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Emergency Alert
On Sunday 23 April 2023, the government will be testing their new emergency alert systems and everybody will get an alert. The alarm will go off even if it is on silent with notifications disabled. That does not sound like much of a problem at first glance; people are always getting notifications on their mobile…
UK government announces stamp duty cut
On 23rd September the UK’s chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng announced a permanent cut to stamp duty on property purchases as part of his mini-budget. This change becomes effective immediately. The update raises the SDLT-free threshold from £125,000 to £250,000, and from £300,000 to £425,000 for first-time buyers. The move was made to help boost the UK’s…
Overseas Entities and property transactions in the UK
The Register of Overseas Entities under the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act 2022 commenced on 1 August 2022, but the changes to the Land Registration Act 2002 were delayed until 5 September 2022. This delay was implemented to allow those engaged in current transactions to comply with the new overseas entity registration requirements at…
No change in VAT rules for dilapidation payments – but be careful
HMRC has always treated dilapidation payments as compensation from a tenant to the landlord, for not returning the property in the condition it should be, according to the lease agreement being terminated. Importantly, these compensation payments were not subject to VAT. In September 2020, HMRC stated it was considering this long-held view, with a mind to combine…
New no-fault divorce rules could increase the time to end relationships
There is just under a month to go until the Government’s Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020 will come into force on 6 April 2022. It will finally end the need to apportion blame to one of the parties involved and is designed to reduce animosity through its new no-fault approach. Under the current rules,…
COVID, Cookies and Copy and Paste
On 5 January 2022, the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) issued its decision against the European Parliament (EP) in relation to the use of third-party cookies operated by US companies and the resulting transfer of data to the US. The decision highlights the need for businesses to conduct thorough due diligence, and, where necessary, an…
‘A Very British Scandal’: How can you avoid a bitter divorce battle?
In our previous article we looked at the background to the explosive 1963 divorce case fought between the Duke and Duchess of Argyll, recently bought back to the fore by the BBC mini-series ‘A Very British Scandal’. In this, our second blog on the matter, we delve a little deeper into the battle itself. The tactics,…
What does Margaret, Duchess of Argyll’s story teach us about British divorce? A legal review of ‘A Very British Scandal’
Whilst the now-infamous Argyll V Argyll divorce case took place nearly 60 years ago, the issues that arose from the 1963 court battle are still relevant by modern-day standard, which is exactly why the historical matter recently became the subject of a juicy, three-part BBC drama adaptation entitled ‘A Very British Scandal’. But what made this…
An early Christmas present for Princess Haya
Eastenders Tiffany Butcher signs divorce papers following her split from Keegan Baker
For those of us who enjoy soap operas (myself included), you will have recently witnessed Tiffany’s departure from Eastenders following her separation from her husband Keegan, earlier this week. Fans were left reeling as Tiffany’s brother Liam, removed Tiffany’s letter to Keegan (professing her love for him) which accompanied her signed divorce papers asking him…