Howells Solicitors has been named has been named UK Family Law Firm of the Year by Corporate LiveWire in its 2014 Global Awards .
Presented annually, the awards honour the businesses, finance firms and professionals that stand out as leaders in their respective fields and show best practice and innovation in their work.
In presiding over the awards, the judges assessed how the legal professionals in Howells’ family law department managed complex cases over the last 12 months. These included several multi-million pound financial proceedings involving overseas properties and large company valuations as well as children law matters.
Richard Scott, Partner in Howells’s Family Law department, said: "We are delighted to be named as UK Family Law Firm of the Year by Corporate LiveWire. “This is the first time a Welsh law firm has been awarded this accolade and it recognises the skills and expertise of our team in comparison with law firms across the UK.” To speak to award-winning solicitors at Howells about any aspect of family law, speak to us today. Simply call 02920 404014 or email info@howellslegal.com .
by Tristan Lewis
This April, as well as all the usual changes to statutory caps within employment law, has also brought along the introduction of Early Conciliation, in an attempt to further reduce the amount of claims being issued within the Employment Tribunal.
The scheme is handled by ACAS (the Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service) and became mandatory from 6th May 2014. What is early conciliation? This means that anybody looking to issue a claim through an Employment Tribunal will firstly have to go through early conciliation to see whether there is any possibility of reaching a settlement between the parties.
The short time limit to issue any employment claims within three months shall be put "on hold" for an additional month from when the individual first contacts ACAS. This also can be extended by a further 14 days.
More...
Inheritance tax, or the ‘death tax’ as it is colloquially known, is one of the most contentious taxes in the UK. It’s also one of the least understood. Many people neglect to think about how their estate will be taxed when they’re gone, but failing to plan ahead with regards to inheritance tax can cause a significant headache for those that are left behind. Who Pays Inheritance Tax? Happily for thousands of pensioners, inheritance tax is only payable if your estate is worth more than £325,000. However, your estate will have to pay a hefty 40% on anything above that threshold. So, if you leave a total estate worth £400,000, your beneficiaries could potentially lose £30,000 to the tax office. How Can You Limit Inheritance Tax? If you have an estate worth more than £325,000, there are a number of legal ways to limit your estate’s inheritance bill and help maximise your intended heirs’ inheritance. Get Married More...
We’re delighted to have strengthened the conveyancing team in our Newport office with the appointment of experienced solicitor Sarah Beynon-Williams.
Sarah has joined our expanding Newport conveyancing team to work with existing clients and manage the new contracts we’ve recently won with local and national panels.
Moving to Howells from another legal practice in South Wales, Sarah has previously managed busy departments and has extensive conveyancing experience.
Sarah is looking forward to her new role. She said: “In my previous position, I was responsible for the growth and development of two departments within the practice.More...
There are more unmarried couples living together in the UK than ever before. 2012 figures from the ONS show that 5.9m people are currently cohabiting in the UK – more than twice as many as in 1996 and 2 million more than ten years previous. ‘Common law’ husbands and wives aren’t recognised by the legal system With so many couples living together without getting married, perceived wisdom is that they become ‘common law’ husband and wife, and therefore enjoy the same rights as a married couple. A public survey in 2008 confirmed this: over half (51%) of those surveyed thought that this was the case. However this is a myth. Unless they’ve signed a legal cohabitation agreement, common law couples won’t share the same rights as married couples on a number of issues, including:
• Inheritance – the law doesn’t automatically allow bereaved common law partners to inherit from each other. • Inheritance tax – provisions for increasing the inheritance tax threshold are in place for married couples, but not for a ‘common law husband and wife’. • Co-owning assets – if, for instance, property is paid into by both common law partners but only in the name of one, the other partner may struggle to recover the assets that they would be entitled to in a marriage.
What is a cohabitation agreement? More...