Bereaved families will face soaring probate fees from April 2019 under new plans revealed by the Ministry of Justice. Reforms to probate fees have been the subject of consultation since 2016 and a year later the first proposals, which included a charge of £20,000 for estates worth £2 million or more, were met with outcry. […]
Could your estate go to the Crown?
The idea that the Crown might inherit everything you have worked so hard for during your lifetime might seem far-fetched – but with the Government’s unclaimed estates list now at 8,910 entries, this really can and does happen. Perhaps surprisingly, the list isn’t solely comprised of elderly people who have simply lost much of their family […]
Stamp duty, CGT and IHT: what we might see in the budget
The Chancellor’s budget will be announced on Monday October 29th – and with healthy tax receipts over the past five years from Stamp Duty, CGT and IHT, commentators are expecting to see further hikes in tax rates. The three taxes combined brought revenues of £25.4 billion to the Treasury this year, according to The Times […]
Property hijacking – and how you can reduce the risk
A woman who put her parents’ flat on the market while her father was temporarily in a care home and her stepmother was in the Caribbean visiting a sick relative has been handed a three year prison sentence. 52 year old Valerie Edwards put the property, valued at £340,000, on the market during Spring last year […]
Inheritance disputes on the rise
The number of inheritance disputes is soaring thanks to inflated property prices, complex family structures, a challenging financial climate and an ageing population. According to Ministry of Justice figures, the High Court considered 145 inheritance claims last year – three times more than a decade earlier. These figures do not represent the true number of cases as […]
Purchasing a Commercial Property
Buying a commercial property can be extremely rewarding. However, there are risks involved, so you need to proceed with caution and get right legal advice from the outset. Otherwise the consequences could be costly. Legal help when buying a commercial property As soon as you find a commercial property that suits your needs, you should […]
Selling a Commercial Property
When selling a commercial property, there is a lot of legal and administrative work to carry out. To ensure the process runs as smoothly and as efficiently as possible, it is best to ask an experienced commercial property lawyer to act on your behalf.
Dementia Action Week: how to make a Will and LPA
This week is Dementia Action Week, an event organised by the Alzheimer’s Society as a call to action to help those affected by dementia. Around 850,000 people in the UK have the condition and a new diagnosis is made every 3 minutes, according to the Charity. An easy step that people can take to help […]
How Not To Be A Victim Of Conveyancing Fraud
8-May-2018 The Times recently reported on the story of Zara Pawley who was left £40,000 short after her solicitors were tricked into sending the balance from a house sale to fraudsters. According to Zara, although she had previously provided her bank details in person to the solicitor, the firm was later fooled by a message […]
Help With Inheritance Tax
7-May-2018 The complexities of Inheritance tax: and where to get help Last week the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) launched a review of inheritance tax, asking both professionals and taxpayers themselves to submit views by June 8th. The Scoping Document can be found here. A record £5.2 billion of inheritance tax was paid to the […]
Choose The Right Lawyer and Avoid The Cost of Delays
1-May-2018 With a myriad of conveyancing services to choose from, it can be confusing to know which to choose and whether there is really much difference between them all. With cheap deals and incentives to lure them in, too many people are tempted by bargain basement prices rather than choosing an experienced, trusted advisor for […]
Buy To Let Funding For Older Investors
24-April-2018 From last week, The Mortgage Works, Nationwide’s specialist buy-to-let lender, removed its age limit for loans to experienced landlords. In the past, the lender applied a maximum application age of 70 for all buy-to-let loans – but since 18th April, there has been no maximum age for those landlords who have owned or let […]
Breens Secures Top Accolade From Law Society
20-April-2018 Breens Solicitors Ltd in Southport, and Waterloo has secured the Law Society’s legal practice quality mark for practice management and client care, Lexcel, for the 20th consecutive year. The Law Society developed the Lexcel standard to award those firms which demonstrate high client care and business management standards an additional accreditation. To gain and […]
Landlords Face Fines For Substandard Properties
11-April-2018 From 1st April, Landlords renting energy inefficient properties have been liable for large fines, thanks to new legislation. In addition, they may have to pay thousands towards the cost of implementing energy saving measures. Rented property that cannot meet a minimum Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of E or higher will need to be […]
Are You Due a Stamp Duty Refund?
9-April-2018 Author: Carol Bragg HMRC’s inaccurate Stamp Duty calculator may have resulted in up to £2 billion in stamp duty being overpaid: because the tool did not take into account discounts due on certain transactions. Tax advisors report dealing with a 400% increase in refund claims because even solicitors were relying on the tool to […]
Incentives for New-Build Buyers
2-April-2018 Author: Carol Bragg If you’re looking for your first home and have your sights set on a new build, there’s good news: lenders are targeting the new-build market and the number of deals available is rapidly increasing. With the low interest rates, banks and building societies have had to improve their offers in order […]
Temporary Change to Opening Hours
2-March-2018 We are having work done in our Southport Office. As a result, the Southport Office will be open between 10am and 4pm only on the following days. Tuesday 6th March Wednesday 7th March. We will be back to our normal opening hours of 9am to 5pm from Thursday 8th March. Thank you for your […]
Make a Will Month 2018
27-February-2018 Breens Solicitors is once again supporting the Queenscourt Hospice Make a Will month. For the month of April, Breens Solicitors will write your Will in exchange for a donation to Queenscourt Hospice. Simple Single Will donation of £90 Simple Mirror Wills donation of £135 You may also want to leave a legacy to Queenscourt […]
An Extra £1100 For First Time Buyers
14-February-2018 If you’re under 39 and you’ve got a Help to Buy ISA, you could claim up to £1,100 extra in Government bonuses towards your house deposit, thanks to a quirk in the LISA rules. The rules allow you to transfer your Help to Buy ISA savings to a LISA this 2017-2018 tax year, without […]
Are You Due a Refund on Your Power of Attorney?
14-February-2018 If you made a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) or an Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA) application in the last five years, you may be due a partial refund. Why am I due a refund? The Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) charged £110 for making a LPA. The Ministry of Justice – which […]
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- …
- 18
- Next Page »