Bullet Point Updates
October 2021 – Assisted Dying Bill & Advanced Directives Compared
Last month a proposal for a Member's Bill to allow adults who are terminally ill to be provided with assistance to end their life was lodged with the Scottish Parliament. There is as yet no actual draft Bill setting out what the legal rules might be. This is a...
September 2021 – The OTS Second Report on Capital Gains Tax – Simpler, But not yet Simples
Believe it or not there is something called the Office of Tax Simplification (“the OTS”). It was set up in 2010 and no doubt they try their best but one might think they have not made much headway so far. One does not know what Orlov the meerkat of “simples” fame...
August 2021 – Homeowner Smoke Alarms – The New Rules
Local authorities have a duty to make sure that houses in their area which do not meet the “tolerable standard” are brought up to the “tolerable standard” or, in some cases, closed or demolished. The “tolerable standard” is set out in section 85 of the Housing...
July 2021 – Residential Tenancies & Notices to Leave
Background New residential tenancies are now called “private residential tenancies” or “PRTs” under the Private Housing (Tenancies)(Scotland) Act 2016 (“the Act”). If a landlord wants to terminate a PRT there is some scope for mutually agreed termination where the...
June 2021 – Mixed Sex Civil Partnerships Up & Running
The essentials From 30th June couples will be able to enter mixed-sex civil partnerships. The term “mixed-sex” is perhaps not as transparent as “opposite sex” or “different sex” but was purposefully chosen by the Scottish Government on the basis that “mixed-sex” was...
May 2021 – Trust Registration
Under the EU Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive only trusts with a UK “tax consequence” (or deceased’s estates which counted as “complex estates”) needed to be registered with HMRC’s online Trust Registration Service (“the TRS”). Importantly however, the...
April 2021 – Removal of an Executor
In August 2014 the Scottish Law Commission published a report on its review of trust law. The report included a draft Trusts (Scotland) Bill to update Scots trust law. Regrettably, nearly seven years later, the Scottish Law Commission’s Bill is nowhere near becoming...
March 2021 – Defamation Law Revamped
The Defamation and Malicious Publication (Scotland) Bill was passed by the Scottish Parliament on 2nd March (by 118 votes in favour with none against and no abstentions). In a nutshell: in the new Bill a statement about a person is said to be defamatory if it causes...
February 2021 – Charities and Virtual Meetings
The Scottish Charity Regulator (“OSCR”) oversees charities in Scotland. It regularly publishes bulletins on its website. This month’s bulletin included the question: “Does your governing document allow for virtual meetings?” The background to that question is that a...
January 2021 – 1st Time Buyer Relief – LBTT
Introduction Land and buildings transaction tax (“LBTT”) is the Scottish version of “stamp duty land tax”. In practice, LBTT is payable mainly in two cases: (1) the purchase of land including in particular residential property, and (2) the grant or transfer of leases...
December 2020 – A Wealth Tax? Are you Bovvered?
The Wealth Tax Commission was established in Spring 2020 to consider proposals for a UK wealth tax. It published its final report this month. The prospect of a Wealth Tax could be met with varied responses; for example: “am I bovvered?” or “nice problem to have”. But...
November 2020 – Re-vamping of Business Rates
This month owners and tenants of non-domestic properties should have received a letter from the Scottish Government about changes to the system for non-domestic rates – otherwise known as business rates. This follows on from the passing of the Non-Domestic Rates...
Find Out More
Our People
Our History
Our Approach
