Insights & Articles

On 27 June 2020 the Employment Relations (Triangular Employment) Amendment Act 2019 ("the Act") came into force. The Act aims to provide protection to those in triangular employment relationships. Typically, a triangular relationship exists where a person is employed by a labour hire company/recruitment agency, and works under the control and direction of another entity (a controlling third party).

Can a Will be made from within the Covid-19 virus enforced bubble of self-isolation and social distancing? Extreme events call for extreme challenges and measures no more so than for making a Will right now when the testator is in isolation and no independent witnesses are in the room. Clearly an issue particularly for someone elderly or ill and delay is a concern.

Planning Ahead: Need to make a Will even if you don't think you do?" But I don't have any assets yet" is a common response when making a Will is suggested to twenty-somethings. There is a misconception, among young people in particular, that in order to make a Will, you should have already built up a sizeable asset base. While you may not own a home or have a large un-cracked nest egg, you will almost certainly have a number of assets to protect, including:

Before a deceased's last will can have the legal effect of distributing property to his or her heirs accordingly to its terms, it must be admitted to probate, that is accepted by the High Court as being valid.

A special status is given to the "family home" in relationship property disputes under the relevant legislation, the Property (Relationships) Act 1976 ("the Act").

The truism that charity begins at home might have been given a serious knock back going by the recent UK Supreme Court decision concerning an adult daughter's claim against her mother's estate in IIott v Mitson [2017] UKSC 17.

Assignment of contracts is a fairly common practice in the business world. In an assignment, the person assigning the contract - the "Assignor" - assigns the benefits of the contract the Assignor holds to a new person (the "Assignee") who takes the benefit of that contract "the Assignee". Some contracts may expressly prohibit assignment and some contracts provide that a contract may not be assigned without the consent of the other party. If a contract has no provision relating to assignment, then the general rule is that it may be assigned, with a few exceptions.

What do you do when you are chasing a company for a debt and despite your requests, pleas, calls and curses, the company is failing or refusing to pay? The statutory demand process may be suitable in such circumstances.

Real estate agents or salespersons seeking to challenge a Complaints Assessments Committee's finding of unsatisfactory conduct need now to be aware of a shortened appeal period.

The combination of isolating within one bubble along with additional financial stress, changes to childcare and working from home can bring personal relationships closer or unfortunately, push them apart. Breakdowns in personal relationships can add an additional layer of stress to an already difficult situation. However, it is important to remember that help is available.

At 3.00 pm on 28 September 2021, the Government announced changes to travel during the current Alert Level 3. Travel across the border from Level 3 into Level 2 has been strictly limited, but the new rules that take effect at 11:59 pm tonight (28 September 2021) now permit travel across the border if one or more of the following situations applies to you:

At one time or another, all businesses confront the unpleasant task of collecting outstanding fees for the services or products they have provided. When a client refuses to pay an outstanding invoice, recovering the money due may turn into a drawn-out process, even when the amount owed appears un-contentious. Engaging a solicitor to assist with the debt recovery process has the benefit of both impressing on the debtor your commitment to pursuing the debt and simplifying an otherwise frustrating process.