Challenges to the validity of wills are getting more common. Two recent cases of challenges to wills in the courts illustrate that (Casim Haq v Irvine and Scott v Reeves) and are the catalyst for this note offering some pointers as to what counts as a valid will and...

Introduction When you buy a house the transaction completes (or “settles”) on the day the buyer pays the price and the seller delivers a formal document called a “disposition” conveying (transferring) ownership of the house from the seller to the buyer. Delivery of...

Promises, Promises and Artificial Intelligence Promises and moral versus legal obligations: the AI answers Question1: ‘do you have a moral obligation to keep a promise’? This is the answer from AI: “Yes, there is a strong moral obligation to keep a promise. Generally,...

CHARITY TRUSTEES GO PUBLIC Introduction It’s worth highlighting certain aspects of recent charity law reform in respect of: (1) new requirements for information about charity trustees being submitted to the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (“OSCR”) for OSCR’s...

REQUIREMENTS TO BE MEMBERS OF THE PROTECTING VULNERABLE GROUPS SCHEME Introduction Various aspects of the Protecting Vulnerable Groups Scheme (“the PVG Scheme”) were amended with effect from 1 April 2025. This note considers certain aspects of the amendments with...

Inheritance Tax (“IHT”) basics IHT is primarily a charge on the value of an individual's estate on death. In outline: if you leave your estate to your surviving spouse or civil partner (or a charitable body) there is no IHT to pay: the transfer is “exempt” from IHT;...

Scots law has its fair share of quaint legal phrases e.g. legal rights of legitim; a decree ad factum praestandum; a coelo usque ad centrum. Another somewhat quaint term (albeit not in Latin) is “tacit relocation”. This is a common law rule which may be illustrated as...

The Chancellor’s Autumn Budget in October 2024 (“Fixing the Foundations to Deliver Change”) said (among much else): “The government is making the inheritance tax system fairer by applying inheritance tax to unspent pensions pots and restricting the generosity of...

This month Regulations were made so as to bring into force, with effect from 1 April 2025, those sections of the Moveable Transactions (Scotland) Act 2023 (“the 2023 Act”) so far as not already in force. What are “moveable” transactions? The term “moveable” in the...

It may well seem contradictory to have both the words “authorised” and “fraud” appearing in the same phrase as in the title above. But, on the one hand, fraud may occur when someone steals your bank card and uses it to make unauthorised payments and, on the other...

How does VAT work? VAT (value added tax) is a tax added to most products and services supplied by VAT-registered businesses. Businesses have to register for VAT if their taxable turnover is more than £90,000. A VAT-registered business must in particular:...

Background This month the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (known as SPICe) re-published its Briefing Paper on “Contact between grandparents and their grandchildren”. Generally speaking, its subject matter is a non-issue. Grandparents, parents and grandchildren...