Claims Against A Deceased`s Estate

Do you think that you have a claim against the estate of someone who has died? If you believe that you should have been included in their Will, or received more from their estate than you did, then you may be entitled to make a dependency claim.  Head of Litigation at Ware & Kay in York, Wetherby & Malton, explains how: "Where the deceased died without a valid Will, the intestacy rules govern the automatic manner in which their married, or civil partner, and other close relatives, inherit their estate. If you are not provided for under the intestacy rules or, under their deceased's Will if they had one , or you consider that the amount you will receive is not sufficient, you might be able to bring a claim against the estate to ensure…

The Exclusivity Terms In Zero Hours Contract (redress) Regulations 2015

EMLOYMENT LAW UPDATE - FEBRUARY 2016 These regulations came into force on 11th January 2016. S27A(3) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 provides that a provision in a zero hours contract which prohibits the worker from doing work under any other arrangement is unenforceable. In other words the employee cannot be prevented from doing other work for other employers. If an employee is dismissed for taking on other work that dismissal will be automatically unfair. Even if the employee is not dismissed but is subjected to a "detriment" (e.g.  being denied work that would otherwise have been allocated to them), that detrimental treatment is unlawful. There is no qualifying period of employment before an employee is protected, so this is another exception to the "2 year rule" which applies to "ordinary" unfair dismissal and protects…

Sdlt Additional Rates On Acquisitions Of Additional Residential Property

On 1 December 2015, HMRC clarified to Practical Law Tax the additional rates of SDLT that will apply to acquisitions of additional residential property (for example, second homes and buy-to-let properties) with effect on and from 1 April 2016. If the total chargeable consideration provided for such a property exceeds £40,000, the entire consideration will be subject to SDLT at the following rates on a progressive basis: 3%: £0 - £125,000. 5%: over £125,000 - £250,000. 8%: over £250,000 - £925,000. 13%: over £925,000 - £1.5 million. 15%: over £1.5 million.   The announcement in the 2015 Autumn Statement was unclear and it transpired that practitioners and commentators had interpreted the announcement differently. Consequently, following an update published by the Law Society (see Law Society, Autumn Statement: changes to SDLT), Practical Law Tax contacted…

Whistleblowing What Constitutes The Public Interest

Since the qualifying period for claiming unfair dismissal was raised to 2 years, dismissed employees without the 2 year qualifying period will only be able to make claims if they can show that their dismissal was for a reason which is covered by a category deemed to be automatically unfair and does not require a qualifying period of employment. One of these categories is dismissal for making a "protected disclosure." The law is specific on what counts as a qualifying disclosure and to whom the employee must report it to. 1.    It must be a disclosure of "information" (an opinion alone is not enough) 2.    It must normally be made to the employer (although there are exceptions) 3.    It must in the reasonable belief of the worker "tend to show" either that:- (a)  a criminal…