Welcome to the summer edition of the Child & Child Newsletter.
This edition focuses on a number of practical questions raised as a result of recent and potential changes in the law. Questions include:
In Commercial Law: can employees using Facebook put their firm at risk? In respect of the new Bribery Act: will a firm be liable for any bribes taken or paid by its employees? In Private Client: how ‘watertight’ is my will? In Family: how is ownership of a former home divided between separating cohabitants?
In Property: what is the quickest way to sell a home? Is it worth getting a survey for a flat purchase? What happens if a neighbouring property blocks a view?  Fundraising activities over and the last three months included taking part in the 7th Legal Walk and Access to Justice campaigns. (See Aftab Mughal’s article.)
 As every year, the firm sponsored the Motcomb Street Party on 6th July where we welcomed attendees to our hugely successful Pimm's stall. The festivities began at 5.30pm with a disco which featured live music and refreshments from other businesses in Belgravia. Child & Child raised a noteworthy amount for the two charities supported by the Motcomb Street Party, being the Cystic Fibrosis Trust and the Household Cavalry Operational Casualties Fund.
The firm welcomes new partner Pervaze Ahmed and consultant Adam Cohen into the Property department, together with solicitors Claudia Whibley who joins Private Client and Aoife Cantillon who joins the Leasehold Enfranchisement team.
We wish readers a very happy summer holiday.
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Inheritance claims - disinherited daughter wins appeal  A recent decision of the Court of Appeal has attracted comments in the press as being perceived as unfair. Legally the decision may be correct, but the outcome has surprised many professionals. A 70-year-old lady died leaving most of her estate worth nearly £0.5m to three well-known charities, although there was no evidence that she had been a supporter of those charities during her life. She left nothing to her estranged only-daughter and left a note with her will explaining that this was because the relationship had broken down many years earlier.
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Cohabitants and separation: dividing shares in the former home  When cohabitants separate, there is often a dispute over how the ownership of a former home should be divided. This article aims to provide a brief overview of cohabitants’ rights with reference to the case of Kernott v Jones, which is currently being considered by the Supreme Court. As the number of couples who choose to live together rather than marry continues to rise, many are still unaware of the implications of sharing a property. With reform of this area of law unlikely for the time being, it is hoped that the continuing publicity from the Kernott decision will highlight the very real difficulties that can arise.
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Social media: are employees putting their firms at risk?  The growing rise in social media over recent years through websites such as Facebook, Twitter and Linked-in has seen a mixed response by employers. Many now view social media as an effective way of bringing in new business whilst others have banned the use of social networking websites altogether. In whichever case, it is essential that firms implement social networking policies, contractual clauses and provide relevant training. Otherwise, they expose themselves to risk.
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Making property sales faster  ‘Sorry, we can’t send you the draft contract yet, we are waiting for the title deeds from our client.’ ‘Sorry, while we do act for the seller generally, we were not aware that he has agreed to sell this property, and we were surprised to receive the memorandum of sale from the estate agent.’ ‘Sorry, the seller lives abroad and he has rented out the property. We do not know where to begin to assemble the information required. We will need to write to whoever are the managing agents for the building, in order to obtain service charge and management information and we need to find the title deeds and send property information forms to our client. This may take several weeks to arrive in full.’
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Flat purchases and obtaining a survey  If you are buying a flat should you have a survey? For solicitors this can sometimes be a difficult question to answer. Where the client is buying a flat in a building converted from a Victorian house into three or four flats 20 years ago, the answer is easy: definitely. The question becomes trickier when the client is buying a flat that is, say, 12 years old in a purpose-built block comprising 50 or more flats and where the managing agents are efficient and have an ongoing maintenance programme. Suppose the flat is worth £1m. The cost of a survey might be around £1,500. Is it money down the drain? “What could possibly go wrong?”
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Rights of light injunctions - Heaney settles  One of the major most important recent decisions in the world of property law was the High Court judgment in the rights of light case of HKRUK II (CHC) Limited v Heaney. In this case, the judge granted a mandatory injunction against a developer requiring the removal of part of a building which had been erected in Leeds city centre in contravention of an adjoining owner’s rights of light. This was despite the fact that, although the adjoining owner had complained, he had not taken any effective steps to prevent the construction from proceeding.
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The 7th London Legal Sponsored Walk  On Monday 16th May 2011, five Child & Child members along with over 4000 individuals representing different law firms and organisations raised just over £450,000 for legal advice agencies by taking part in the 7th London Legal Walk. Legal advice agencies, which include law centres, are essential to many members of the public especially those most vulnerable. Agencies are now suffering a dramatic round of budget cuts and the money raised is intended to help keep many services running.
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No win no fee - a window of opportunity?  The cost of litigation has been a recurring theme in a number of recent reports and court decisions, including Naomi Campbell’s recent libel case, the government's announcement to reform no win no fee legislation, and Lord Young’s report concerning the so-called compensation culture.
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The Bribery Act - what it will mean for businesses and individuals  The Bribery Act 2010 ("the Act"), which comes into force on 1 July 2011, will introduce new anti-corruption legislation, which the director of the Serious Fraud Office ("SFO") has described as the "toughest bribery legislation in the world". It repeals the existing anti-corruption legislation and abolishes the common law offence of bribery. However the old law will still apply to offences committed before the Act takes effect.
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Access to Justice - it's not just peanuts  Child & Child are delighted to support the Access to Justice Foundation's 'It's not just peanuts' campaign, following attendance at its launch in January, hosted at the offices of Hogan Lovells. Present at the launch were Attorney General Dominic Grieve QC MP and Solicitor General Edward Gernier QC MP.The Access to Justice Foundation is a unique national charity which offers grant funding to support pro bono advice agencies throughout England and Wales. These agencies provide free legal advice to those in need and ineligible for legal aid.
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Tax and domicile: watch your stay!  Over the past few years HMRC has endeavoured to distance itself from its long-standing concessionary approach to questions of residence for tax purposes. To some extent they have had a measure of success in the courts, which has made it more difficult to advise clients on when they might become UK tax resident or non-resident.
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If you have any comments or queries on the articles contained in this newsletter please contact us at info@childandchild.co.uk |
