Recent Posts
Irwin Mitchell
Regulation of property agents - what will it look like?
I was fortunate enough last week to attend the Law Society Property Section Conference and to catch the presentation by Lord Best. Lord...
23/10/19
Irwin Mitchell
Three brothers written out of mother's will not entitled to anything, court rules
When the late Anna Rea died aged 86 in July 2016, her estate passed in accordance with the will prepared the year before, which left her...
15/10/19
Irwin Mitchell
Earlier planning required to reduce IHT
A recent report by Equiniti Benefactor, the estate administration arm of Equiniti, has found that the average amount of cash left in an...
11/10/19
Irwin Mitchell
A quarter of retirees shun family in will
A recent survey by financial service provider, Responsible Life, found that more than 28% of retirees plan to leave their assets to...
04/10/19
Irwin Mitchell
Email Signature Blocks – can they legally bind contracts?
Manchester County Court has ruled that an email signature block can be used to form a legally binding contract, despite Section 2 (1) of...
03/10/19
Irwin Mitchell
Supreme consequences for family law?
The Supreme Court decision yesterday has, understandably received extensive and prominent coverage and, it's fair to say, has been...
25/09/19
Irwin Mitchell
Mental Health Should Be At Forefront Of Family Law Children Cases, Lawyers Urge
Fundamental changes are needed in the family courts in order to prioritise mental health in children and parents, with lawyers urging...
18/09/19
Irwin Mitchell
Later Life Marriages Bucking Trend In Latest ONS Stats
Older generations are continuing to get married and defy a decline in marriage rates, according to new statistics. The research,...
12/09/19
Irwin Mitchell
Son Of Nurse Fails In Claim For Biggest Inheritance Share
The son of a former nurse lost a three-year battle with his siblings this week over his mother’s will after trying to secure the biggest...
12/09/19
Irwin Mitchell
FTT rejects HMRC’s view (and supports IM) on Entrepreneurs’ Relief for trustees
Our article published here in June discussed the key requirements for Entrepreneurs’ Relief (ER) where trusts are concerned and HMRC’s...
11/09/19
Irwin Mitchell
Changes to Main Residence Relief and Lettings Relief
Anyone with more than one home who sells a property after 5 April 2020 is likely to have more tax to pay than if it were sold on or...
11/09/19
Irwin Mitchell
Donor conception for single mothers
The NHS commissioners for South East London were forced to apologise recently after it emerged that the organisation’s IVF treatment...
11/09/19
Irwin Mitchell
Are we signing everything away electronically?
The Law Commission has yesterday confirmed that electronic signatures can be used to execute documents, even where there is legislation...
05/09/19
Irwin Mitchell
Home loans causing family rifts
The "Bank of Mum and Dad" is currently Britain's tenth biggest lender with loans totalling £6.3bn, according to an article in The Times...
04/09/19
Irwin Mitchell
Residential Property in Steel City goes from strength to strength
By Sarah Martin Sheffield property prices are on the up. The Land Registry data shows a 28% increase in house prices over the last ten...
27/08/19
Irwin Mitchell
Battle between stepsisters in 'who died first' dispute comes to an end
On the 26th June, I posted a blog summarising a recent case in the High Court, dealing with the “Commorientes Rule” (meaning...
14/08/19
Irwin Mitchell
Service by Whatsapp?
In a recent dispute between cohabitees, the court has upheld an order that a claim form could be served on a defendant out of the...
12/08/19
Irwin Mitchell
Property Ombudsman update code of practice
The Property Ombudsman have recently updated their code of practice for residential estate agents and within the changes is an emphasis...
12/08/19
Irwin Mitchell
Lomax v Lomax - Court of Appeal confirms that parties can be compelled to attend Early Neutral Evaluation
The Court of Appeal handed down it decision earlier this week in the case of Lomax v Lomax (2019) CA, which was an appeal against the...
09/08/19
Irwin Mitchell
Latest ONS stats report 25.8% increase in cohabiting couples
Official figures released yesterday by the Office of National Statistics confirms that the number of people cohabiting in the UK has...
08/08/19
Irwin Mitchell
The right way to die
A new report commissioned by the charity Sue Ryder has highlighted once again the very British reluctance to discuss dying with our loved...
31/07/19
Irwin Mitchell
Personal representative found to be in contempt of court
On 19 July 2019, Jill Margaret Suckling received a suspended sentence of six months imprisonment for her failure to comply with an...
26/07/19
Irwin Mitchell
OTS propose simplification of inheritance tax rules
Inheritance tax was introduced in 1984 to replace the old capital transfer tax. It was designed to target intergenerational transfers of...
22/07/19
Irwin Mitchell
Royally intriguing
The papers have been talking about the “scandal” rocking the Dubai royal family, the “runaway princess” and her flight to London from...
16/07/19
Irwin Mitchell
Tales of toxic leaseholds continue to dominate headlines
The tale of toxic leaseholds hit the headlines again this week in an article in the Daily Mail. This time the focus is on a young couple...
26/06/19
Irwin Mitchell
Should children spend equal time with each parent as the starting point?
A new YouGov poll commissioned by fathers’ rights group FNF Both Parents Matter Cymru concludes that 8 out of 10 respondents agreed that...
26/06/19
Irwin Mitchell
Former pilot wins equal share of his late mother's £1.5m estate
The High Court has today given its judgment in a case where a wealthy former pilot was in dispute with his two sisters over their late...
26/06/19
Irwin Mitchell
If two people die together, who died first?
Historically, the “Commorientes Rule” (meaning "simultaneous deaths") found in Section 184 of the Law of Property Act 1925, states that...
26/06/19
Irwin Mitchell
Property problems: reporting CGT with property disposals
Today' STEP article highlights the forthcoming changes to the reporting and payment of capital gains tax in respect of property...
24/06/19
Irwin Mitchell
Resolution Foundation report shows young people have less to spend now than two decades ago
It is a truth universally acknowledged that throughout the 20th century each generation had enjoyed higher living standards than their...
21/06/19