Kerseys Newsletter: June 2021

---

COHABITATION – Unmarried Couples and the Law

Cohabitation Agreements, Wills and Declarations of Trust may seem unnecessary when the relationship is good but there existence can save a lot of acrimony, uncertainty and significant legal costs should the relationship turn bad.

With more and more people choosing to live together rather than marrying, it is a good time to review this area of law.

It remains a myth that two people living together are “common-law husband and wife” and it is also a myth that you somehow acquire an interest in the other person’s property or assets after you have lived together for six months.

Cohabiting couples remain the least protected section of society, but there are things you can do such as consider.

Click here to read more.

Digital Assets and Social Media – What happens when I die?

We are currently living in a digital age with many of us active online both financially and with social media accounts.

Social media forms a part of our day to day life with many of us uploading photos and connecting with family and friends online.

Digitally our financial estates are slowly being shifted to many online platforms and we are moving away from the days where people would have savings accounts with bank and building societies and hold physical passbooks.

There are a lot more online banks and financial institutions out there and we now need to shift our thinking when it comes to our estate to incorporate this digital element to include digital assets. In general digital assets is a broad term and can be separated into 3 categories:-

1. Financial worth
2. Sentimental value
3. Digital assets which divulge personal information (for example a Facebook account which gives name, date of birth, and address details.)

Click here to read more.

Employment Law Updates

Contact us now to speak with one of our legal experts.

• Are you a Contractor or Self Employed?
• Be aware of IR35 and how it affects you – to learn more click here.

Post COVID – are you reviewing your employment contracts? – See our Flexible Working Blog post here.

What is a Settlement Agreement?

Watch our video here.

Residential Repossession End Date

After extending emergency restrictions on residential repossessions several times over the last year or so the government has just made an announcement confirming the plan for them to end.

• Notice periods currently 6 months will reduce to 4 months from 1 June and, if things proceed smoothly on the public health front, to pre-pandemic limits from 1 October.
• Bailiff-enforced evictions will re-commence from 1 June 2021 (currently they are only enforced in exceptional circumstances)

This means that, if things go well, residential repossessions should be back to “normal” from October 2021.

However, as a side note, the government has also confirmed that it will be producing a white paper on changes to the residential private rental section to include “proposals for the abolition of Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions to give tenants greater security and a new ‘lifetime deposit’ to ease the burden when moving house”.

Fresh Start New Beginnings

Throughout the year Kerseys staff raised monies for Fresh Start New Beginnings and we are delighted to be able to make a donation of £686.00 to the charity.

Moving Home – You can still save money on Stamp Duty until September 2021.

As you will be aware there has been a stamp duty holiday on residential property purchases since 8 July 2020.  This is due to come to an end on 30th June 2021.

However, the holiday is not over yet.

The government are to reduce this stamp duty holiday to £250,000. This means that you may not have to pay stamp duty if you are buying for £250,000 or less, even if you are purchasing for more that £250,000 you could still see a discount in the stamp duty payable.

Remember – if you are a First Time Buyer then the stamp duty relief for residential purchases under £300,000 is to continue even after 30th September. Click here to download our guides to moving home.

To find out how much stamp duty you will have to pay you can visit the governments Stamp duty calculator at www.tax.service.gov.uk/calculate-stamp-duty-land-tax

We are only a click or a call away

Contact Us