Did you know that from 26th May 2008 the businesses you deal with must comply with new Consumer Protection Unfair Trading Regulations? This means that they must be honest and true in what they tell you and who they say they are.
The new regulations provide a broad range of protections to stop businesses misleading their customers or potential customers. This includes a prohibition against displaying or indicating that the business has a quality mark or has been endorsed by a particular organisation when it does not.
The regulations also prevent businesses or their employees suggesting that products will only be available for a short period of time to try to secure a sale and will crack down on the making of false claims that quasi medicinal products can cure illnesses, when those claims cannot be proved.
The common practice of creating a false impression that a member of the public has already won a prize has now also been outlawed.
We have yet to see how these new regulations will be enforced. For more information visit www.businesslink.gov.uk.
Following the high profile Mills/McCartney’s recent divorce the Law Society is advising anyone considering divorce to seek good legal advice from a solicitor.
The legal formality of getting a divorce is a relatively straightforward process. What is generally much less straightforward is sorting out the practical issues associated with a divorce, such as where each person will live, who gets what, and arrangements for any children. Before agreeing matters with your husband or wife, it is wise to take advice from a solicitor about your rights and the options available to you.
We will help to ensure the best outcome for the parties involved
The DIY approach could be useful in very straightforward cases, but it is safe to at least get a solicitor to check everything is covered, otherwise it could result in an unsatisfactory settlement.
We understand that approaching a divorce is difficult and we are here to help you
We never lose sight of the emotional cost of relationship breakdowns, especially in matters involving children.
For parties whose funds are tied up in the matrimonial assets, we are able to offer alternative/deferred payment schemes.
From the 9th October 2007 the inheritance tax-free allowance of your partner may be available to your own estate, potentially doubling the amount of your own estate that can be passed on without inheritance tax becoming due.
Detailed information about your deceased partner's estate will be required to support a claim on behalf of your estate. It does not matter when your partner died, a claim can be made in connection with deaths of partners prior to the 9th October 2007. it is therefore important that you record that information now to enable your executors to make a claim for the increased tax-free allowance.
Consequently, we recommend you make an appointment for advice abpout preparing to utilise your partner's unused allowance available on your own death.
Act now so that your beneficiaries do not lose out!
Those interested in the housing market will have read or heard in the news about the introduction of the Home Information Packs. A great deal of uncertainty has surrounded them as the Government has consulted on various aspects of its proposals. One thing, however, the Government said was certain; from 1st June 2007, all home owners in England and Wales would need to prepare a Home Information Pack before putting their home up for sale.
At the end of May, only days before the initial introduction of HIPS, the Government announced a two month postponement of the scheme. The scheme was finally introduced on the 1st August 2007, initially only for sales of properties with four bedrooms or more. They then announced that from the 10th September 2007 HIPS would be required for all three bedroom properties as well. The Government has recently stated that HIPS will be required for all properties, regardless of the number of bedrooms, from the 14th December 2007. We will update this article as and when the Government makes any further announcement.
In practice they are unlikely to be “Packs” at all, but more likely CD’s. Most of the documents will be scanned onto a disc for the prospective buyers to read off a computer.
There are two classifications of documents to be included; “required” and “authorised”.
An authorised document is one that sellers can include to top up their Packs to include any additional material they think may be of interest to prospective buyers.
One aspect of the introduction of the HIPS is that it will probably take longer to get a property onto the market as more information will be required before you can do so. Up to now the first port of call for homeowners has been an Estate Agent.
We believe that the new process can run much more smoothly if you consult your solicitor first as they will have immediate access to a large number of the “required documents”. We at Chapman and Chubb will be linking up with the Law Society to produce the entire Pack and get the sale process underway in the most efficient manner and with the minimum of inconvenience to you.
Although no new process is without its teething problems, we believe we are already putting in place the necessary procedures to ensure we can make the introduction of HIPS as trouble-free as possible.
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