We are often asked, can collaborative law help me? The collaborative law process offers separating couples a non-confrontational way of agreeing the legal and practical arrangements for their separation and divorce. By reaching agreement in a collaborative way, couples are able to come to a respectable arrangement together through supported discussions.

At its simplest, the collaborative process is all about reaching solutions together. Sometimes talking things through can seem the hardest challenge of all. When relationships break down, hurt, bitterness and anger are often the

You might have heard somebody mention mediation before but what is mediation? Mediation is a form of alternative dispute resolution that involves two (or more) parties and a mediator. Mediation provides parties with the opportunity to have an open and honest discussion about a range of family law issues in a neutral environment. Everything that is said during a mediation session is confidential and the parties have control over any decisions that are made during the meeting.

What sort of issues can be dealt with

Termination payments are often made to employees when the termination of their employment is governed by a settlement agreement. New rules affecting the taxation of termination payments came into effect on 6 April 2018.

What are the changes?

There has been a change to the taxation of 'payments in lieu of notice' (PILONs), which are commonly part of any overall settlement.

Where employment terminates on or after 6 April 2018, there will now be no distinction between contractual and non-contractual PILONs. Both will now be

With less than a month to go before the implementation of the GDPR it is crucial that existing and future public contracts comply with the new legislation. What will change in respect of public contracts and the GDPR?

The Scottish Government has published a Policy Note on the impact the GDPR will have on public procurement and contracts. This blog will highlight the key features of the note alongside steps organisations should take to get their public contracts and procurement processes GDPR ready.

What is

We previously blogged about what options are available to landlords where one joint tenant wants to leave a rented property and the other(s) wish to remain. That blog related to assured and short assured tenancies under the Housing (Scotland) Act 1988. So what happens when a Joint Tenant wants to leave a Private Residential Tenancy?

Landlords will be aware that under the Private Housing (Tenancies)(Scotland) Act 2016, all new tenancies created after 1^st December 2017 will be Private Residential Tenancies (PRTs). The position regarding

Each year, we see a number of proposals which have an impact for employees and employers alike, and this year proves to be no different. We thought that it would useful to give you an employment law update.

While some of the changes are those which we see every year, there are some which will have a greater impact on organisations.

Gender Pay Gap Reporting

30 March 2018 was the date on which specified public authorities, including government departments, the armed forces, local authorities, the

Under the General Data Protection Regulation (2016/679), a Data Controller is under a strict obligation to report a GDPR breach to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) in the event that it meets certain requirements.

Time frame for reporting

You must report a personal data breach, under Article 33, without undue delay and not later than 72 hours after becoming aware of the breach. However, what does becoming aware mean? The Article 29 Working Party Guidance considers awareness being at the point where you have

A Data Protection Officer (DPO) is the individual who is responsible for an organisation's overall compliance with the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation).

The GDPR makes it mandatory for a DPO to be appointed for any organisation which is a public body. The definition of public body is taken from Freedom of Information legislation and the new Data Protection Bill. This means that when Freedom of Information legislation is amended to include Registered Social Landlords, you will be required to appoint a DPO. It is

An English Local Authority has recently been criticised for refusing to pay an elderly woman's residential care fees when it learned that she made regular cash gifts to her family after moving into a care home. They believed this to be a deliberate deprivation of capital.

What is a deprivation of capital?

The Local Authority requires a financial assessment be completed for anyone moving to residential accommodation. It follows the Charging for Residential Accommodation Guidelines for Local Authorities. The guidelines state what can be considered

Eviction cases based on anti-social behaviour are always difficult and although they invariably turn on their own particular facts and circumstances, it is possible to draw guidance from the approach of the Courts in previous cases.

A recent example is the case of Midlothian Council v Lee Greens.

This was an action for recovery of possession raised on the basis of three grounds: a failure to pay rent or other breach of a tenancy obligation, relevant conviction and anti-social behaviour.

Drugs Conviction

The Defender

The only things in life which are certain are death and taxes. They both also cause a great deal of uncertainty in life. We are often asked, what happens to a Scottish secure tenancy when a tenant dies?

What happens to the tenancy?

If there is a joint tenant the tenancy will continue as a sole tenancy in the name of the surviving joint tenant. If there is no joint tenant you will need to consider whether the tenancy passes to a successor. Succession operates

Generally, a contract only gives rights and obligations to the people that are a party to it. However, there are circumstances where contracts can create third party rights. In Scotland, these third party rights were often criticised as the law around them was unclear and inflexible.

To change this the Contract (Third Party Rights) (Scotland) Act 2017 (the Act) came into force on 26 February 2018.

The Act makes a number of changes to how third party rights in Scotland work. This blog gives a

What is an Action Plan?

The Assessment of the Energy Performance of Non-Domestic Buildings (Scotland) Regulations 2016 created a somewhat advanced form of an Energy Performance Certificate, known as both a section 63 Assessment but more commonly known as an Action Plan.

When do you need an Action Plan?

Action Plans apply to non-domestic buildings or buildings with a floor area over 1000 square metres, which do not comply with the 2002 Scottish Building Standards. The trigger for requiring an Action Plan is upon the

Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) replaced Stamp Duty Land Tax on 1^st April 2015. As well as being the duty payable on the price or consideration for the purchase of residential and commercial land and properties in Scotland, its introduction affected taxation on the grant of non residential leases.

In circumstances where a return in relation to a lease was made to Revenue Scotland in terms of the LBTT regime, i.e. after 1^st April 2015, tenants under those leases require to remember

The 20-Year Rule provides that a heritable security (e.g. a standard security) over a private home may be redeemed on repayment of all money advanced under the security together with interest and expenses after 20 years.

This can create issues in shared equity arrangements. In 2014 Scottish Government held a consultation on exempting certain shared equity schemes from the 20 Year Rule. The intention is for the exemptions to take effect in the first half of 2018.

We understand that the Scottish Government has carried

Is the digital era making our lives much simpler and easier? Well, not necessarily when it comes to completing your Will. When we think about making our Will, very few of us realise that digital assets can be included.

With the emergence of Bitcoin for instance, it may be that this type of cryptocurrency will become more popular over time. Also, with more and more online banking and share portfolios being held online, it is important to give adequate information to your Executors to enable

Carillion, a key supplier to the UK Government, has gone into liquidation. The impact has been felt throughout the public sector where there is uncertainty over what will happen to the works and services carried out by Carillion under public contracts. Many impacted public bodies will be wondering what they can do in terms of public procurement in order to continue provision of key services.

This blog will examine what options are open to public bodies when suppliers of their public contracts encounter financial

Often clients tell us that they want to get divorced quickly so that they can move on with their lives. For some divorcing couples, they will be able to use the simplified divorce procedure. But what is this? The simplified divorce procedure involves completing the necessary form and satisfying the sheriff court that you and your spouse meet the criteria for a simplified divorce.

The criteria for a simplified divorce is as follows: 

• You are applying for divorce because of the irretrievable breakdown of your

Life can be taxing at times, no more so than on death. So it is important to consider the potential inheritance tax implications which can arise upon your death. Do you know your Inheritance Tax Gift Exemptions?

When you die, Inheritance Tax may be payable on your estate. Each person has a Nil Rate Band of £325,000, meaning that any assets up to this value are charged at 0% inheritance tax. Anything above this value has a charge to Inheritance Tax of 40% unless exempt.

Married

Many organisations are currently preparing themselves for the General Data Protection Regulation. For many their initial focus for the forthcoming changes (May 2018) may be on their 'day to day business', but it is also important that their 'day to day business' includes their HR procedures. Consideration needs to be given to ensure their current procedures comply with the new Data Protection Regulations.

As before, organisations still have a right to obtain and hold personal data providing they adhere to the six data protection