The inheritance tax Nil Rate Band has been frozen at £325,000 until April 2015.

Please contact Reshma Field or Graham Edwards for further information.

No one wants to think about their own death and reviewing your will and keeping your affairs in order is one of those jobs that frequently gets put off or it is done once and not thought of again. You should however make the time to review your will every few years or when your personal circumstances change.

Firstly if you have children under the age of 18, you should appoint legal guardian’s for them in your will if you have sole parental responsibility for them, or in the event that they are left without either parent. Otherwise it is the responsibility of the court to appoint Guardian’s for them.

You can leave your estate in a discretionary trust which will become available to your child / children when they reach the age of 18 or later if you would prefer but there are tax implications for delaying the age at which they can inherit. You can also set up an educational trust to allow them to continue their education and there are Inheritance Tax benefits for doing this.

One of the best reasons for keeping your will up to date is to protect your family from paying unnecessary Inheritance Tax after your death. There is currently a transferrable nil rate band between spouses and civil partners of up to £325,000. If you and your spouse have a mirror will leaving everything to each other on the first death and everything to their children on the second death, then the executors of the surviving spouse can double up the Nil Rate Band to claim up to £650,000 free from IHT.

For people who may be cohabiting or marrying you may want to protect your child’s inheritance but many people don’t realise if they get married their previous will is cancelled out and there may be claims made on their estate for matrimonial support from their spouse or partner. It is better to take advice to ensure you understand what could happen in the event of your death to try to reduce any claims against your estate.

If you have already made a will and left a legacy to a charity you may want to review the amount if you now feel it is too small. Many people choose to state legacies should increase in line with inflation. Equally you may have left a legacy which you now feel is too large so reviewing whether you leave specific amount or a percentage of your estate is a good idea.

Finally for older couples you should plan for the possible impact of care home fees in later life and there are a number of ways in which the cost of these fees can currently be mitigated.

Graham Edwards is a partner at Buss Murton Law LLP and can be reached at gedwards@bussmurton.co.uk or www.bussmurton.co.uk Buss Murton Law LLP has offices in Cranbrook, Tunbridge Wells and Dartford and is delighted to be supporting Cranbrook School Arts Week.

For many freshers, the chance to live independently is an exciting prospect and they may decide to rent a property with a group of new friends but this is where problems can begin, especially if they don’t know their flatmates very well.

If you jointly take out an assured shorthold tenancy, this will run for a minimum of six months and you will be jointly liable to pay the rent on time each month plus a hefty deposit up front. You may also be responsible for paying rent for the months during the summer when the property is empty so make sure you understand the length of the agreement.

You will also be responsible for paying household bills unless they are included in the rent so make sure you have in place an agreement with your flat mates to share the costs. Parents are often required to act as a guarantor in case the rent or bills are not paid so ensure you ask lots of questions before taking on a large financial commitment.

If there are five or more people sharing a property, this will be classed as a Home in Multiple Occupancy (HMO) and the landlord will need a licence from the local authority.

Legally the landlord should provide a copy of the Gas Safety Certificate for the property (if it is connected to a gas supply) before you move in and also provide details of the Tenancy Deposit Scheme that they are using within 14 days of accepting the deposit.

Make sure your landlord provide an inventory which you should go through thoroughly and if they don’t, you should make your own and send it with a set of photographs by recorded delivery to the landlord on the first day of the tenancy.

If you live in a property with individual tenancy agreements you will require a TV licence for each person living there with a TV in their own room but if the property is rented as one shared property, then you will only need one licence, no matter how many TV’s there are.

If you are a full time student you will be exempt from paying council tax but if you are a part time student you will be liable which could mean one individual is liable for the bill for the whole property.

Parents in a strong financial position could choose to buy a property for their child to live in either alone, or to rent out rooms to fellow students to help pay with the costs.

If the property is owned by you (the parents) then the rental income would be seen as income to be taxed on top of your normal earnings which could result in a significant tax bill. If the property is held in the child’s name the rental income would be taxed in their name usually at a lower rate if they have no other source of income.

The future sale of the property provided the child still lived in it would be free from capital gains tax whereas if it is owned in the parents name/s they would have to pay CGT unless it is their principal residence.

If you plan to let rooms then you will need to have a legal document in place which should avoid creating any form of tenancy that could not be terminated.

It is always better to take advice and to check through your legal responsibilities before you enter into any agreements which otherwise may be difficult and costly to deal with in the future.

Daldeep Jaswal is a partner at Buss Murton Law LLP and can be reached at djaswal@bussmurton.co.uk or www.bussmurton.co.uk Buss Murton Law LLP has offices in Cranbrook, Tunbridge Wells and Dartford and is delighted to be supporting Cranbrook School Arts Week.

Whatever the size of your business, you should familiarise yourself with the employment changes due to come into force this year and consider the effect they may have on your business.

Increase to the qualifying period for unfair dismissal protection

The increase of the qualifying period for an employee to bring an unfair dismissal claim from one year to two years is probably one of the major changes for this year which comes into force on 6 April 2012.

The Government hopes this will “provide more time for employers and employees to resolve difficulties, give employers greater confidence in taking on people and ease the burden on the employment tribunal process”.

Pensions auto-enrolment begins

From 1 October 2012, employers with 50 or more employees must enroll all eligible employees automatically, and make mandatory employer contributions, into a qualifying workplace pension scheme or the National Employment Savings Trust (Nest).

Employment tribunal procedure changes

The Government has announced a “fundamental review” of the Employment Tribunal Rules of Procedure, with substantial changes to employment tribunal procedure expected to be introduced on 6 April 2012.

Statutory redundancy payments and guarantee payments increase

The maximum amount of a week’s pay used to calculate a statutory redundancy payment and the basic and additional awards for unfair dismissal increases from £400 to £430 on 1 February 2012. The maximum unfair dismissal compensatory award increases from £68,400 to £72,300. The limit on the amount of a guarantee payment payable to an employee in respect of any day also increases from £22.20 to £23.50.

Maternity, paternity, adoption and sick pay increase

The Government has confirmed that the standard rate of statutory maternity, paternity and adoption pay will increase from £128.73 to £135.45 per week from 1 April 2012. Statutory sick pay will increase from £81.60 to £85.85 per week from 6 April 2012.

Stay up to date with the latest changes before they come into force and plan the impact they may have on your business and workforce.

Andrew Linton is partner at Buss Murton Law LLP and can be contacted at alinton@bussmurton.co.uk Tel: 01892 510222 www.bussmurton.co.uk

Proposals announced earlier this month by the Ministry of Justice are likely to have an impact on the way in which children maintain a relationship with both their parents following separation says Buss Murton Law LLP.

Melanie den Brinker, Barrister at Buss Murton Law LLP comments: “The proposals made by the independent family justice review panel and now accepted by the government cover a broad range of issues  including speeding up care and adoption cases and simplifying the family justice system.   However more relevant to separating families, are the measures designed to ensure that, where possible, parents should share the ongoing care of their children. These include the use of parenting agreements to set out details of future arrangements including where children will live, how often they will see each parent and even providing for children to continue to see their grandparents and other close family members.  ”

“The onus will be on the parents to come to sensible and inclusive arrangements which focus on the child’s need to maintain family ties.”

However although there will be an increased emphasis on shared parenting, some fathers will be disappointed that there will be no presumption that there should be an equal division of time between parents.  The proposals will also disappoint many grandparents, as the Government has decided to retain the requirement for Grandparents to obtain leave before they can apply for an order allowing them to see their Grandchildren, recognising that each family’s circumstances are different and there may be very good reasons why a child’s relationship is restricted with certain individuals.  The focus must always be on what is in the best interests of the child.

Melanie Den Brinker concludes: “I would always urge parents who are separating to come up with their own arrangements with which they are both happy and to stick to them, but also to maintain a degree of flexibility to allow for a child’s changing needs.  The alternative is for the Court to impose arrangements with which neither parent may be happy.”

“Many people really want to make the best arrangements for their children, but just don’t know where to start. Buss Murton offers a free half hour consultation to prospective clients go to www.bussmurton.co.uk

Wellington Gate

7-9 Church Road,

Tunbridge Wells,

Kent
TN1 1HT

T) 01892 510222

The office is located 10 minute walk away from the mainline station & opposite the Trinity Theatre
Client parking is located at the front of Wellington Gate & there is a pay and display car park next to the Trinity

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The team in Tunbridge Wells can offer advice for all areas for private individuals including wills & probate, family matters including matrimonial, all residential property issues including sale & purchase. Tunbridge Wells also has employment law specialists, business specialists and debt & litigation.

Please visit Our Team to find the appropiate person to help you or call us on 01892 510222

Buss Murton are pleased to announce that our charity of the year for 2012 will be Ellenorlions & chYps

Ellenorlions provide all encompassing hospice care and a  service for adults living in Dartford, Gravesham, Swanley and surrounding villages; whilst their  ”Children and young people’s service” – ‘chYps’ – extends further afield into Bexley and Maidstone, Sevenoaks, Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells.

Every week, EllenorLions provides hospice care in the family home for 300 adults and 80 children; and each year 250 people receive in-hospice care. chYps were the UK’s first children’s full hospice at home service, and still one of only a very few acute services providing oncology and end of life care to children in the home and they have an on-going case load of up to 100 children and young people.

Ellenorlions services cost about £4.8 million a year but are free of charge to patients. The vast majority of money is raised by the local community & businesses supporting both Ellenorlions & chYps.

Buss Murton will be organising a series of fundraising activities and will be involved in some of the activities organised by the charity. Details will be posted on the website & for further information please visit http://www.chyps.org/howYouCanHelp/events/default.asp  & http://www.ellenorlions.org/howYouCanHelp/events/default.asp for more information.

Buss Murton acts for a number of prominent charities (both local and national) and not-for-profit organisations as well as providing advice to individuals with philanthropic objectives who wish to establish their own charities.  Our clients include start-up charities at one end to well-established charities which have been in operation for decades at the other.

Our work includes:

• All the business activities of charities and non-profit making bodies (including joint ventures, fundraising, mergers, and risk management for example)
• The creation of charities and their choice of structure: should it be a trust, a company, a CIC or a CIO?
• The variation of charitable constitutions, their management and funding, including the setting up of trading subsidiaries.
• Advising trustees on their fiduciary and regulatory duties including in particular the issue of Public Benefit.
• Negotiating with the Regulator and advising on charity investigations and reviews.
• Employment: problems with staff or volunteers?
• Property matters such as sales, purchases and relocations of charities.
• Legacy  Management.
• The formation, administration, and accounting of private family charitable trusts.
• A dedicated Charities Team.

If you require any further information please contact:
Tunbridge Wells

Alex Cuppage 01892 502321 acuppage@bussmurton.co.uk

Whilst it can be very disappointing to both the buyer and the seller to find out a problem has been uncovered, buyers shouldn’t immediately walk away from the purchase without considering all the options and discussing them with their solicitor who will have dealt with many similar situations in the past.

Firstly, put the faults into context. It will be difficult to find any house – even a brand new one – which a surveyor deems to be perfect, as it is their job to uncover faults. Don’t be afraid to ask them to explain the findings in more detail, especially if you have purchased a full structural survey where the report can run into many pages of recommendations.

Your solicitor will be able to make written enquiries to the seller’s solicitor so make a list of questions that you want written answers to. They may know more about the history of the property and the reasons why certain issues may have been identified and also what, if any, work they have carried out to the property, which may also come with transferrable guarantees, such as installing a damp proof course.

Don’t forget you can ask for the advice of other experts, often without having to pay out further expenses. Ask a local builder, electrician or plumber to give you their opinion on the work that has been identified, its structural significance, the cost of rectifying it and also how urgently it would need remedying and always get three written quotes to compare.

If you are planning to do work to the property, many of the faults could be rectified as part of the programme of work and it may be cheaper to identify in advance work that needs to be done and agree the price with the specialist, rather than uncovering problems as you go along.

If the issue is more serious, such as subsidence then talk to the seller and ask them to obtain a structural engineers report to explain the fault in more detail. In the current market sellers should be happy to do a fair share of the homework to provide you with enough information to make an informed decision. Please note the structural report would only be binding between the seller if they commission it and the structural engineer and as such you would not be able to sue the engineer if it was found to be incorrect in the future.

Your solicitor may also recommend you carry out further searches, such as a mining search, to find out if there might be any issues lurking beneath the ground that could be contributing to the problem.

Finally don’t be afraid to negotiate on the price, but keep it realistic. If the seller really wants to move they will have to accept their property has faults and will need to adjust the price accordingly. This can be difficult for some sellers to accept and your solicitor would recommend that you speak with the estate agent who is best placed to negotiate a price reduction direct with the seller on your behalf. Solicitors are also happy to negotiate on your behalf but this is likely to lead to increased costs and they cannot contact the seller direct.

Often home buyers find survey results daunting but they need to understand that few homes are perfect. Whilst the doctrine of ‘buyer beware’ always applies, there are further steps that a buyer can take before making a rash decision based on the results of their survey.
 

Buss Murton is a successful Law Firm based in Tunbridge Wells with smaller offices in Cranbrook and Dartford. They ask all customers to rate their performance and are pleased to publish their results.

• A Family client from our Cranbrook Branch said:“Very Helpful and Very Clear Advice, Thank you.”
• A Client from our Dartford office said that the Probate department he had been:“Most satisfied with the service that he had received and the promptness their work had been completed.”
• A Couple who required Property Solicitors said:“Thank you for handling our purchase so smoothly”
• “I was incredibly pleased with the whole experience, and even the cost was better than I thought it would” Thank you so much for all your hard work!” A Family client from the Tunbridge Wells branch has said.
• A Private client for probate said: “The Team were very helpful. Thank you.”
• A Client has thanked the Employment and Litigation team saying: “The team were efficient and worked hard for the best result. Thank you.”

Our Clients opinions on our service are very important to us. We are interested to get reviews back from all our clients as it can help us improve our service. We ask all clients to rate the work of our team in seven subsections including the ‘Advise that they are given” and the “efficiency with which we handled clients file throughout”.