Conveyancing Referral Fees

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You may or may not be aware that a lot of Conveyancing legal firms pay referral fees to estate agents. In exchange for this estate agents refer Conveyancing work to them.

Typically a legal firm will pay between £40 – £200 per transaction to an estate agent, who will then refer the clients to them.

There are two main issues with this.

  • The first is that the estate agents may not refer the clients to a particular firm based on that firm’s reputation but based solely on the fact that they are being paid a referral fee. In addition the client may not always be advised that a referral fee is being paid in respect of their matter and therefore may not be aware that the solicitors are effectively paying for their work, and will believe that the reason they are being referred to that practice is because they are good.
  • Secondly the client also needs to be careful that they are not being charged for any referral fees by way of increased legal fees, again this is not always disclosed when applying for costs.

Adams Harrison do not pay referral fees. We pride ourselves on the fact that much of our work is repeat business from satisfied clients, or that a client has come to us having been referred to us by a member of their family, or a friend, who has used Adams Harrison for legal services in the past. See our testimonials on the website.

If a referral fee is being paid by the estate agents to your legal advisor then your legal advisor should advise you of this fact and seek your consent to the same. You need to think carefully whether you would wish to instruct a firm that has to pay for it’s work rather than relying on its reputation.

Tracy Spilsbury

Head of Residential Conveyancing

Property Dispute Litigation Frequently Asked Questions

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We deal with an array of issues and matters that arise from property ownership and possession, here are three of the most common points upon which our advice, and if necessary representation is sought:-

Can you claim land as your own if you maintain it?

In general it is possible to claim what is known as “adverse possession” if you have been occupying/using land that you do not own, rent or have express permission to use, provided it has been continually occupied by you or a previous owner for in excess of 12 years without any objection from the registered owner.

Can you claim unregistered land as your own?

You may own property, land or both that despite being legally owned by you is not registered with the land registry as yours. This could be that the area in question has not be transferred, bought or sold ever since it became compulsory to register in your area; or it could be that there was a mistake when land registered to you was originally registered and land was excluded from the title plan. In either case an application to the land registry is necessary. Following receipt of the application the land registry would then notify surrounding land owners to ascertain if they have any objection to your application.

Does the Land Registry title plan show the actual boundary of your land/property?

Disputes over boundaries are very common but are far from straightforward. A boundary feature can be a fence, wall, hedge, ditch, piece of wire or sometimes even just the edge of a driveway. The title plan for your property, and that of your neighbour does not tell you exactly where your legal boundary is. The registered title and plan has only a general boundary. Involving a surveyor, coupled with legal advice can assist.

Will Writing. Is DIY A Good Idea?

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A Will is one of the most important documents you will ever make but an increasing number of people are preparing homemade Wills, possibly in an attempt to cut costs. Although DIY Wills are relatively inexpensive, the legal costs involved to remedy their potential errors may well exceed the cost of a professionally prepared Will. Moreover, it may not be possible to rectify mistakes that are discovered after your death.

What are the dangers of a DIY Will?

Off-the-shelf DIY Will kits are often poorly written, leading to confusion over what assets have been left and to whom. Common errors that can occur in the process of making a DIY Will include incorrectly signing or witnessing the Will, which renders the document invalid. Furthermore, a beneficiary can compromise their inheritance by acting as a witness.

If a Solicitor or professional will-writer has not been involved in the preparation of the Will, then there has been no ‘independent evidence’ that the Will represents the deceased’s true wishes and that they had capacity to make it. This encourages costly and lengthy contentious probate litigation.

Even if you successfully avoid these pitfalls and create a valid document using a homemade Will, there is always the possibility that nobody is able to locate your Will when it is needed. By using a regulated Law Firm, not only can you be certain your Will contains your exact wishes and instructions, you can be confident your Will will be stored safely. Most law firms will allow you to store your Will in their strong room free of charge.

Who is at risk?

Everyone is at risk of being cheated by salesmen offering to write Wills and establish Trusts at low prices, but it is the elderly who are frequently targeted by Will-writing companies who often apply high pressure selling techniques.

Our advice

Do not be tempted to cut corners when it comes to writing your Will. Doing so could result in high legal costs or, at worst, an invalid Will. The cost of a professionally written Will includes the advice given by a solicitor, who is subject to regulation by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, unlike many Will-writers who are not legally qualified or governed by regulation. Seek the help of regulated Solicitors and relax with the peace of mind that your wishes will be carried out.

 

Hayley Ford, Solicitor Wills & Probate Department

Why make a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA)?

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Lasting Powers of Attorney could be considered as a type of insurance. Hopefully they would never be needed but if they are you are in a much better position for having taken one out.

A Lasting Power of Attorney can protect you and your assets if you became incapable of managing your own affairs.

You can become incapable of managing your affairs through various means and they are not just for the elderly. Illnesses such as dementia or Alzheimer’s are often the main reason for needing the document but they can be needed after an accident, stroke or other illness not just limited to the elderly.

You can only make a Lasting Power of Attorney while you have full capacity. They may or may not ever be needed. You do not lose the ability to manage your own affairs; they are only used if necessary and will only be used with your permission or upon receipt of a report from a medical professional to say that you can no longer manage your affairs. If you were to become incapable of managing your affairs and you do not have a Lasting Power of Attorney in place, your family would have to go through the lengthy and costly procedure of obtaining a Deputyship Order.

There are two forms of Lasting Power of Attorney. One is for your property and financial affairs which enables you to appoint someone to look after your finances if you become incapable. The other is for your health and welfare under which you can appoint someone to make decisions about medical treatment, where you live etc.

If you wish to discuss making a Lasting Power of Attorney either for Property and Financial Affairs or Health and Welfare, please contact one of our private client team who would be very happy to assist you.

For further advice or assistance please contact our Private Client Department

Lifetime Individual Savings Accounts (LISAs) for First Time Residential Purchases

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We are often asked by our clients if we can assist them if they have a Lifetime Individual Savings Account ( a ‘LISA’) and whether they can use the funds held in a LISA for purchasing a property. The answer to whether we can assist is ‘yes’ but the answer to whether the funds can be used in a purchase transaction depend on a number of factors.

As a bit of background information, a LISA can be opened by anyone who is between 18 and 39 years of age. A person can contribute up to £4,000 a year into the LISA, until the person is 50 years of age. The government will add a 25% bonus (up to a maximum of £1,000 per year) to those savings. You can have stocks, shares, or cash in a LISA.

The funds held in a LISA can be withdrawn at anytime, however, the funds can only be withdrawn without incurring a 25% penalty in certain circumstances. These circumstances include a first time residential purchase where some additional conditions are met.

For a first time residential purchase, the funds in a LISA can be used without deduction where the funds are being put towards the purchase price, the purchase price of the property is no more than £450,000.00, the amount withdrawn is no greater than the purchase price of the property, you will live in the property as your primary residence, and the property is purchased with a mortgage (not a buy to let mortgage), and the first payment into the Lifetime ISA was made at least 12 months ago.

There are additional forms and declarations that need to be completed, both by you and by your solicitor, so it is wise to advise your solicitor that you have a LISA and intend to use the funds early in your transaction.

Please contact us if you require any further information regarding the above at [email protected]

Whitney Jacque, Solicitor

Lease Renewals and Other Business Renewals in the Current Market

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With most commercial leases containing upwards only rent review clauses, the renewal of the lease is often the only opportunity available to a tenant to reduce the rent.

Unlike rent review clauses which are almost inevitably drafted on up an “upwards only” basis, a tenant who has a right to claim a new lease at the end of its contractual term, has a right to claim that the lease on the same terms as the existing lease except as to rent, which is to be a market rent.

The current state of the commercial property market means that many tenants are securing renewals at significantly reduced rents. How much a reduction will depend on the date of the last review, the location of the property and of course the relative bargaining skills of the landlord’s and the tenant’s surveyors instructed on the review.

When approaching a lease renewal, landlords and tenants should seek the advice of both their solicitors and surveyors at the earliest opportunity.

The landlord should consider whether it is in his interest to trigger renewal procedures or to leave these in the hands of the tenant and similarly the tenant will need to consider whether it should trigger renewal procedures or just let the lease continue. This decision is often difficult for a landlord who may have to consider whether he wants the security of income offered by a long lease, even if renewal means he suffers a substantial reduction in income.

The tenant will need to consider whether it is in his interest to commit himself to the costly process of renewing his lease or, particularly if he only has short term requirement to allow the lease to continue, albeit at an inflated rent.

When considering these issues, a tenant can be comforted by knowing that he is not committed to taking a new lease by either the landlord instigating or the tenant instigating the renewal procedures. On the other hand a landlord needs to be aware that if the tenant, who has a right to a new lease under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954, requires such a new lease, then as long as that tenant meets all the statutory time limits he will obtain a new lease unless the landlord can prove one of the statute grounds of opposition.
If the landlord wishes to recover possession of premises and oppose the tenant’s claim to a new lease, the landlord should seek the early advice of his solicitor about the available grounds of opposition, and have the basis of his case prepared, before he triggers the renewal procedures.

At Adams Harrison we have had a considerable experience in advising both landlords and tenants on business lease renewals, both on a contested and an un-contested basis and if you require advice or guidance you should contact Rhodri Rees at Haverhill on [email protected] or Richard Booth at Saffron Walden on [email protected]

 

Inheritance Tax and The New Residential Allowance

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The Inheritance Tax Allowance is still currently £325,000.00 per person. However in April 2017 a new allowance was introduced called the Residential Nil Rate Band. This allowance is currently £125,000.00 per person reaching the maximum allowance of £175,000.00 by the tax year 2020/2021.

If an estate is left to a spouse or civil partner then there is no inheritance tax payable because of spouse exemption. Therefore the allowance can transfer to the surviving spouse’s estate. On the death of the surviving spouse/civil partner his or her estate will benefit from an allowance of £325,000.00 plus £175,000.00 (if the death is after 2020) plus the transferable nil rate band and the transferable residential nil rate band which were not previously used of the same amount. This will give a combined allowance of £1,000,000.00 before inheritance tax is payable.

There are certain criteria required to be eligible for the Residential Nil Rate Band Allowance and Tapering Relief for estates of a certain value

For more information please contact our private client department.

Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority Review Announced

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At the end of last year the Justice Minister announced a review of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) together with a full consultation on the reform proposals.

A CICA claim allows persons who have been physically or mentally injured because they were the victim of a violent crime in England, Scotland or Wales. Compensation can offer a public acknowledgement of harm suffered by victims of violent crime who have been unable to seek compensation by other means.

In 2017/18 CICA made decisions on over 40,000 applications and paid out approximately £154 million in compensation. The review will consider the scope of the scheme, eligibility rules, decision making processes and the value of awards. The reform proposals are due to be published in 2019 and updates will appear once these have been announced.

If you have suffered an injury that was not your fault then please contact our Personal Injury department to discuss your accident.

Contentious Probate; 25 Years Not Too Late To Bring A Claim.

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Chief Master Marsh has given judgment in the case of Bhusate v Patel & others permitting a widower to bring a claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 (“the Act”) 25 years and nine months after the deadline to do so.

Ordinarily a claim under the Act must be brought within six months from the Grant of Probate or Letter of Administration. However, the Act does state at section 4 that with permission of the court a claim can be brought out of time. Prior to this case permission had never been sought for pursuing a claim for anything like this period of 25 years.

It was very relevant to the application that the Claimant in this case could only speak basic and broken English, and could read very little, despite having lived in the UK for over 38 years. It is also relevant that as the family had been unable to agree matters in relation to the sale of the deceased’s property that by the time this matter was heard the property had increased substantially in value. Following Mr Bhusate’s death intestate (without a will) no one had properly administered the estate. It was successfully argued that it is open to a claimant to bring a claim out of time when there was no claim at an earlier date.

The Court was satisfied in this case that there were‘compelling reasons’ why it was right and proper that the court should exercise its discretion in her favour in allowing a claim significantly out of time.

It was relevant that if Mrs Bhusate had not been permitted to proceed with her claim she would have been left with no remedy at all and no benefit from her husband’s estate, and would effectively be left homeless.

Should you require advice about any claim you may have in relation to a deceased’s estate then please contact us for an appointment.

 

Jenny Carpenter
Partner
Contentious Probate Litigation Solicitor

Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA)

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A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) is a legal document which allows for nominated people (attorneys) to make decisions and act on your behalf. There are two types of LPA: Health & Welfare and Property & Financial Affairs. These have to be separate documents and cannot be amalgamated even if you choose to have the same people act in both.

If you do not have an LPA and later lose the capacity to make decisions for yourself your family would have to use the expensive route of applying for a Deputyship Order at the Court of Protection to take control of your finances.

A Health & Welfare LPA allows for your attorneys to make decisions about what medical treatment you receive, where you live, your daily routine, but most importantly decisions about life sustaining treatment. You can include preferences in the LPA to guide your attorneys.

A Property & Financial Affairs LPA appoints attorneys to handle your finances and property. You can chose to have this particular type of LPA come into effect as soon as it has been registered so that you and your appointed attorneys can work together to organize your finances while you still have mental capacity and then once you have lost mental capacity to hand over complete control.

You are able to choose whoever you wish to act as your attorney as long as you believe that should you lose mental capacity and become unable to make decisions alone that the person you chose will act according to your wishes and in your best interest. You can also appoint replacement attorneys so that should your first choice of attorney be unable to act they can take over.

You do need a Certificate Provider who certifies that you have the relevant mental capacity to make the LPA and that no one is forcing you to do so.

An LPA is an incredibly important document as it enables someone to ensure that your health and welfare and property and financial affairs will always be taken care of even if you yourself are unable to do so.

If you require advice in relation to creating an LPA, contact a member of Adams Harrison’s Private Client Department for expert and professional advice.