Property Disputes Newsletter November 2013
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News & Insights
Read our latest articles, news briefs and legal updates across all our different services.
Keeping it Confidential ‘Changes to the Employment Rights Act’
An amendment to the Employment Rights Act introduced on 29th July 2013 allows employers and employees to keep certain negotiations regarding termination of employment confidential. This means, subject to certain rules and exceptions any negotiations and offers cannot be used as evidence in subsequent unfair dismissal claims. Previously, such negotiations and offers could have been
Wife loses appeal over clean break divorce settlement
A wife who wanted to receive periodic payments from her husband as part of a divorce settlement has lost her appeal against a court’s decision that there should be a clean break instead. The case involved a couple who had lived together for several years but then separated only eight months after marrying. They had
Brothers in dispute over their father’s will
A man has successfully challenged his father’s will, which he suspected had been drawn up in suspicious circumstances. The issue arose because when the father died, it emerged that he had made two wills in the two years before his death. The first will was made in 2007 and divided his estate equally between his
Trust period amended to reduce inheritance tax burden
Discretionary trusts are a great way to reduce the burden of inheritance tax but they must be drawn up properly to be effective. A recent case before the High Court shows how problems can arise if the trust is not prepared correctly. The case involved a man who made a will in which he
Women win equal pay claim against NHS Trust
A group of female nursing assistants who were paid less than male maintenance workers have won an equal pay claim against an NHS Trust. The pay of the two groups was based on wage structures established in 1987. More than 9 out of 10 maintenance workers were men and 8 out of 10 nursing assistants
Company annual returns could be scrapped to help businesses
The government is proposing to scrap mandatory annual returns to help companies save time and money. Under company law at present, companies must provide details every year about matters such as the business address, business type, names of directors and information about shareholders and shares. For most businesses, this information barely changes from one year
Model agreement to set out rights of tenants and landlords
The government is introducing new measures to encourage longer term tenancies and improve standards in the private rented sector. A model tenancy agreement, developed with the sector, will set out the rights and responsibilities of both landlords and tenants, and provide an industry benchmark for written tenancy agreements. Ministers say the agreement will ensure families
Number of new UK businesses continues to soar
More than 102,000 new businesses were set up in theUKlast year, according to the latest government figures. The total number of businesses now stands at a record level of 4.9million. Business Secretary Vince Cable said the figures “are a timely reminder of the number of people willing to try their hand at business”. The government
Employer not thorough enough when dismissing employee
Employers need to show they have been fair and that they have investigated all the issues thoroughly when dismissing an employee for alleged misconduct. Failure to do so could result in the dismissal being ruled unfair, as illustrated in a recent case involving a bookmakers and one of its cashiers. The cashier was accused of