The recent decision of the High Court not to uphold director disqualification proceedings brought by the Official Receiver against the former trustees and CEO of the Kids Company charity has reopened much debate within the charity sector.

Further to International Women’s Day at the beginning of this week, it is great to see that the trend for the number of women planning for their and their family’s future, by creating Wills and Lasting Powers of Attorney, has been steadily increasing over the last few years.

The European Commission (EC) has published draft adequacy decisions for personal data transfers from the EU into the UK. This will begin the process of allowing data transfer between the EU and UK to continue.

Stephen Burtchaell, head of our Affordable Housing team, gives an update on the latest Housing laws.

The role of trustees within a charity, or not for profit organisation, and the essential need for good governance.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak delivered the 2021 Budget, which extended several Coronavirus support schemes and outlined plans for the country’s post-pandemic recovery.

It is always best to ensure you have a carefully drafted, and updated Will setting out what you would like to happen to your property and effects when you die. The law protects your decisions in most cases but this can provide some inflexibility in the way your estate is handled. Equally, if there is no Will, the intestacy rules can result in undesirable consequences.

With less than a week to go until the next Budget, on 3rd March 2021, speculation is rife as to what Chancellor Rishi Sunak may announce. With the pandemic affecting the country for more than a year, there are likely to be numerous Covid-related support measures announced.

Patient Safety Minister Nadine Dorries has issued a call for hospitals to use gold-standard test for mothers at risk of giving babies Group B Strep, after the large-scale National Institute for Health Research-funded clinical trial on testing for GBS had received ethical approval in 2019 with an estimated 80 hopsitals required to take part ensuring the rial screening could reach 320,00 women, only 15 hospitals have been able to commit.

Following our recent insight on the Inheritance Act and Minor Children, this insight moves onto another category of claimant under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 (“Inheritance Act”) - adult children.

A recent article has reported that there has been a marked rise in claims being brought against estates. These claims are mainly being made under the provisions of the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 whereby claimants argue that they have not received reasonable financial provision from an estate. 

Coupled with operations restrictions, the stamp duty holiday has slowed almost every part of the conveyancing process. Surveyors, mortgage lenders, search agencies and conveyancing lawyers are struggling to meet demand which means that the average property transaction completion time has increased from 12 weeks to 16 weeks. As a result, current new buyers are unlikely to meet the March 31st deadline to take advantage of the stamp duty holiday.