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New Statutory Legacy Rules from July 2023 When someone dies who has not made a valid will their estate is dealt with in accordance with the Law of Intestacy. These rules set out how estates are to be distributed and ranks various parties into an order for inheriting from an estate. The current law sees that spouses and civil partners are the first to inherit from a deceased’s estate, where applicable, followed by any children, parents, siblings, and so on. In July 2023 the Statutory Legacy sum for spouses and civil partners was increased from £270,000 to £322,000. This w...

Since October 2007 Enduring Powers of Attorney have been replaced by Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPAS).  However, providing you as the Donor (the person making the Enduring Power of Attorney or LPA) has made and signed a valid Enduring Power of Attorney before this date your Enduring Power of Attorney can still be used. It is not possible to amend your Enduring Power of Attorney once it has been executed and therefore if there are changes to be made, you would need to revoke your Enduring Power of Attorney and make a new LPA. I am often asked whether it is necessary to replace an Endu...

Mortgagee protection clauses – what’s the big fuss   In a leasehold property many of you will know that you do not own the land, and sometimes building, that your property sits within. Instead this is owned by a freeholder, commonly called your landlord. In order to maintain the exterior of your property and carry out necessary services to any communal areas and grounds the Landlord collects a service charge from you. The landlord also, in most situations, collects a ground rent from you which is a fee paid to the landlord simply by virtue of owning a property on their la...

Since 1 April 2018 there has been a minimum energy efficiency standard (MEES) of EPC E for private rented properties, including commercial, or mixed-use properties. This means that it is unlawful for landlords to grant a new tenancy of commercial property with an EPC rating of ‘F’ or ‘G’ (the two lowest grades of energy efficiency). This applies to both new leases and renewals (unless an exemption applies and the landlord has registered that exemption).From 1 April 2023, this will be extended to include existing leases making it unlawful for a landlord to c...