New reforms to boost hearing capacity in employment tribunals have been introduced at Westminster with the aim to hear more cases and allow for greater flexibility in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

One of the changes being made will allow the judiciary the option of deploying non-employment judges into employment tribunals and will also allow employment judges who normally sit in England and Wales to sit in Scotland and vice versa.

Announcing the reforms, Business Minister Paul Scully said: "The employment tribunal system has held

Short Terms Lets and Airbnb have become a contentious matter in Scotland in recent times. The Scottish Government have recently conducted research into Airbnbs and Short-Term Lets in Scotland which confirmed there are 31,884 active Airbnb listings, three times as many compared to 2016.

It was found that in Edinburgh’s City Centre 16.7% of properties are being used as Short Term Lets equating to an estimated 140,000 visitors to the area per year, around 4.5 times the local resident population.

The increasing popularity of Airbnbs

If an employee is being made redundant they will be entitled to a period of notice and, for those with at least two years’ service, a statutory redundancy payment.  They should also be paid in respect of accrued but untaken holidays, if appropriate.

Statutory redundancy payments can be relatively small therefore some employers offer a payment in excess of the statutory minimum – usually called enhanced redundancy payments.  This can be offered for a variety of reasons: 

• it may be that it forms part of

The Coronavirus (Scotland) Act 2020 (Eviction from Dwelling-houses) (Notice Periods) Modification Regulations 2020 are expected to come into force 3 October 2020. 

We previously blogged about the extension of notice periods introduced by the Coronavirus (Scotland) Act 2020. The link can be found here.

The purpose of these new Regulations is to reduce the extended notice periods for eviction grounds relating to antisocial behaviour and criminal convictions to 28 days in both the private and social rented sector.

New proposed notice periods for:

Private

The Coronavirus (Scotland) Act 2020 (Eviction from Dwelling-houses) (Notice Periods) Modification Regulations 2020 are expected to come into force 3 October 2020. 

We previously blogged about the extension of notice periods introduced by the Coronavirus (Scotland) Act 2020. The link can be found here.

The purpose of these new Regulations is to reduce the extended notice periods for eviction grounds relating to antisocial behaviour and criminal convictions to 28 days in both the private and social rented sector.

The new proposed notice periods are:

• 4

A number of  RSL clients have been in touch with us recently to enquire whether there is a current ban on evictions in Scotland.

The extensive publicity suggesting that such a ban exists is misleading. There is no law in Scotland which prevents evictions taking place.

The most recent publicity has stemmed from the Scottish Government’s plans to consider extending the application of the extended notice periods beyond the original end date of 30 September 2020.

Currently the Coronavirus (Scotland) Act 2020 provides that our

Many of you may have seen the latest headlines regarding the #FreeBritneySpears movement where her fans are concerned about her father acting as her Conservator. Conservatorship is an American legal concept whereby the court appoints a person to manage a person’s affairs if they are deemed to be incapable.

The equivalent of Conservatorship in Scotland is known as Guardianship. A Guardianship Order is a court order which authorises a person to act and make decisions on behalf of an Adult with incapacity. In Scotland, an

The Government has recently legislated to ensure that if a furloughed employee was made redundant, certain statutory payments would be calculated with reference to the employee's normal pay and not with reference to their reduced furlough pay.

The government suggested that throughout the pandemic it had urged businesses to do the right thing and calculate payments for employees being made redundant with reference to their normal pay, rather than their reduced furlough pay. While the majority of businesses had done so, the government was aware

As the Scottish Housing Market is set to re-open, guidance has been issued by the Scottish Government to ensure that this process is as safe as possible.  Whilst the requirement to maintain social distancing, regular hand washing, and the recommendation to wear a mask are still in effect, the following practical advice for the Social Rented Sector has been set out:

House Viewings

Before arranging any viewings, the RSL must determine if any members of the household are either shielding, or displaying symptoms of COVID-19

Now, possibly more than ever, it is important that those living with dementia and their families look at getting an individual’s legal affairs in order to alleviate the stresses that can arise when their condition worsens. 

An individual with a dementia diagnosis can (depending on the stage of their condition) instruct a solicitor to assist them in putting their affairs in order whether this be in the preparation of a Power of Attorney or a Will.  The lockdown has not resulted in solicitors being unable

The Law in Scotland says that if anyone has to make a decision about a child involved in a separation or divorce, account must be taken of the child’s views, if the child wishes to express them.  

We usually think of this as a child being asked where, or with which parent, they want to live.    That can place a huge burden on a child.    There are lots of other things that children want their parents to know. Here are some of the things that

You can get divorced in Scotland if your marriage has broken down irretrievably and that can be for one of four reasons:-

• Your husband or wife has committed adultery
• Your spouse’s behaviour towards you has been unreasonable
• You have been separated for more than one year and your spouse consents to divorce
• You have been separated for more than two years (no consent from your spouse is required)

Adultery

If your husband or wife has committed adultery you can raise a divorce action immediately. However,

Although lockdown restrictions have eased slightly there is still a significant impact which will be felt by us all for the coming weeks and months.

Where someone has been assessed as lacking capacity and has not put in place a power of attorney, an application requires to be made to the Court for a guardian to be appointed where someone requires to have legal authority for decision making in respect of the incapax adult’s health, welfare, finances and/or property. This was brought into effect some

On 26 May 2020 the Coronavirus (Scotland) (No.2) Act was given Royal Assent.

In our previous blog we discussed the emergency and temporary legislative changes to residential tenancy law made by the Coronavirus (Scotland) Act 2020 in response to the coronavirus outbreak. 

This new Act seeks to implement further emergency measures.

What does the Act do?

• Introduces pre-action requirements
• Early termination of student tenancies
• Creates a new Council Tax exemption

Pre-action requirements in the Private Rented Sector

The Act introduces the concept of pre-action requirements

Today sees the start of Dementia Awareness week in Scotland, which would usually culminate with Alzheimer Scotland’s annual conference.  Sadly, the conference will not be taking place this year due to lockdown.  However, during this time we can all continue to show support and continue to raise awareness for those living with dementia, their carers and families. 

Now, possibly more than ever, it is important that those living with dementia and their families know that getting an individual’s legal affairs in order can alleviate the

The Covid outbreak has led us all having to adapt to different social and working practices. It has also led to many of us considering our mortality and (finally) getting round to that New Year’s resolution of getting our affairs in order. Since lockdown commenced there has certainly been an increase in enquiries about and people preparing or updating their wills. Preparing a will, as many of us know, allows you to decide what happens to your money, property and possessions after your death. So

You have registered the death, organised the funeral and now that you have identified all of the assets your loved one had (and established whether or not they have a Will), you are ready to progress with the administration of the estate. This blog focuses on the procedure where the value of the estate is over £36,000.

You need to now progress with obtaining Confirmation (known as Probate in England & Wales). As detailed in our earlier Blog this is the legal document that gives

You have registered the death, arranged the funeral and now it is time to look at estate administration. The current lockdown period has had a significant impact on the process of administering a deceased person’s estate. The Courts in Scotland, at the time of preparing this Blog, are not currently progressing Commissary work (estate administration). They are, however, looking at how to restart Commissary business soon via remote working. However, even once the Courts have finalised appropriate procedures to restart this business, there will inevitably

In our first blog we advised on how to register a death. Now you (and the funeral director) have the death certificate, you can go about arranging a funeral. Funerals are continuing to take place as normally as possible and families are being encouraged not to delay funerals. The Scottish Government have provided guidance for funeral services during the pandemic and funeral directors are being asked to ensure that social distancing is adhered to.

Some helpful tips:

• If the deceased had a funeral plan, contact

The death of a loved one is a difficult time for everyone. Not only are they grieving but for many they may have never had to register a death or deal with the winding up of a loved one’s estate.  It can all become quite overwhelming.

The Covid-19 outbreak and lockdown of the nation has brought a whole new level of uncertainty. A short series of blogs will follow providing guidance from registering a death, dealing with the funeral arrangements and winding up an estate.