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Conditional Exemption for Heritage Property: what is it and how does it work?
Estate Planning, Fine Art, Wills, Trusts and Probate
29 Sep 2022The Conditional Exemption Tax Incentive Scheme provides an opportunity to defer payment of Inheritance Tax or Capital Gains Tax when an item…
Anti-competitive practice and land agreements
Commercial Landlord & Tenant, Commercial Real Estate, Real Estate
21 Sep 2022The cost-of-living crisis has made the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMAs) recent investigation into supermarkets’ land agreement practices even more important….
Holiday Pay headaches
16 Sep 2022During this long, hot summer the Supreme Court was busy considering how holiday pay for employees who work irregular hours should be…
The new Register of Overseas Entities – An overview
Auctions & Investment Property Advisory, International, Real Estate
06 Sep 2022From the 1st August 2022 the Register of Overseas Entities was created at Companies House and requires that Overseas Entities (broadly being…
Lost the will, find a way!
Estate Planning, Wills, Trusts and Probate
31 Aug 2022It is very easy to misplace a document, not least something as important as a will. If you are dealing with the…
Welcome to the new world of (no) ground rent (sort of).
Lease Extensions, Residential Property
16 Aug 2022The Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022, which came into force on 30th June 2022, has the following practical effects for flat…
Some take-away’s from the “Wagatha Christie” trial
Business Disputes, Dispute Resolution
09 Aug 2022The tweet by Coleen Rooney which concluded with.. ‘It’s ………. Rebekah Vardy’s account,’ will go down in history as one of the…
COVID-19 Rental Arrears
02 Aug 2022In the case of A Company, Re, a commercial tenant failed to challenge a winding up petition brought by its landlord for…
Acquisition of a private company limited by shares – a brief overview of the process
Business Law, Corporate & Commercial
26 Jul 2022The two most common ways to purchase a business are either:- An asset purchase: this involves the purchase of all or some…
Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) – Do I need it?
Powers of Attorney, Private Clients
19 Jul 2022Have you ever thought about what would happen if you were unable to make your own financial and welfare decisions due to…
Nutrient Neutrality – What is it and how is it relevant to property developers
30 Jun 2022Following a European Court case nutrient neutrality has turned into an issue which must be taken into account by property developers with…
Restrictive Covenants – are they worth the paper they’re written on?
Employment, Intellectual Property
21 Jun 2022It is understandable for an employer to want to protect its business in the event that one of its senior employees or…
Room for improvement in drawn out property disputes
Business Disputes, Commercial Landlord & Tenant, Real Estate
17 Jun 2022The system encourages and assists delays in the progress of landlord-tenant cases, writesSteven Ross…
Is your art in the right place?
Fine Art, Wills, Trusts and Probate
05 May 2022For some wealthy individuals a great deal of their income is spent on art or other luxury assets. Levels of spending can…
The Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022 – What to expect
Real Estate, Residential Property
03 May 2022As part of its program of Law Reform, the government recently passed the Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022 which comes into…
Inheritance Tax and the Acceptance-in-Lieu Scheme: What is it and how does it work?
Estate Planning, Fine Art, Wills, Trusts and Probate
26 Apr 2022As a general rule assets of a deceased over the value of the nil rate band (currently £325,000) are chargeable at 40%…
Get your ducks in a row: Drafting rent review provisions in leases
Commercial Landlord & Tenant, Commercial Real Estate, Real Estate
20 Apr 2022Rent review provisions in a lease set out the terms on which the annual rent payable will be reviewed. The way in…
“Share of Freehold”: not necessarily a sweet deal
Private Clients, Real Estate, Residential Property
12 Apr 2022Residential flats are often advertised for sale as “share of freehold”. This suggests that the flat buyer will acquire a share of…
Companies face even tougher times ahead as remaining temporary insolvency measures come to an end
Commercial Landlord & Tenant, Commercial Real Estate, Insolvency
08 Apr 2022At the start of the pandemic, the Government enacted the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 (CIGA) in order to introduce a…
Criminal Defence Costs Incurred Solely for Purposes of Trade
24 Mar 2022Only expenses that are incurred wholly and exclusively for the purposes of trade can be deducted from a business’s tax liabilities. That…
High Court Declares ‘Illiterate’ Business Tycoon’s £100 Million Will Invalid
23 Mar 2022Your assets are your own and, when making your will, you have complete freedom to leave them to whomever you choose. As…
Creation of Unintended HMOs – Issues to Consider
David Eder 21 Mar 2022At the best of times, Houses in Multiple Occupation (‘HMOs’) cause conveyancers and lenders sleepless nights; however, a recent decision by the…
COVID-19 – Premier League Triumphs in $200 Million TV Rights Dispute
21 Mar 2022The COVID-19 pandemic caused grave disruption to the 2019/2020 Premier League season – but it did not fundamentally change the format of…
Teenager’s Wishes and Feelings Prevail in Finely Balanced Adoption Case
Family Offices, Private Clients
18 Mar 2022Children may not have the capacity to make important decisions for themselves, but that does not mean that family judges ignore their…
Affordable Housing Shortage Proves Decisive in High Court Planning Case
Real Estate, Residential Property
17 Mar 2022The chronic shortage of affordable homes is a powerful driver in favour of permitting building projects that might otherwise be considered objectionable….
Contested Wills – Challenging a Will
Marina Vincent 16 Mar 2022How to challenge a Will, or object to Attorneys/Deputies. Sometimes, there may be grounds to challenge a Will, or make a claim…
Internet Piracy – Gaming Giant Nintendo Granted Websites Blocking Order
Business Law, Technology & Data Protection
15 Mar 2022Companies that spend vast sums on developing products have every right to feel aggrieved when they are subjected to wholesale internet piracy….
Houses in Multiple Occupation – Landlords Overturn Rent Repayment Order
Commercial Landlord & Tenant, Real Estate
15 Mar 2022Landlords who rent out houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) without a required licence are exposed to the double whammy of criminal prosecution…
Fear of COVID-19 is Not a Philosophical Belief
11 Mar 2022A fear of contracting COVID-19 or infecting others with the virus is both worthy of respect and readily understandable. However, an Employment…
11 Key points to consider before signing a commercial contract
James Oxley 11 Mar 2022The corporate and commercial team at Harold Benjamin are frequently asked to review contracts prior to signature. This is sometimes a high-level…
Moral and Legal Obligations are Different – Family Inheritance Dispute
Private Clients, Wills, Trusts and Probate
10 Mar 2022There can be a world of difference between a moral obligation and a legal one. The High Court made that point in rejecting…
The Legal Status of Property Guardians – Court of Appeal Clarifies the Law
Real Estate, Residential Property
09 Mar 2022The practice of permitting so-called property guardians to occupy premises in order to protect them against trespassers and vandals is now widespread…
Employers are Generally Entitled to Fruits of Their Employees’ Creativity
07 Mar 2022Inventive employees can find it galling that copyright in their creative works generally belongs not to them but to their employers. As…
Father Probably Responsible for Fatal Poisoning – Family Judge’s Findings
Family Offices, Private Clients
07 Mar 2022Before deciding where a child’s best interests lie, family judges often have to conduct detailed inquiries into the character and conduct of…
Do You Object to a Neighbour’s Development Plans? Consult a Solicitor
Construction, Development and Planning, Residential Property
04 Mar 2022If a neighbour has been granted planning permission for a development to which you object, you would be forgiven for thinking that…
This is What Can Happen If You Fail to Keep Proper Tax Records
Business Disputes, Business Law
04 Mar 2022Keeping proper tax records may be time consuming and laborious, but a failure to do so can have disastrous consequences in the…
Workplace Relationships Broken Down? Always Avoid a Knee-Jerk Response
01 Mar 2022Where irresolvable differences of opinion render an employment relationship entirely unworkable, dismissal may be justified. However, as one case showed, a knee-jerk…
Director Held Personally Liable for Multi-Million-Pound Missing Trader Fraud
Business Disputes, Business Law
01 Mar 2022Where a company becomes involved in the fraudulent evasion of tax, the corporate veil will rarely protect its directors from personal liability….
Returning Expatriate Couple Pay the Price for Brexit
25 Feb 2022Brexit has for years been a constant topic of conversation, but some of its potentially serious consequences remain largely unknown outside specialist…
When it Comes to Corporate Takeovers, Judges Have Shareholders’ Backs
Business Law, Corporate & Commercial
24 Feb 2022Some corporate takeovers are controversial while others are not, but, either way, judges perform a vital role in ensuring that every shareholder…
Cladding Support
Cladding, Construction, Construction, Development and Planning
24 Feb 2022Patents reward originality, and inventions that are obvious developments on pre-existing designs……
Brexit Support
24 Feb 2022Patents reward originality, and inventions that are obvious developments on pre-existing designs……
Divorce – Fairly Dividing Marital Assets is Not a Blame Game
Family Offices, Private Clients
23 Feb 2022The question of who is to blame for the breakdown of a marriage is often uppermost in divorcees’ minds, but it is…
Estate Planning – Making gifts during your lifetime
Davina Puran 22 Feb 2022The two things you can be sure of in life is death and taxes. It will come as no surprise that when…
Housing Project Survives Historic Airfield Owner’s High Court Challenge
Real Estate, Residential Property
21 Feb 2022Operators of noise-generating businesses sometimes have good reason to fear the consequences of residential development nearby. In one case, however, planning permission…
Ticket Touts Cannot Justify the Unjustifiable – Landmark Court of Appeal Ruling
18 Feb 2022Illegal ticket touts who contend that their crimes are victimless are seeking to justify the unjustifiable. The Court of Appeal made that point…
Update Your Will Today – This is What Can Happen If You Don’t
Private Clients, Wills, Trusts and Probate
17 Feb 2022Family relationships can become increasingly complex over time, particularly where marital breakdown intervenes, and that is why it is so important to…
Redundancy Selection – Subjective Performance Assessment is Not Enough
15 Feb 2022Conducting a fair redundancy process requires a careful, almost forensic approach and it is almost never good enough for employers to rely…
What is an overage agreement
Huseyin Huseyin 15 Feb 2022An overage agreement (also known as the clawback or uplift agreement) is where a buyer agrees to pay the seller extra money…
Relationship Broken Down? Do You Understand the Legal Consequences?
Family Offices, Private Clients
14 Feb 2022When a relationship between partners who jointly own their home breaks down, one of them may move out leaving the other in…