A family investment company (FIC) is a long-term tax efficient vehicle that enables an individual to pass assets out of their estate for inheritance tax (IHT) purposes while retaining control and protecting them.

New tax rules apply to all furnished holiday cottages and are designed to encourage more long-term lets to help counter the shortage of suitable rental properties. Even those holiday lets that would not be suitable for long term rent, such as many of those on farms, will be caught by the new rules.

Dementia, brain injuries and mental health problems can make managing money a struggle. An attorney or a deputy with authority to manage the property and money of someone who has lost capacity (“P”) can make various decisions including making gifts on P’s behalf.

A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) can be a useful tool when people become incapable of running their own financial affairs. An LPA allows someone, of the donor’s choice, to step in and take control of the donor’s finances.

In Webb Resolutions Ltd v Waller Needham & Green, the High Court shows it’s willingness to depart from the normal costs rules where a mortgage lender had failed to comply with its disclosure obligations under the Professional Negligence Pre-Action Protocol, and how this can prove to be an expensive mistake for a claimant.

On 5 July 2017, the Supreme Court handed down its judgement in the case of RFC 2012 Plc (in liquidation) (formerly The Rangers Football Club Plc) v Advocate General for Scotland often referred to as ‘the Rangers big tax case’.

This ruling is definitive, as HMRC has no further route for appeal. It will be received with relief by charities, homes and other operators that use buildings for a relevant residential or charitable purpose.

The period following the death of a family member is understandably emotional and tensions can be stoked by perceptions of unfair treatment even when the instructions set out in a will are being followed to the letter.

The Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 ("the Act") received Royal Assent on 1 May 2012. Certain sections of the Act came into force on 1 October 2012.

HMRC explicitly singled out SDLT tax avoidance schemes in 2010 when it published its first Spotlight on SDLT avoidance, followed shortly thereafter by advice from the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) that lawyers should not actively promote these schemes.