Wrigley Claydon Solicitors

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  • Making a Will

    Surveys carried out by www.which.co.uk show that half of the population does not have a Will. Furthermore, people put off making a Will, often until they are in their 50’s. This leaves a sizeable number uncovered, not to mention those who die young.

    Making a Will lets you leave clear instructions about how your estate is to be distributed.

    Without a Will, distribution of your estate is directed by the Intestacy Rules. This may not be what you want e.g. your spouse may not receive as much as you would want and unmarried partners would receive nothing.

    Making a Will allows you to say exactly who receives what and who will be appointed to administer your estate. You have the opportunity to leave a legacy to friends and charities. If you have remarried, a Will can ensure any children from your first marriage receive a share of your estate.

    In short, making a Will relieves some of the stress and worry experienced by your family at a time of bereavement. The process need not be complicated or expensive.

    At Wrigley Claydon we are sympathetic, helpful and have the necessary expertise to advise and guide you smoothly through the process of writing a Will.

    If you have any questions or would like to discuss making your Will please contact Rachel Damianou on 0161 624 6811 or email rld@wrigleyclaydon.com.

     

  • Age Discrimination, the facts from our Specialist Employment Solicitor

    Age Discrimination, the facts from our Specialist Employment Solicitor

    Employment Solicitor John Porter offers advice on issues surrounding retirement:

    It used to be the case that when an employee reached the national retirement age he or she could be forced to retire. This is no longer the case.

    Since April 2011 it has become unlawful to force someone out of work simply because they have reached a particular age. This now falls foul of rules relating to Age Discrimination contained in the Equality Act 2010.

    There are of course exceptions to this but any dismissal will have to be objectively justified as being a reasonable way of achieving a legitimate aim. A recent case allowed, for example, a senior partner in a solicitor’s firm to be ousted to allow succession planning within the business.

    Put simply, employers can no longer simply assume that older employees will leave at 65. Before taking steps in relation to any dismissal (or if you are about to be dismissed) contact our employment department for expert legal advice from an employment solicitor.

    Wrigley Claydon offer a wide variety of legal support from our employment solicitor who is ready to help.

    For further help or information please email John Porter, our specialist employment lawyer, jap@wrigleyclaydon.com.
  • Leases: Break clauses according to property lawyers

    Leases: Break clauses according to property lawyers

    Beware of the Break Clause

    Our team of property lawyers say that it is not uncommon for a lease of commercial property to contain a break clause in favour of the tenant.

    It is, however essential that any tenant with the benefit of a break clause is able to exercise it, otherwise the tenant may be left paying the rent for a property that they no longer want for the full term of the lease.

    It is often the case that break clauses are conditional upon the tenant having paid the rents reserved by the lease (not just the annual rent, but insurance rent and service charge), the tenant having observed and performed the tenant’s covenants of the lease (including redecoration) and leaving behind no continuing sub tenants.

    Such conditions can be a minefield for a tenant as the Courts will strictly construe a break clause and any conditions attached to it. If the conditions of the break clause are not fulfilled, the break notice will be invalid and the lease will  continue until expiry.

    The Code for Leasing Business Premises in England and Wales 2007 (“the Code”) recommends that the only pre-conditions to tenants exercising any break clause should be that they are up to date with the main rent, give up occupation and leave behind no continuing sub-leases. Disputes about the state of the premises, or what has been left behind or removed should be settled later, like with a normal lease expiry.

    Compliance with the Code is not compulsory when a lease is being prepared. The best protection for a tenant is to ensure that the wording of the break clause complies with the Code. If it is not possible to agree such wording the tenant should take great care when exercising a break clause to ensure that any conditions within the clause are met.

    Ideally, expert legal advice from property lawyers should be sought.

    For further help from one of our property lawyers please call or email Gary Burns on 0161 624 6811 / gb@wrigleyclaydon.com.

  • Caring for Children

    The recent decision by the local authority in Rotherham to remove children from the care of foster carers who were members of UKIP raises a number of concerns about what happens to children when they cannot be placed or remain in the care of their parents.

    In the first place the Children Act 1989 makes it clear that the welfare of the children in such cases is the paramount consideration.

    What is also clear is that the focus must be on the welfare needs of the particular children concerned and thus drawing general conclusions from particular instances is often unhelpful. This can lead to the dramatic newspaper headlines recently seen around this matter.

    What would be worrying is if potential foster carers are put off coming forward because of situations like this. There is a balance to be struck and given the shortage of foster carers social services are often faced with situations where an “ideal” foster family placement cannot be found for a child who cannot remain with his or her family. This is particularly so when considering children from ethnic minority backgrounds or with some level of disability.

    In this case we are told that the quality of care offered by the foster carers was not an issue. The question then is how far do we as a society go to address other aspects of the children’s lives in such difficult situations. One cannot help but be left with a feeling that in many instances we get left with having to find the “least worst option” for children.

    Anyone with concerns about cases involving children is encouraged to seek advice and assistance from a solicitor specialising in this area of law. At Wrigley Claydon we have solicitors who are members of the Law Society’s family law panel and also the children panel. These accreditation schemes recognise the experience and expertise of the solicitors in this area of law.

    For further help please call  our family department on 0161 624 6811

     

  • Age Discrimination

    Age Discrimination

    It use to be the case that when an Employee reached the national retirement age he or she could be forced to retire. This is no longer the case. Since April 2011 it has become unlawful to force someone out of work simply because they have reached a particular age. This now falls foul of rules relating to Age Discrimination contained in the Equality Act 2010.

    There are of course exceptions to this but any dismissal will have to be objectively justified as being a reasonable way of achieving a legitimate aim. A recent case allowed, for example,a senior partner in a solicitors firm to be ousted to allow succession planning within the business.

    Put simply, employers can no longer simply assume that older employees will leave at 65. Before taking steps in relation to any dismissal. (or if you are about to be dismissed) contact our employment department for legal advice.

    John Porter – Partner and specialist employment lawyer

    john.porter@wrigleyclaydon.com