the law to safeguard dementia sufferers against financial disadvantage. Those suffering with dementia seem to be a target for crooks who befriend them, coerce them into getting married purely to inherit their money. ...
Non-disclosure agreements have been in the news recently after claims that they have become mere gagging orders for undesirable workplace practices. They were initially designed to prevent staff sharing trade secrets if they changed jobs and form part of an...
Introduction We have commented before on the difficulty of ‘hitting a moving target.’ Sometimes in writing this commentary you run the risk of what you write being overtaken by events, and that has never been more true than this month. In the...
Inheritance tax (IHT) can be an incredibly punitive tax on your estate. However, by making the right choices, you can vastly reduce the amount of your estate liable for IHT. While other tax free allowances, such as the ISA allowance, have risen in recent...
With your capital tucked away in savings accounts, investments and mortgages, you’d assume that there is some kind of protection in place. But exactly how safe are your savings in the event of, for example, an authorised financial services firm going...
People simply aren’t saving enough into their pension funds. Despite the relative success of the auto-enrolment rollout and the increase of minimum contributions from 5% to 8%, there’s still a culture of misunderstanding surrounding pensions....
Can verbal promises be expected in Law in an inheritance situation? The answer is: sometimes The recent case of Thompson v Thompson (2018) highlighted the increasing frequency with which families end up in court over undocumented promises. These...
‘No blame’ divorce is now to become law making it easier for couples to split. The Justice Secretary has announced changes to the 50-year-old divorce laws meaning divorcing couples no longer have to blame each other for the breakdown of their...
Get your business working smarter at the start of this financial year by making sure late payment does not affect your bottom line. Late payment of business debts can have an adverse effect on companies and with almost 115,000 businesses waiting up to...
The Courts are generally reluctant to overturn a Will and the threshold to disputing the validity of a Will is particularly high. When a Will is made the most common reasons for contesting a Will are a claim of lack of testamentary capacity or a claim...
It’s a complicated state of affairs when an ex partner dies and pensions are brought into the equation – who benefits from the pension - the ex wife or the new wife? If the deceased has made a new Will after his second marriage and left...
Conveyancers 'too close' to developers, MPs claim MPs are claiming that Leaseholders, who are too cosy with developers, are instructing conveyancing solicitors to act on their behalf by offering incentives. A report published recently by...
Four ladies from our Ashton office have been stepping out each day in order to raise funds for Cancer Research UK. Sue Shears, Lisa Anderson, Jacqui White and Denise Curzon have committed to walking 10 000 steps a day as part of the Walking all over...
Bereaved parents who suffer a stillbirth would gain answers from an independent inquest into their baby’s death under plans to improve the way such tragedies are investigated. The move has been welcomed by professionals and our team of solicitors who...
A record number of medical negligence compensation claims succeeded last year costing the NHS almost £120 million and nursing claims amount to just over £24 million of that bill. Whilst the majority of medical negligence claims are taken out...
April sees a change in probate rules with fees of up to £6,000 now payable on estates for the first time. The fee would only be applied to estates worth more than £50,000, unlike the current system which is charged on all estates above...
Introduction February was another month when all the important news seem to happen in the last week of the month. President Trump delivered the annual State of the Union address on February 6th and announced a second meeting with North Korea’s Kim...
The Department for Work and Pensions has hit its target of bringing 10 million workers into occupational pensions, a year ahead of schedule. To give that figure a sense of perspective, 10 million is pretty much the entire population of Sweden. The final...
In January, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) released their latest Family Spending Survey, revealing the intimate details of British spending habits. In its 61st year, the report provides an insight into family spending habits, as well as showing how...
You may have a defined benefit pension and be aware of pension transfers but not have heard of partial transfers. A partial transfer is a pension option that allows you to cash in a portion of your retirement fund, while still retaining the rest as a...
A new commercial property solicitor has joined the team at Pearson Solicitors and Financial Advisers - Ben Tatters who has 18 years’ experience is joining the well-established commercial team at the Oldham firm. He has a wealth of knowledge dealing...
What have the changes, if anything been for businesses – we look at what has happened in the past 12 months and what you might have to plan for the future It’s been almost 12 months since businesses were all panicking about GDPR, here is Q &...
2019 is a landmark year for female lawyers as it’s 100 years since the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act was passed and what better time to recognise this than this Friday International Women’s Day (March 8th) This paved the way for women to...
When managing wealth, employing a qualified financial adviser is key - however, despite their professional status they are not immune from making mistakes. If you've been given incorrect financial advice you should be prepared to seek out...
Spring is always a busy time for making changes, it’s when houses go on the market with daffodils in the garden and a range of bank holidays to take advantage of a long weekend to unpack. At Pearson Solicitors we have a new solicitor joining our team...
Do you have an Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA) which was set up some time ago? Well the time may have come to relook at that legal document, particularly as EPAs were replaced with the property and financial affairs Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) in...
Every professional must operate to a reasonable industry standard; solicitors are no exception. If you have entered into a contract with a solicitor or if a solicitor has simply assumed responsibility for providing you with advice which you have chosen to...
When talking about divorce it’s never long before pensions, finances and how much the whole process costs comes into the conversation. There has been the usual spike in January divorces once again, not least the richest man in the world Jeff Bezos of...
No fault divorce for separating couples are going to be introduced into the law. In the next session in parliament the justice secretary David Gauke has confirmed he will bring in the legislation enacting the reform. This will mean that couples...
Comedian and funny man Ken Dodd had the last laugh last year when he married his long term partner on his deathbed, thus avoiding Inheritance Tax and with probate on his estate just granted his Will and £27.5m fortune is now public. Whilst...
It’s that time of year when ski and snowboarding holidays can end in disaster and a claim for compensation and consequential losses. Whilst the vast majority of ski trips end in happy memories and fantastic photographs sadly some of them do end in...
Mifid II came into effect over a year ago on 3 January 2018. It’s an acronym for Markets in Financial Instruments Directive 2 and, at over 30,000 pages, it’s far from a bit of light reading. Mifid II was designed to offer more protection for...
Introduction The story of the US/China trade dispute was a thread running through much of last year. Some progress was made in resolving the dispute at December’s G20 summit and that appeared to continue in January with China saying it is...
