Bullet Point Updates
July 2012 – Charity Reorganisation Schemes – Variation of Constitutions
Many charities operating today were set up many years ago. Things change, and sometimes things change in ways that could not have been anticipated when a charity first started. So, for one reason or another, the charity may no longer be able to function as originally...
June 2012 – Looking Back – Old Marriage Settlements – With A Nod To The Present Regarding Marriage Contracts
Old cases This month’s update gives a nod to the present but, in the main, looks back rather than forwards. Occasionally, when researching old decided cases to bolster arguments in relation to a case yet to be fought, it is striking just how much the law and social...
May 2012 – The month to talk of mice and snails
The most famous case of all time - at least so far - is the Scots case of Donoghue v Stevenson decided in 1932. A Note headed up “bullet point update” suggests topicality and reference to a 1932 case may not appear very topical. But the fame of the case is such in...
April 2012 – HMRC Revised approach to normal expenditure exemption
If you make lifetime gifts then, in the event of your death, they may be added back when it comes to working out any inheritance tax (“IHT”) payable on your estate. But some gifts are “exempt” from IHT so they are not added back and would not increase the amount of...
March 2012 – Financial Provision on Lifetime Termination of Cohabitation
For couples who are married, or for same-sex couples in civil partnerships, the law provides a fairly comprehensive scheme governing property matters on dissolution of the relationship. For couples simply living together (whether opposite sex or same sex) the law used...
February 2012 – Death Where There is no Will – Who Gets What?
If someone dies without leaving a will the law lays down who inherits the deceased’s estate. One of the most important aspects of these rules covers the rights of a surviving spouse or civil partner. The rights are threefold. They relate to: the deceased’s house;...
January 2012 – ‘Living Wills’ or ‘Advance Directives’
The term ‘living will’ generally means a formal written statement by a person setting out what medical treatments they do not want if, in the future, they lose capacity to communicate their wishes because of e.g. mental incapacity, a stroke, a coma, or...
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