Buying a Beach Hut?

Beginning life essentially as changing rooms for Victorian beach goers, beach huts have very much become a symbol of the great British sea side. Not at all a glorified shed but a valuable haven for the enjoyment of our beaches not just for the summer but all year round, and undoubtedly locally, high in demand. Head of Office of Savills Canford Cliffs Keith Fensom observes that beach huts are rare to the market and at Savills they hold a list of hopeful purchasers. So what is involved and how do you get one?

One option is to rent from the council. Poole Council re-opened its waiting list for the annual use of its beach huts at the start of 2014 after being closed for 7 years. Open to all Poole council residents, there are 7 lists relating to the different locations, including the prestigious Sandbanks and Canford Cliffs areas. However according to figures on the Poole Council website as at June 2015 the waiting list is up to 20 years for a Sandbanks beach hut. Indeed the council are currently in the process of building 86 new beach huts, due to be completed July 2015.  Weekly and daily lets are also available at less of a wait.

The alternative is to purchase. A beach hut is a long term investment and people tend to hold on to them for generations and pass them down to their children and grandchildren. Newspapers and Estate Agency’s are a good start your search and the National Association of Beach Hut Owners can offer advice.

In terms of legalities, in general, beach huts are Leasehold and purchased on a fixed term lease. This means that in addition to the initial purchase price, a yearly license fee, a sort of ground rent, is payable to the land owner. VAT may be payable on the purchase price and will need to be charged when sold. Some are sold with a share of Freehold, such as those at Branksome Chine, one of which was recently marketed by Savills of Canford Cliffs and is currently under offer at £99,000.00. Some Councils like Bournemouth charge a fee being a fixed percentage of the sale price when the beach hut is sold so the sale needs to be structured in a certain way.

In addition to the Licence fee, non-domestic rates apply to beach huts. Under current rules, if you do not own another commercial property you can apply for a reduction in the charges. Regular maintenance is needed and insurance will need to be obtained from a specialist provider, with the majority of claims being made for theft or vandalism. Commonly overnight stays are not permitted, an exception being at the beach huts on Hengistbury Head, hence the disparity in prices, with Beach Huts there selling for over £200,000.00. Despite prices such as these, no lender will generally lend on a beach hut although some interest is now being shown by specialist lenders.

Once you have purchased your beach hut you may be free to change it, as long as you comply with the guidelines for the area, which can run not just to pages but small books! Most will have no running water or electricity and so it is sensible to check whether solar panels will be permitted.

For such an important purchase and one with so many variables it is essential that any prospective beach hut purchaser instructs a specialist solicitor to look over and advise on the lease arrangements so that you are aware of exactly what you are purchasing, and what is and is not permitted.

An abridged version of this article appeared in the Kiteleys July/August newsletter.  If you would like to subscribe to our newsletter please contact paula.rose@kiteleys.co.uk

Law Update: the Claimant and allegations of fundamental dishonesty

On 13th April 2015 Section 57 of the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 came into force.  The Act gave the Court new powers to deal with Claimants who were found to be fundamentally dishonest with regards to their claim for personal injury or clinical negligence.

Fundamental dishonesty can be in relation to part of the claim such as over exaggeration of injuries or losses as well as the more obvious accident that never happened.

The sanctions state that part or all of a claim that would have been successful can be struck out if a Claimant is found to be fundamentally dishonest.  The Claimant can also be ordered to pay the Defendants costs.

It can be agreed that a Claimant who sets about deliberately attempting to mislead the Court by faking an injury or falsifying details of their losses should be held to account by the Court.  What of those genuine Claimants who make innocent mistakes when pleading their claim?

The problem with the Act is it only calls to account Claimant’s. What sanctions are in place for Defendants who actively seek to delay settlement in cases where a Claimant is elderly or dying in an attempt to save costs at the end of the case?  Is it not fundamentally dishonest of a Defendant to waste time and money defending a claim that is un-defendable when an apology should be given at the outset?  Is it not dishonest to refuse interim payments in cases where Claimant’s have been left financially distraught because of the injury so that they have no option but to under settle their claims to achieve swift payment?  Isn’t that the Defendant benefitting from the Claimant’s misfortune?

The Act seems to predispose that Claimants are dishonest and opportunistic wishing to ‘cash in’ on the mistakes of others.  Although genuine cases of fraud and deception should be sanctioned, we must remind ourselves that the Claimant is the injured party in these Proceedings and often the consequences of another’s mistakes have had a serious impact on the Claimant’s life.

Enforcement of Family Financial Orders

What is the best way to ensure that money is paid or property is transferred once a Family Financial Order is in place compelling a family member to pay money or to transfer property to another member of that family (e.g. on divorce)?

This is the question the Law Commission is currently considering with consultation taking place between March and July 2015, the aim being to then report on the results of the consultation sometime in 2017.

This question is being asked because there is a tendency for people to think that the legal process is over once an agreement has been reached or a Court has made a decision. However, sometimes a Family Financial Order is not complied with and needs to be enforced. Therefore, the Law Commission’s consultation is the first step to consider possible reforms to the existing methods of enforcement to make them more effective and easier to use.

Problems with the current legal system include:

• There are several different enforcement options to choose from, which can be confusing. Also, the rules governing enforcement of Family Financial Orders are scattered around in different laws and regulations.

• The existing enforcement methods are usually created for use in non-Family civil cases (eg, the payment of debt). However, Family cases are often very different from other cases because non-compliance with a Family Financial Order can have a direct effect on a families’ ability to keep a roof over their head and provide properly for their children. Therefore, a family can be at risk of losing their home if a quick and effective method of enforcing a Family Financial Order is not available.

• Family Financial Orders might last for many years, such as when maintenance payments for the benefit of a child are ordered for a young child and are to last until the child completes their education. However, over that time the parents circumstances can change and the enforcement methods need to be able to swiftly address those changes. Whilst the family creditor might already have some knowledge of the debtors circumstances, it is possible that enforcement of a Family Financial Order is sought a long time after the end of the parties’ relationship. Therefore, the availability of up to date financial information can significantly influence the choice of enforcement method.

• Many emotions are often at play in Family Proceedings which may not feature in other Civil Proceedings. These emotions can influence the reasons for non payment of money, the action or inaction taken by those owed money, and the direction and progress of enforcement proceedings.   If the creditor and debtor have an ongoing relationship as parents to their children, ineffective enforcement litigation can do great damage to their parental working relationship to the detriment of their children.

To address these problems, the Law Commission shall consider several options:

• Whether a single comprehensive set of Family Procedure Rules would improve the enforcement of Family Financial Orders.

• What new powers might be given to the Family Court to help obtain up to date financial information and progress general enforcement applications? Allowing the use of existing laws could make it easier for information requests to be made directly to Government departments (including Revenue and Customs) and private organisations, to obtain details about the debtors employment and financial circumstances.

• In what ways can information best be provided to the public about enforcing Family Financial Orders? More and more people are trying to take action without a solicitor as “litigtants in person”. Therefore, the Law Commission will consider improvements to include information being published in both electronic and paper format.

• Should the applicant be required to consider mediation before making an enforcement application to the Family Court? Since 22 April 2014, an applicant to the Family Court in financial cases, has had to show that they have considered mediation before making an application, but the same requirement does not currently apply to applications enforcing Family Financial Orders.

Full details of the Law Commission consultation paper can be downloaded for free from their website http://www.lawcom.gov.uk/project/enforcement-of-family-financial-orders/

Kiteleys Family Team will continue to monitor developments and provide updates via further website articles. In the meantime, if you wish to discuss any issues raised by this article or other family matters generally, please contact a member of Kiteleys Family Team at any one of Kiteleys’ offices.

How to move home with the least stress possible

Moving home is said to be one of the most stressful events in life, but why?

I don’t suppose moving home is something that anyone decides to undertake lightly. You have probably put a lot of thought into preparing your home for sale, decorating and fixing those little quirks that you have lived with forever, spent months or years scouring Rightmove for just the right property, speaking to the estate agents in the location you have carefully chosen, researching the schools.

Then one day it all falls in to place. Sale agreed, you can go ahead and purchase that property that you had set your heart on, but the journey does not stop there.  The weeks that follow can be the most tense, excruciating, nervous time whilst you anticipate that magical moment “exchange of contracts”, when you can book your removals and tell all of your friends your moving date.

So how can you make those weeks easier for yourself and reduce your stress levels at a time when, lets face it, you already have quite a lot to do?

Its all about preparation and choices.  I’m not saying that you can completely eliminate the possibility of anything going wrong, no one can prevent life’s catastrophes, but you can ensure that you are organised and you will retain a much greater degree of control over your move.

So what steps can you take to ensure that you are prepared?

Gathering your Paperwork

Before you have even marketed your property start to think about the kind of things your buyer may want to know about it.

If there have been any home improvements start to gather your planning documents, your receipts and guarantees.  If you have had any electrical or Gas works carried out you should have certificates for these. If you have had windows replaced, you should have a FENSA certificate.

Consider whether you would like to have your boiler serviced for your buyer, no this is not necessary but is it something that your buyer would like, and therefore make the process smoother?

The point is, you are thinking about your property and preparing for the questions that will be asked when you get to the legal stages, and if you recognise early that the dog ate all of your guarantees, you have plenty of time to ask the installers to send you copies!

Preparing your finances

This may sound obvious but have you really looked into this in as much depth as you should?

Make a breakdown of all of the costs involved, and I mean everything, so that it is accurate and there are no unpleasant surprises later. You would be surprised how many times when people question the amount of money required from them to complete their purchase that they have forgotten to include stamp duty in their calculations!

Choosing the right solicitor for you

Who you choose to act for you in your conveyancing can have a huge impact on your experience of moving home, and whether this is a pleasant or unpleasant time.

Do your research. Ask friends what their experience was like. Ask for recommendations.

You need to know what you want from your solicitor and establish who can give it. Get on the telephone and speak to the solicitor. Do not limit your research to getting a quote. Email with a question, not necessarily a legal one, what you want to know is how you will be treated. Is your telephone call returned and your email replied to?  Are you happy with the content?

You must be satisfied not only that your solicitor has the expertise required but also the understanding and communication skills, and that you are “singing from the same song sheet”.

In summary

Gather your information, and choose who represents you carefully. Appoint your solicitor early, it will not cost you any more! Ask questions, plan in advance to enable you to better manage your move and reduce any stress involved.

Finally remember, prior preparation and planning of your move will prevent a poor performance (there is another p in there somewhere but I am a lady!).

By Deborah Fenton

http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/for-the-public/common-legal-issues/buying-a-home/

https://www.kiteleys.co.uk/personal-legal/conveyancing/moving-home-choose-kiteleys/

http://www.which.co.uk/money/mortgages-and-property/guides/buying-a-house/conveyancing/

Will Power

The power of having a professionally written Will in place before you die cannot be over emphasised. Current figures provided by the Law Commission estimate that in the United Kingdom 40% or more of the adult population does not have a Will.

Where there is no Will, or a Will is found to be invalid for various reasons, the law of Intestacy applies. The rules are set out so that family members benefit from the deceased person’s estate under a set list of priority. Ultimately, should there be no family to benefit then the hard earned funds of a person may filter down to the Government. These rules are set out for a reason, but if they bite unfortunately they cannot replace the expression of a person’s own wishes.

The way to avoid this scenario is to give some thought to who you wish to benefit from your Estate after you have gone. People may wish to either benefit family members, friends, charities of their choice or even pets!

Unfortunately, in the more contentious climate that we now find ourselves, claims made against the Estate of a dearly departed family member are sadly becoming more common. In order to have standing to make a claim, the family member claiming has to satisfy certain statutory tests. Once standing has been confirmed then this type of litigation can be ongoing for a number of years, divide families even further, become very expensive and will undoubtedly be a cause of upset for all involved.

By making a Will with a qualified legal advisor, steps can be taken to mitigate against such litigation. A word of caution; although these steps may help protect the final wishes of the deceased person, they ultimately may not be able to prevent a successful claim from being made.

Overall, the message cannot be simpler – give some thought to making a Will. If your wishes aren’t recorded in the correct form then you will have lost an opportunity to make a difference to a loved ones life, a charity close to your heart or even to Lightening, your beloved pet tortoise.

Please contact a member of the Kiteleys Solicitors Private Client team who will be happy to discuss your requirements.

The Pitfalls of Online Divorce

According to Sir Michael Pitt, in a speech he gave at the Modern law Conference on 11 March 2015, online divorces are more likely to be amicable (86%), compared to those using a traditional lawyer (56%), but there are good levels of satisfaction of about 80% for all providers (both traditional lawyers and online providers). Sir Michael is Chairman of the Legal Services Board which is the organisation responsible for overseeing the provision of legal services.

These statistics are taken from a soon to be published Legal Services Board research project, which has examined the experience of just over 180 couples petitioning for divorce, comparing an online divorce with a traditional face to face service with a solicitor.

When asked about these statistics, Colin Mitchell, who is a specialist family law solicitor and Head of the Family Team at Kiteleys Solicitors, made the following observations:

• What this study of a simple online divorce process does not take into account, is the need that most divorcing couples have for help resolving disputes over financial issues or children arrangements. The research project itself was not designed to test the technical quality of advice supplied by online divorce services.

• Approaching a “traditional lawyer”, such as the service provided by Kiteleys Family Team, rarely results in a divorcing couple ending up in Court. This is because specialist family law solicitors work closely with other local professionals such as mediators. This face to face service enables divorcing couples to communicate in a constructive and non-confrontational way to resolve their disagreement, which is not possible via an online service.

• It is significant that whilst 56% of couples who divorce via a “traditional lawyer” describe their experience as “amicable” (compared to 86% for online divorce), the overall satisfaction levels for both options are virtually the same. This suggests that those couples who have face to face legal help when their divorce is not amicable, are still just as satisfied at the end because of the face to face help they receive to resolve their dispute.

• The recent Supreme Court ruling in the case of Kathleen Wyatt and Dale Vince highlights the problem that merely getting divorced (which is often the easy and amicable part when a married couple split up), does not in itself provide any certainty or safeguard concerning financial issues.

If you have a family problem which you need help resolving, Colin Mitchell is available to speak with for a free initial telephone assessment on 01202 393506

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Divorce and money…

On 11 March 2015, The Supreme Court (the highest Court in England and Wales) has made a decision confirming that an ex-wife could pursue a financial claim against her ex-husband, some 20 years after they divorced!

This case concerned Kathleen Wyatt who married Dale Vince in 1981. They had one child from their relationship, before they separated in 1984 and then divorced with the Grant of Decree Absolute in 1992. Ms Wyatt remained the primary carer for their young son whilst Mr Vale went on to become a very successful businessman and multi-millionaire.

However, no agreement was formally recorded within a Court order concerning any limits on the ongoing financial responsibility by Mr Vince to Ms Wyatt.

Therefore, when Ms Wyatt made a financial claim against her ex-husband in 2011, the Court had to consider whether her claim should be allowed after such a long time following their separation and divorce?

Whilst the judges in the High Court and then the Court of Appeal disagreed, the judges in the Supreme Court have now had the final say, by confirming that there is no time limit for ex-spouses to apply to a Court for a financial settlement following a divorce.

This means that whether you are a millionaire or have more modest wealth, it is essential to remember that a divorce alone with only the grant of Decree Absolute (which means you can then re-marry) does not provide any safeguarded against your ex-spouse making a financial claim against you at any time in the future.

A previous example of an ex-husband being caught out by this rule was when in 2010 the £56million Euromillions jackpot winner Nigel Page had to make a large payment to his ex-wife who he had divorced 10 years earlier, because they had not recorded any financial agreement within a Court order.

Therefore, it is very wise to invest some extra time and money in proper legal advice to ensure that there are no legal loose ends at the time of divorce which might cost you a lot of money and heartache in future years.

This advice from Kiteleys Solicitors Family Team starts at £150 (which includes VAT) as a fixed fee for an hour meeting with one of our specialist family law solicitors. Contact Colin Mitchell on 01202 393506 for an initial free telephone assessment.

Good news for divorcing couples…

The UK Government have just published their response to the consultation carried out to the proposal that the Court fee to be paid to start divorce proceedings be increased from the current £410 to £750.

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/396220/enhanced-court-fees-consultation-response.pdf

This consultation has come about on the basis that there are around 120,000 applications for a divorce each year in which 95% of the cases are not contested. The Government estimate the actual cost to the Court Service for processing the basic divorce is £270 and therefore the current fee of £410 is already significantly in excess of the actual cost to the Government of processing a divorce. The Government remains insistent that there is the financial imperative to increase income to the Courts from fees and so increasing the divorce fee was seen as an easy option to make money. However, in response to the Government consultation most respondents strongly disagreed with the Government’s proposal for reasons including:

• There was no good reason for increasing the fee beyond £410.
• It was simply wrong for the Government to try and make money out of divorcing couples.
• The proposed increased fee of £750 was excessive and would deter people from seeking a divorce, which could result in people being trapped in an unhappy or violent marriage and unable to form new relationships.
• It was potentially discriminatory because more women than men seek divorce and therefore it would have a disproportionate impact on women to be asked to pay the increased Court fee.

Thankfully the Government has paid attention to these replies and the court fee will remain at £410.

What this all means is that Kiteleys Family Solutions team can continue to offer legal support for a basic divorce for the fixed fee of £998 (which includes both VAT and the £410 Court fee).

In addition, the Family Solutions team offer a comprehensive one hour meeting to discuss any other family matters, such as financial issues or child arrangements, for discounted fixed fee of £150 (which includes VAT).

If you wish to discuss any family matters, please call specialist solicitor Colin Mitchell for an initial free telephone assessment on 01202 393506.

Changes to Stamp Duty Land Tax

George Osborne revealed in his Autumn Statement to the House of Commons that he was reforming the way Stamp Duty was paid on property purchases. He hopes that this will benefit 98% of property buyers.

The old system worked on a tiered basis. As a result, the rate at which Stamp Duty was payable applied to the whole of the price. If the purchase price did not exceed £125,000 there was no Stamp Duty to pay. However, if the property cost say £125,001, Stamp Duty at the rate of 1% was paid on the whole price, working out at a rather large £1,250. If the purchase price was over £250,000, Stamp Duty was paid at the rate of 3% of the total price. For a property purchased above £500,000 (but not exceeding £1 million), the rate of Stamp Duty was 4% of the total price.

Under the new system buyers will now only pay Stamp Duty on the portion of the price that is within a certain tax bracket. Like under the previous rules, if the purchase price does not exceed £125,000, there is no tax to pay. However, a new 2% rate is charged on the next £125,000 of the price. If the purchase price exceeds £250,000, you will then be charged 5% on that part which exceeds £250,000, up until £925,000.

For example, if you are buying a property for £275,000, no stamp duty would be payable on the first £125,000. £2,500 would then be payable on the next £125,000 (£125,000 x 2%) and £1,250 would be payable on the final £25,000 (£25,000 x 5%). Therefore the total Stamp Duty payable would be £3,750. If you had purchased the same property under the old rules the tax would have been much higher, namely £8,250 (£275,000 x 3%).

Example on a purchase price of £275,000
First £125,000
Tax Free £125,001 – £250,000
2% Tax Rate £250,000 +
5% Tax Rate
£125,000
No Tax to pay Next £125,000
£2,500 tax Last £25,000
£1,250 tax

In summary, there will be no tax to pay on the first £125,000 of the purchase price. You pay 2% of the purchase price on the portion between £125,000 and £250,000 and 5% on the portion above £250,000 up to £925,000. Higher rates apply thereafter.

The new Stamp Duty rates are shown in the table below:
Purchase price of property Percentage paid on the part of the property price which falls within the tax band
£0 – £125,000 0%
£125,001 – £250,000 2%
£250,001 – £925,000 5%
£925,001 – £1,500,000 10%
£1,500,000 and over 12%

If you would like to discuss the changes with one of our specialist conveyancing solicitors at Kiteleys or would like to receive an estimate for conveyancing fees please contact our team at info@kiteleys.co.uk or call 01202 708634.

Recent developments in Family Law

When parents break up there is always the risk that their children will get caught in the middle of arguments about how much time each child spends with their parent as well as financial arrangements.

Recent developments in family law include:

• From 22 October 2014, a new law came into effect which sets out the legal presumption that the involvement of each parent in a child’s life will be considered beneficial to that child’s welfare, unless the contrary is shown.

• On 23 October 2014, the Ministry of Justice announced a £2 million package of support aimed at helping separating couples avoid expensive and confrontational courtroom battles.

Parental involvement
This change in the law confirms the importance of both parents to be involved in their child’s life. However, a common misconception is that this means a child should spend equal time with each parent, but that is incorrect. The legal definition of “involvement” is in fact; “involvement of some kind, either direct or indirect, but not any particular division of a child’s time”.

Therefore, the frequency, duration and the type of “involvement” can vary greatly from one family to another. It all depends on what is in that individual child’s best interests. Whilst there are some common trends for the manner in which children share their time between parents, there are no fixed rules.

The best way for parents to work out arrangements for their child requires both parents to ensure that their child’s best interests are at the centre of the decision making process. However, this can be easier said than done because ideas and attitudes about parental involvement can be diverse.

Avoiding court room battles
Another common misconception, is that approaching a solicitor with a family problem will mean that you will end up in court, but this is certainly not true with Kiteleys Family Solutions team. Whilst a court process can benefit some people, resolving difference away from court can often be the best solution.

That is why we are encouraged by the recent Government announcement that an extra £2 million is being provided to help couples resolve their problems out of court. We understand that this is likely to include new online information and a helpline.

However, our concern is that generic advice via a computer and telephone is no replacement for face to face help tailored to meet a families specific needs. Only time will tell whether this new Government investment will be enough to plug the gap after years of Government cuts, which have made it increasingly difficult for people to access the specialist advice they need to resolve disputes over financial matters and children arrangements.

If you need help to resolve a family problem, Colin Mitchell, Head of Kiteleys Family Solutions team, is available on 01202 393506 for a free telephone assessment, and also to discuss the availability of fixed fees and other funding options.

Options For Family Problem Solving

Most people going through a divorce or separation would rather avoid having to go to court if possible. We will help you consider how best to solve your family problem in order to reach a fair outcome as quickly and cost-effectively as possible.

Your options to achieve an out of court agreement include:

• Direct discussion

• Roundtable Meeting with professional help (including the Collaborative Family Law process)

• Family Mediation

• Arbitration

• “Traditional” solicitors approach

• Court proceedings

Direct Discussion

• It is seldom easy for a couple to communicate when their relationship breaks down, but some couples can do this with little or no outside help.

• Direct discussion can help you keep your legal costs to a minimum.

• Communication can be face to face or via other methods such as email, text message or Skype.

• It is important to keep your discussions private. It is not appropriate for very personal discussions to take place in a very public way, such as via a social media sites, eg. Facebook or Twitter.

• Direct discussion should only be attempted if it safe to do so.

Roundtable Meetings (including Collaborative Family Law)

• If a couple meeting face to face alone is not appropriate, then a meeting could take place with each person accompanied by a specially trained family lawyer.

• The aim of both of the family lawyers is to help a couple address all issues in a constructive and non-confrontational way.

• The Collaborative Family Law process is a special way for a roundtable meeting to be arranged. Each person appoints their own collaboratively trained lawyer and you and your respective lawyers all meet together to work things out face to face. Both of you will have your lawyer by your side throughout the process. Everyone involved signs an agreement that commits you to trying to resolve the issues without going to court.

• Here at Kiteleys both Colin Mitchell and Jonathan Harvey are trained Collaborative Family Lawyers.

Family Mediation

• A family mediator is trained to help a couple resolve their dispute by meeting with the couple.

• The mediation session might take place with the couple and the mediator in the same room, or sometimes it is better for the couple to sit apart in a separate room with the mediator “shuttling” between them.

• The couple will not usually be accompanied by their lawyers when meeting with the mediator, but each should take separate independent advice from their own family lawyer.

• An agreement reached in mediation is not legally binding is until it has been recorded in a written document. This is something your family lawyer will need to do, because this cannot be done by the mediator.

• Therefore, if family mediation is the right dispute resolution option for you, we can refer you to a local mediator, work with you throughout the mediation process and prepare a legally binding written agreement document at the end of the process.

Arbitration

• The family arbitration process is similar to the court process. An independent arbitrator will consider your case and make a legally binding decision. However, the important difference from the court process is that you to remain in control of the arbitration process, but the arbitrator will have costs for their service which will need to be paid.

• We work closely with family arbitrators at College Chambers http://www.college-chambers.co.uk/family-arbitration in Southampton.

Traditional approach

• Whilst it is often best for a couple to sit down together with professional help in order to solve their family problem, the most appropriate method of dispute resolution will depend on how they each choose to engage in the problem solving process.

• Sometimes it is still necessary to adopt a “traditional” approach to problem solving, which may include letters or emails being exchanged between solicitors.

• However, this method of communication can sometimes result in delay, confusion and frustration.

Court Proceedings

• Despite the best endeavours of the professionals involved, sometimes it is necessary for an application to be made to start a court process in order to help a couple resolve their dispute.

• The full court process will be lengthy and costly.

• Wherever possible the family lawyers and judge will still make every endeavour to help a couple reach an agreement “out of court” without the need for the case to proceed through the full legal process up to and including a court decision being made after a contested final hearing.

• Starting the court process can allow you to gain the benefit of a court managed timetable to help prevent delay and ensure that everyone is focussed on reaching a prompt and cost effective agreement.

• The court should ensure each party fully complies with his or her obligations, such as providing full details of income, capital and pension.

• Very seldom do a couple who start the court process end up proceeding through the full legal process up to an including a contested final hearing.

Contact Kiteleys Family Solutions team for a free consultation about your circumstances and to ask any questions

Why make a Will?

It’s often something that gets put on the back-burner but once arranged gives a great deal of peace of mind. Without your final wishes being properly adhered to it can cause all sorts of anxiety to those left behind at a time when emotions have enough to bear.

Once you do decide to prepare a Will, think about whether you require a simple mirror Will (husband to wife, civil partners and vice versa in the event of one death) and the beneficiaries if both were to die at the same time, who would benefit after one or more beneficiary’s death. Where children are concerned you might need to think how you’d want assets divided up in different eventualities. You may have charities you would like to support or investment projects. You also need to think about what sort of burial you would prefer and any funeral choices. If you are abroad often think about the circumstances if you were to die overseas.

In any event, two witnesses are required to be present when a signature is added to the Will for it to be valid. Either witness can not be a benefactor to the Will.
Wills are either stored with your solicitor or Will-writer and often these days  registered at the National Will Register which is very useful if benefactors do not know where the Will was made out or the solicitor involved, if a will has gone missing or lost, or in the case of losing contact details of the Will owner pre-death.

Changing you Will when circumstances alter requires a ‘codicil’ which is an additional statement to the original Will or a new Will can be made out entirely, altering the original Will is not valid, due to the chances of fraud. Again these changes need to be verified by a witness and two witnesses if beginning all over with a statement approving that a previous Will has become null and void.

Of course this is just a simple overview to standard Will-making procedures but in many cases more bespoke requirements are needed, for example if one become terminally ill, or have lost the mental capacity to make decisions.

Whatever your situation, contact Kiteleys for a comprehensive but easy-to-understand guide to Will making, your choices and how it effects your loved ones.

Getting on the property ladder!

Part One – House or Flat?

by Adele Parkinson

With lending to first time buyers at its highest since December 2007, it looks as though it is becoming just that little bit easier to get your foot on the property ladder.

Anyone contemplating buying their first property should consider speaking to a financial adviser who will be able to give you an idea of what is available in terms of lending options, give you a budget to work towards in terms of your maximum purchase price and typical monthly repayments.

Once you have a budget, you can begin the fun part – looking for the right property! But are you going to be looking for a house, or a flat? If you are looking in Bournemouth,Pooleor the surrounding areas, then the closer you get to the coast the more likely it will be that the only properties within a first time buyer’s budget will be flats or apartments.

Here are just a few considerations you may want to take into account before you decide whether to opt for a house or a flat.

In legal terms, most houses are “freeholds” and most flats are “leaseholds”. The difference is that with a freehold, you own the land absolutely but with a “leasehold” property you buy exactly that – a lease for a number of years.

Although it sounds obvious, it is important to check at an early stage how long is left to run on the lease. Many mortgage companies (i.e. lenders) are unlikely to lend on flats where there is 70 years or less to run on the lease because of their concern that it may devalue the property and be less easy for them to sell on if they were to repossess.

When you buy a leasehold property, there will also be a “freeholder” who owns the freehold of that land, i.e. an individual or a company that owns the block as a whole.

The residents of the block may have formed a company and bought the freehold themselves. This is known as “share of freehold”. As a purchaser, you would also become a shareholder or member of the company on completion.

Many people see “share of freehold” flats as preferable because the residents have more control of the upkeep of the block and most importantly, they are free to extend and update their leases when necessary.  If the block is not share of freehold then the freehold owner may charge a large premium to extend the lease.

So, my tips when buying a leasehold property would be:

• Check with your Solicitor or Estate Agent who owns and manages the freehold  3(they might not be one and the same)

• Check to see whether the flat is “share of freehold”

• Check how long there is left to run on the lease and whether the lease term could be extended

• Check the restrictive covenants contained within the lease – for example, are you required to have sound proof flooring? Are pets allowed?

• Check the level of ground rent and maintenance charges and work them into your monthly budget along with the rest of your outgoings.

For more information, please ask for Adele Parkinson in the Property team, adele.parkinson@kiteleys.co.uk or telephone 01202 708634

DIY Divorce – a false economy?

Recent reports in the British Media suggests that up to 1 in 5 divorces are now being processed entirely online, with more people than ever before using App’s via smart-phones and tablets to initiate divorce proceedings.  In part, this might be due to cuts in legal aid which came into effect from 1st  April 2013, meaning that legal aid is no longer available to pay for the costs of a divorce unless there is sufficient evidence of recent domestic abuse being suffered.

Colin Mitchell, specialist family law solicitor and head of Kiteleys Family Solutions team, gives his opinion on what this means in practice and highlights some hidden risks of dealing with divorce in this way:

Whilst dealing with your own divorce might seem to make sense, because you can avoid solicitors legal costs whilst acting “in person”, it is essential to realise that getting divorced does not properly deal with any financial arrangements between a divorcing couple.  This is because the grant of “decree absolute” means that  a couple are no longer married, but does not prevent someone from making a financial claim against their ex-spouse.

This legal technicality came as  a big shock to Nigel Page when in  2010 he won £56million in the Euro Millions Jackpot.   Although this happened about 10 years after his divorce from Wendy Page, Nigel had failed to include a full and final financial settlement in the appropriate legally binding document at the time of getting divorced from Wendy.  This meant that in the circumstances of their particular case, Wendy was entitled to make a very significant claim against Nigel’s winnings a decade later after reading about his win in the newspapers.

Therefore, whilst dealing with your divorce yourself, perhaps using an online service, might seem a good option because it is cheap, you should always bear in mind that you only get what you pay for. This means that without full and proper legal advice, there might be legal “loose ends” which cause you heartache and financial loss in the future.

Making sure that you have proper professional help to avoid these problems does not mean great expense.  Any family problem, whether involving a married or unmarried couple, can still be resolved in a full and proper way at a price which is affordable.  This is especially true  if you obtain help from a specialist family lawyer who knows when it is best to involve other professionals to help solve your family problem,  which will help keep your solicitors costs to a minimum.  These other options might include a referral to a Family Mediator or Relationship Consultant, in order to avoid going to court and help an agreement be reached without incurring expensive solicitors fees.  This holistic approach to family problem solving is at the forefront of Kiteleys Family Solutions team’s philosophy for helping couples achieve the best outcome for the best price for them.

If you have any questions following on from this blog or in relation to any other family issue, call Colin Mitchell for a free no obligation chat on 01425 278866

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Offices now open in Canford Cliffs and Boscombe!

We are delighted to announce that our offices in Canford Cliffs and Boscombe are now open!  The property, commercial, private client and litigation teams of D’Angibau LLP have transferred to Kiteleys, with D’Angibau ceasing to practice as solicitors on 5th July 2013. We will be profiling the members of each team in in the coming weeks, but for now to arrange an appointment in Haven Road, Canford Cliffs please call 01202 708634 or in Sea Road, Boscombe please call 01202 393506.