Blogs

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 health. They can also be used if you want to appoint someone to look after your affairs if you are simply too busy or plan to live abroad for long periods.

When a landlord wishes to carry out works and the cost of completing them will be charged to the tenants via the service charge they pay, the law requires the landlord to carry out a consultation exercise if the cost per tenant will exceed £250. The procedure is relatively long-winded but is intended to ensure that the tenants obtain reasonable value for the work done. 

There are many potential benefits of buying a franchise, such as having access to well-established business and accounting systems, centralised marketing and a proven business model. Being part of a well-known national brand also has an appeal for many businesspeople.

In exchange for the franchise, the franchisee must pay agreed charges, normally including a royalty on sales.

The Intellectual Property Office has identified the principal advantages of being a franchisee as follows:

 A woman who was sexually harassed by a male colleague at work has been awarded £12,293 pounds compensation by an industrial tribunal.

Noeleen McAleenon says she was subjected to inappropriate contact and degrading comments about her sex life while working for Autism Initiatives NI. She complained to her employer then later resigned because she felt her concerns were not being properly addressed. 

Insolvent tenants can be a major headache for landlords.

For example, when a corporate tenant goes into administration, the landlord needs to obtain the consent of the administrator, or of the court, to forfeit the lease. This is because administration is intended to provide a moratorium period during which action cannot be taken against the insolvent business while an attempt is made to make it viable or to sell it as a going concern.

A buyer who pulled out of a house purchase has been ordered to pay compensation for the fall in value that took place in the two years after the deal fell through.

The buyer had argued that forfeiting his deposit should be adequate compensation, but the Court of Appeal disagreed.

The case involved a buyer who agreed to purchase a house and complete by 30 June, 2008. He failed to do so. The seller put the property back on the market but was unable to find another buyer and eventually had to move back into the property.

The number of family disputes over wills has increased dramatically, according to research carried out by the Independent newspaper.

Its figures show that the number of actions in the High Court challenging provisions made in wills has increased by 700% over the last five years. The number of cases seeking to have entire wills declared invalid has nearly doubled over the same period. 

Margaret Thatcher was renowned for her intellectual capacity and her decisiveness in times of crisis.  She encountered and dealt with many challenges throughout her political career.  However, one battle she could not win was against the cruel disease of  Dementia.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has issued a statement re-emphasising that awareness of Internet ‘cookies’ has increased to such an extent that it is now ‘appropriate...to rely on a responsible implementation of implied consent’ by users of websites to accept them or otherwise. In other words, where clear and detailed information about cookies is given and an easy way to remove them is made available, then implied consent as opposed to specific consent to accept cookies is all that is necessary.

Courts usually try to share marital assets equally during divorce settlements, but what happens if some assets don’t become available until several years after the separation?

The issue arose in a recent case before the High Court. The husband had founded a successful company in the early years of the marriage. Both husband and wife had made a substantial loan to the business and were both receiving repayments at the time of the divorce.