If you are looking for divorce settlement advice, do you want to know why hiding assets doesn't pay? The law in Scotland relating to separation and divorce settlements requires a split of all property that is 'matrimonial' in nature. Each spouse must openly and honestly disclose all assets held by them as at the date of their separation. Unfortunately, it seems that some people can't resist the temptation to lie or cheat in order to keep at least a portion of those assets to themselves.
As a factor, how can you ensure your factoring paperwork is legal. Should you use deeds of conditions or a written statement of services?
The establishment of the Homeowner Housing Panel (HOHP), provides a forum for homeowners to challenge whether their property manager / factor has failed to carry out their factoring duties, or breached the Code of Conduct. The most important decision from the HOHP thus far can be found in a recent case brought by Mr Park against Hacking and Paterson (the Factor).
We receive a number of queries from Registered Social Landlords on tenant abandonment, asking - what is an abandoned property? - and about the procedures involved for recovering possession of abandoned properties?
Section 17 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 states that a social landlord may commence proceedings to recover possession of a property if they have reasonable grounds for believing that -
A landlord should make necessary
Individuals in employment are protected against discrimination based on age under the Equality Act 2010. This includes harassment and victimisation and age discrimination can apply to youngsters too.
Age harassment occurs when there is unwanted conduct related to age and this conduct has the purpose, or effect, of violating the dignity of the employee, or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for them.
In the case of ?Roberts v Cash Zone (Camberley) Ltd and Another an employment tribunal found that a
The Green Deal in Scotland encourages homeowners and tenants to introduce energy saving measures to their properties. It has been promoted as a solution to solving some of the problems which put off individuals financing energy saving improvements to their homes.
When Green Deal finance has been obtained there is no requirement to repay the loan in the standard way, instead the money is recouped by the energy supplier by way of added charges to their energy bill. Another feature is that the obligation does
After a lengthy period of consultation, the Housing Minister used her speech at an SFHA conference to announce that they had now concluded the consultation and announced the following changes will be included in a forthcoming Bill.
Changes that will:
When your marriage ends, do you know how to find a divorce lawyer you trust, to advise and represent you during the divorce process? Online search engines or recommendations from friends are an increasingly popular way to find a divorce solicitor.
To maximise this method however you should carefully consider the following before finding a divorce lawyer who's right for you.
Are there particular areas of your divorce/separation that will benefit from particular expertise? E.g. do you need a lawyer with extensive child law
Funny how you can stomach a rotten meal if you keep telling yourself it's not actually that bad. As the first witnesses to the Bedroom Tax Inquiry being held by the UK Parliament's Scottish Affairs Committee last week, the SFHA's Mary Taylor and I couldn't quite be sure what the Committee's approach would be. With five Labour MPs, three Conservatives and two Liberal Democrats, would views stick to party lines, and in some cases did we even know what those lines were?
Well, it's good
Most of us have days at work where we feel under pressure because of deadlines. However there are many people whose work and personal lives are adversely affected by the stress in the workplace. Further to a recent blog on workplace stress audits, we take a brief look at the legal implications for employers in relation stress in the workplace.
Under health and safety law employers must assess and take measures to control risks from work-related stress. There is also a common law duty to
The Scottish Government is still working on its proposed Procurement Reform Bill and recently issued an update on progress. Does this mean all change for public procurement in Scotland? It was hoped that the draft Bill would be introduced to Parliament in advance of the summer recess 2013. However, the Government has confirmed that the introduction of the Bill has now been postponed until after the summer recess.
This is primarily due to the new EU draft Procurement Directive, which is currently working its way
Where a decree has been awarded in favour of a creditor and payment is not forthcoming after a charge for payment has been issued, a creditor may consider applying to make the debtor bankrupt to recover sums due. How can you use bankruptcy to recover debt in Scotland?
If a debtor is declared bankrupt, their full estate including their home will be handed over to the appointed trustee (usually the accountant in bankruptcy). It is the duty of the trustee to sell the debtor's assets
There are at least 3 reasons why we need to take the issue of stress at work seriously and show the importance of a stress audit:
1. The Business Reason:
The 2012 CIPD Absence Management Survey identified stress as the top cause for long term absence in manual and non-manual workers. As absence is estimated to cost employers in the region of £600 per employee per year, this shows how stress actually costs money. Stress also can affect the productivity of staff who remain, so
Earlier LetLaw blogged about new rules requiring Scottish landlords to include the energy rating from an Energy Performance Certificate on their adverts for let. As of 1st June 2013, all landlords in Scotland are going to have to expand the word count on their adverts with yet more changes to legislation on letting agent adverts.
The Scottish Government have finally introduced section 6 of the Private Rented Housing (Scotland) Act 2011. This requires all landlords to include their landlord registration number on letting adverts
The Home Owner Housing Panel (HoHp) was established by the Property Factors Act 2011 to act as a dispute resolution mechanism for problems between homeowners and their factors. The HoHp are now actively receiving complaints from homeowners alleging that their property manager has failed to meet their factoring duties or has failed to comply with the Property Factors' Code of Conduct which is set out in the Act. Where a homeowner's complaint cannot be resolved through the factor's own complaints procedure a homeowner can make
The Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000 authorises a Sheriff to take steps on behalf of a person who has lost capacity to act for himself. The Sheriff must be satisfied that it is appropriate to intervene in the Adult's financial affairs in terms of the principals of the Act. So when can a court intervene in financial affairs?
Our recent case of JM and Mrs JM, is described by the Sheriff as a 'proper' example of this.
In 1997, a couple obtained a
In March 2013, HM Treasury published its consultation on transferring consumer credit regulation from the Office of Fair Trading to the Finance Conduct Authority on 1 April 2014 to create a "tougher and more pro-active" regulatory regime. When that happens authorisation, monitoring and supervision is likely to be more rigorous and costly for RSLs.
Fascinating. But what's it got to do with us?
Many RSLs (RSLs) and subsidiaries have consumer credit (CCA) licences - primarily through participation in the LIFT Scheme where they act
Constructive dismissal has become 'sexy' following the highly publicised tribunal decision in the case of Stella English v Amshold Group Limited. Miss English (2010 winner of The Apprentice), brought a claim of constructive dismissal claim against her employer, Lord Sugar's company, stating that she had no choice but to resign as she had no real role at the company.
Following the unanimous dismissal of Miss English's claim, Lord Sugar praised the tribunal and saw it as a victory against the so-called 'claims culture'.
So
End of life decisions may raise questions about assisted suicide. The European Court of Human Rights has held that Switzerland is in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights, as it does not provide sufficient guidelines clarifying when a patient is entitled to ask for, and receive, a lethal prescription.
Doctors refused to provide a lethal prescription to a lady suffering a serious but not immediately life-threatening condition. The court accepted that it is for each state to address the "difficulties in finding the
Sunlight in Scotland is a rare enough thing and we cherish each moment we can get. If you have a neighbour who does not or cannot keep a boundary hedge under control and at a manageable height, you may be losing out on this precious resource. Disputes over the height of boundary hedges (whether the dreaded leylandii, other evergreen or deciduous trees or shrubs separating theirs and yours), can be a bit of a powder keg issue especially when emotions run high (no pun intended!!).
With the announcement that football management royalty, Sir Alex Ferguson, will be hanging up his gaffer's hat and settling down to a life of retired bliss, my thoughts turned to the employment aspects of retirement and how an organisation can support an employee during this period.
Unless it can be objectively justified by your organisation, it is no longer permissible to dismiss someone on the grounds of retirement. Like Sir Alex, older workers can voluntarily retire at a time they choose and draw any occupational
