Tenancy Deposit Protection Schemes
(posted May 2007)
Tessa Blunden writes an introdution to Tenancy Deposit Protection Schemes.
Full Article  


Lease or licence – and why it matters
(posted May 2007)
The difference between a lease and a licence is of critical importance to occupiers of property. Paul Greatholder looks at a recent case which illustrates the point.
Full Article  


Four months on…. What difference has been made by the updated Pre-action Protocol on Dilapidations?
(posted January 2007)
Full Article  


Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) - Part 2 of the Housing Act 2004
(posted October 2006)
Marianne Avery writes about how following legislative changes introduced on 6 April 2006 by the Housing Act 2004 (“the Act”), larger houses in multiple occupation (“HMOs”) are now subject to mandatory licensing.
Full Article  


Adverse Possession : Update
(posted October 2006)
Full Article  


Missing Landlords:Buying the Freehold
(posted September 2006)
Ed Cracknell looks at how to purchase the freehold of a building when a landlord is missing.
Full Article  


Property law and criminal offences, or, what does Japanese Knotweed look like, anyway??
(posted May 2006)
Owners, and managers and even occupiers of property are becoming more vulnerable to criminal sanctions for breaches of regulations that few would ever consider as crimes. Paul Greatholder looks at a selection of some of the more and less well known examples.
Full Article  


Property Disputes and Mediation: Save Time, Save the Relationship
(posted Jan 2006)
For some years now those who have been unfortunate enough to have become involved in legal disputes have been encouraged to try and resolve them without going through full-blown, costly and time consuming litigation. Jason hunter looks at the issues involved in Alternative Dispute Resolution.
Full Article  

Property Disputes and Mediation: Save Time, Save the Relationship
(posted Dec 05)
For some years now those who have been unfortunate enough to have become involved in legal disputes have been encouraged to try and resolve them without going through full-blown, costly and time consuming litigation. Jason Hunter looks at the issues involved in Alternative Dispute Resolution.
Full Article 

It is so unfair!
(posted Dec 05)
The Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations apply to residential tenancy agreements, and some clauses in standard agreements may be unenforceable. Ed Cracknell looks at the issues.
Full Article 

Adverse Possession and Human Rights.
(posted Oct 05)
Marianne Avery looks at the implications of the decision of Beaulane Properties Limited v Palmer [2005] on the law on adverse possession.
Full Article 

When is Time of the Essence?
(posted July 05)
Paul Greatholder looks at rent review clauses, and when time will be of the essence, (even when the lease doesn't say it is)...
Full guide 

Adverse Possession: the Risks for Landowners
(posted April 05)
The law of adverse possession or 'squatters' rights' is considered by many to be unfair. The Land Registration Act 2002 goes some way to reduce the impact of adverse possession but there are still pitfalls for landowners. Ed Cracknell writes about the issue.
Full article 


Experts - Whose are They?
(posted April 05)
When a dispute arises, an appropriately qualified expert is required to explain why something has gone wrong, what should be done about it or what the costs of putting it right might be.

Jason Hunter looks at how those duties can be in conflict with the expert's duties to the client who engaged him or her.
Full article 

It is so unfair!
(posted Dec 05)
The Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations apply to residential tenancy agreements, and some clauses in standard agreements may be unenforceable. Ed Cracknell looks at the issues.
Full Article  

Adverse Possession and Human Rights
(posted Oct 05)
Marianne Avery looks at the implications of the decision of Beaulane Properties Limited v Palmer [2005] on the law on adverse possession.
Full Article  

When is Time of the Essence?
(posted July 05)
Paul Greatholder looks at rent review clauses, and when time will be of the essence, (even when the lease doesn't say it is)...
Full Article  

Adverse Possession: the Risks for Landowners
(posted April 05)
The law of adverse possession or 'squatters' rights' is considered by many to be unfair. Ed Cracknell writes about the issue.
Full Article  

Experts - Whose are They?
(posted April 05)
When a dispute arises, an appropriately qualified expert is required to explain why something has gone wrong, what should be done about it or what the costs of putting it right might be.

Jason Hunter looks at how those duties can be in conflict with the expert's duties to the client who engaged him or her.
Full Article  

Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002
(posted March 05)
Jason Hunter looks at new provisions in 2005.
Full article 

The recovery of residential service charges
(posted Jan 05)
Service charges are a constant source of dispute between landlords and tenants. Landlords want to maximise recovery of its costs and tenants, in turn, want to keep service charge to a minimum. Sadly, tenants often face exaggerated demands for unnecessary, overpriced or poor services.

Marriane Avery looks into the issue.
Full article 

Business Lease Renewals and Contracting Out
Landlords and tenants are no doubt aware that changes to Part II of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 were introduced on the 1st June.

Jason Hunter outlines the new procedures.
Full article 

Room For Improvement? When A Tentant Can Carry Out Alterations
What can a tenant do if it wants to alter premises that it has leased, but the lease says it needs the landlord's consent, and that consent is being withheld? Or, conversely, how can a landlord have any control over what a tenant does to premises once it is in occupation. Paul Greatholder looks at the options.
Full article  

Transfer Requests
(posted July 06)
Jane Klauber reviews the new TUPE 2006 regulations for Charity Finance magazine.
Full Article 

Payments to trustees; what you can or cannot do
(posted June 06)
Problems arising from trustee benefits are perhaps the most common, the most serious and the most embarrassing cause of difficulty that it is likely to befall most trustees.

This is the first in a series of two articles on trustee payments and benefits that James Sinclair Taylor has written for Governance Magazine. The second will be published in September 2006.
Full Article 

What are Community Interest Companies good for?
(posted Dec 05)
Clare Booth looks at the issues.
Full Article 

'Click with Charities'
(posted Aug 05)
Shivaji Shiva writes for the Young Solicitors Group, reviewing a selection of useful sites for charity lawyers.
Full guide 

Common Legal Pitfalls for Charities
Charities increasingly need to show how they are assessing and responding to risk. Rather than having to react to scrutiny and possible criticism, charities should address legal and other issues by internal review or with the help of outside advisers.

David Mears looks at some of the basic points which charities need to keep on top of.
Full article  

Taking on the Enemy Within
Fraud in voluntary organisations: how to prevent it, spot and stop it, and how to get your money back, by Charles Robinson.
Full article  

French Leaseback Scheme - Revision of Rent
(posted Jan 06)
If you are purchasing a French property under a leaseback scheme, you should bear in mind that the duration of the lease and the revision of the rent are subject to very strict rules (despite what developers say…). Patrick Delas looks at the issue.
Full Article 

French Wealth Tax New Schedule
(posted Jan 06)
French wealth tax (impôt de solidarité sur la fortune - ISF) applies to UK residents whose French assets have a net value of more than 750,000 Euros (approx, £ 512,000) with a number of exclusions, in particular for businesses and non-resident financial assets. Patrick Delas looks at the details.
Full Article 

The Chèque Emploi Service
(posted May 05)
Thinking of employing a gardener in your french holiday home? It is common practice in the UK to casually employ a domestic worker paid by money changing hands. However, this is illegal in France.

Patrick Delas looks at how to employ casual workers using the Chèque Emploi Service.
Full article 

Investment in French Property
French Inheritance Law can leave English owners of French property in a difficult position. Dawn Alderson looks at the issues involved.
Full article  

So What's Stopping You?!
Glued to the television every week in front of one of the numerous specialist property programs dealing in property abroad? Chosen you dream-home destination? Dawn Alderson looks into the legal and financial consequences of purchasing property abroad.
Full article  

French Wealth Tax - UK Residents, Do not Miss the Deadline!
Patrick Delas highlights the various rates of Wealth Tax to which UK residents are liable when owning French assets and the deadlines for lodging tax returns.
Full article  

Setting up a Businesss in France: "Bureau de Liaison", Branch or Subsiduary?
A UK investor has three options when setting up a business in France. Patrick Delas highlights the various legal issues and taxation regimes, and considers the amount of investment required to set-up each option.
Full article  

Moving to France: Vive La Difference!
As TV programmes such as 'No Looking Back' and 'A Place in the Sun' never cease to remind us, buying a home in France is only the first step in what can be a difficult and lengthy process.

Dawn Alderson explains how adapting to the French way of life is just as important as finding that dream home.
Full article  

All Change for French Capital Gains Tax Rules
Dawn Alderson highlights how these changes could affect those with property or business interests in France.
Full article  

New Rules for Swimming Pool Safety
A new French law has been announced that calls for increased security to swimming pools on French property
and requires the swimming pool owners to install special security systems.

Dawn Alderson explains how these changes will affect french property owners.
Full article  

La Vie en France
Since the Inland Revenue now treats a société civile immobilière as a company, Richard Frimston and R A D Urquhart stress the importance of understanding your French property rights.

Changes have been afoot in the way that the Inland Revenue treats sociétés civiles immobilières and their members who own residential properties in France. The Revenue has suggested that it considers a société civile immobilière as equivalent to a company for UK tax purposes on the basis that it is a legal entity separate from its members and one whose profits accrue to the entity itself rather that to the members.
Full article  

Child abduction happens in France too
Moving abroad can raise serious abduction issues.
Sarah Lloyd explains how moving to France affected one English family.

'Child abduction' sounds dramatic doesn't it; conjuring up images of fleeing across hostile borders in the dead of night, smuggling children hidden under blankets in the boot of a car.

Everyone has heard of someone who is divorcing and has had difficulties with their ex partner over contact with the children. We have all read articles in the press about children "being abducted" by one parent who refuses to return them to the other parent at the end of a holiday. It tends to be the case that only the sensational child abduction stories are reported in the press giving everyone the impression that this is something that only happens "somewhere else to someone else" and never to us.

The reality is very different.
Full article  

When a dream turns sour
Planning a move to France? Remember that one in three marriages end in divorce in France too, says Sarah Lloyd

You've bought the house and moved your family over to France, and now you are living the dream life both of you have been planning for so long. Of course you're well prepared. You've done your homework; you've been working on your French, you've sorted out your position with regard to tax, health insurance, pensions, banks, schools, cartes de sejour. Maybe you've set up a business - holiday lets, translation services, whatever.

Sarah Lloyd is a solicitor and member of Russell-Cooke's family department. These articles first appeared in Living France magazine.
Full article  

In With The New
Emma Kirk explores the implications on employers of the new Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (Amendment) Regulations 2003.
Full article  

Mind Your Own Business
Employment law is forever changing and not keeping up to date on the latest developments can have far reaching consequences for employers and employees alike.

Anthony Sakrouge and Victoria Hubert look at the new rules regarding disciplinary, dismissal and grievance procedures due to be introduced in October 2004.
Full article  

Flexible Friends
New rights to flexible working provisions have been criticised as toothless and may already be provided for under existing regulation, says Jane Klauber.
Full article  

Employment Law Update 2002
As most employers already know, employment law is constantly changing and developing.

The articles in this update explain some of the recent major changes which have taken place and which are expected this year and next.

They relate to references, the use of e-mail and the Internet, part-time working, the Human Rights Act, pay in lieu of notice, discretionary bonuses, stakeholder pensions and employee share schemes.
Full article  

Licensing Act 2003.
(posted Oct 05)
Guy Wilmot outlines the Licensing Act 2003, its requirements and implications.
Full Article 

Debt Recovery
However efficiently a business is run, the issue of debtors
will be a problem for many.

Lee Ranford looks at practical solutions for businesses to limit the problem of bad debt.
Full article  

Recognition of Overseas Civil Partnerships and Marriages for Same Sex Couples
(posted March 06)
Civil partnerships are treated as relationships similar to marriage in the UK. They are informed by a similar registration system, have similar benefits and responsibilities of marriage and can only be terminated by a formal procedure known as ‘dissolution’ akin to divorce. So what is all the fuss about? If there is any international or overseas element the whole arena of understanding changes and becomes highly complicated....
Full Article 

Same sex couples purchasing property in france
(posted Feb 06)
France was ahead of the UK when in 1999 it created the “PaCS” or “Pacte Civil de Solidarité”. The PaCS is open to same-sex couples or heterosexual couples. It is a contract designed to regulate the life of the couple and with a primary responsibility of providing each other with mutual and material aid and dealing with the payment of joint living expenses. Dawn Alderson writes about the issue.
Full Article 

Tax Implications for Civil Partnerships
(posted Nov 05)
Richard Frimston writes about Tax and Civil Partnerships.
Full Article 

What if it all goes wrong?
(posted Nov 05)
Fiona Read explores the legal implications of dissolving a civil partnership.
Full Article 

The Good Divorce? A New Approach
(posted March 05)
Thérèse Nichols introduces the new client-centred approach to divorce in the UK - Collaborative Family Practice.
Full article 

Should same sex couples be afforded the same rights as married couples?
As many will have read in the news recently, a consultation paper is due to be released proposing that same sex couples be given the opportunity to register their 'relationship'.

Fiona Read explains the planned changes and suggests why it is likely to cause controversy.
Full article  

Marriage v Cohabiting
One of the biggest myths in English law is the concept of the "common law husband and wife". It is still a popular belief encouraged by the media that if you live together, 'common law' will protect you should you separate because of,
perhaps relationship breakdown or death. The truth is couples who are not married have no automatic rights and many are left in a vulnerable position.

Family Law Partner Fiona Read explains the laws governing cohabitation.
Full article  

Inheritance Rights for Same Sex Couples
There have been a number of articles in the press recently regarding inheritance rights for same sex couples.

What is apparent in many of the articles is that many people do not know their entitlements to their partner's estate should they die.

Clare Munro and Fiona Read explore the legal implications.
Full article  

Child abduction happens in France too
Moving abroad can raise serious abduction issues.
Sarah Lloyd explains how moving to France affected one English family.

'Child abduction'sounds dramatic doesn't it; conjuring up images of fleeing across hostile borders in the dead of night, smuggling children hidden under blankets in the boot of a car.

Everyone has heard of someone who is divorcing and has had difficulties with their ex partner over contact with the children. We have all read articles in the press about children "being abducted" by one parent who refuses to return them to the other parent at the end of a holiday. It tends to be the case that only the sensational child abduction stories are reported in the press giving everyone the impression that this is something that only happens "somewhere else to someone else" and never to us.

The reality is very different.
Full article  

Nil Rate Band Discretionary Trusts
(posted Feb 06)
In the current era of inflated property prices, more and more individuals are exposed to Inheritance Tax. One method of mitigating the tax burden and of protecting wealth for future generations is to have a tax efficient Will. Elizabeth Jarvis looks at the issue.
Full Article 

Pre Owned Assets Tax
The widespread use of Inheritance Tax saving loopholes relating to the family home has led the government to introduce a new tax to counter such schemes. Zac Lucas looks at the new 'Pre-Owned Assets Tax' and its implications for inheritance planning.
Full article  

Death Duties - What a Relief
Zac Lucas explores the potential pitfalls surrounding Inheritance Tax and highlights the limits of its application.

Inheritance tax relief is not as pervasive as it would first appear, and there are number of pitfalls by which it is either wholly withdrawn or made partially available.

Set out below are some of the common circumstances by which this can occur.
Full article  

Co-Habitants and Civil Partnerships - Uncharted Waters in Private International Law Issues
(posted March 06)
Notes accompanying Richard Frimston's lecture at the IBC European Transnational Estates Conference on 6th/7th February 2006 at Le Meridien Piccadilly.
Full Notes 

Powers to the People
(posted March 05)
During the last 20 years Enduring Powers of Attorney (EPAs) have been used extensively to enable someone else to deal with another person's property and affairs. The decision to allow someone else to deal with your affairs can be very difficult to make, as is the decision to accept such a responsibility. Both parties must be clear about what the undertaking means and the legalities involved. Here, Katrina Vollentine outlines the appropriate use of EPAs and some issues to be wary of.
Full article 

Brussels IV - Proposed EU Succession Regulations
(posted March 05)
The EU Commission has now launched the public debate by adopting a Green Paper on the subject of transnational succession and requesting responses by the 30 September 2005. It is believed that up to 1.7 million homes abroad are owned by UK citizens. Dealing with the estate of a person who dies with assets in more than one country is extremely complicated, difficult and time consuming. Each country's rules are different. A house in France, for example, is subject to French succession law, whilst a house in Spain may be subject to English succession law.

Certain changes to English law will be necessary. One change which would be helpful immediately is to the Inheritance (Provision for Family & Dependants) Act 1975. Richard Frimston as chairman of the STEP Cross Border Estates Group and a member of the STEP/Law Society joint working party has written the following article:
Full article 

Cross Border Estates
The number of people owning assets in more than one country is increasing and the relationships between people
of different nationalities are also becoming increasingly common.

Richard Frimston explores the legal ramifications of cross border estates.
Full article  

Making provisions for the future of your family
It seems there is never a good time to bring up the subject of Wills - but have you thought about providing for your family should the worst happen? You may be surprised to hear that not many people have, even though the benefits of doing so can be significant.

Anne Walter explains why you should make a will and the potential pitfalls should you decide not to do so.
Full article  

Get The Right Advice On Compensation
(posted June 06)
Dominic Fairclough is interviewed by the Surrey and Hampshire Guardian for a special section on 'Compensation You Deserve'.
Full Article 

Compensation Culture - Myth or Monster?
Many people believe that the UK is in the grip of a compensation culture, a culture which invites people with trivial complaints to sue other people, businesses or public bodies for vast sums of money at apparently little or no risk to themselves.
Full article