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’.

Following increasingly desperate calls, the government announced a number of measures to help support charities and not-for-profits during the COVID-19 crisis on 8th April 2020. It was acknowledged by ministers that the work the Third Sector does is vital during this time, and to lose services which support those most in need would place further strain on the NHS and other vital systems.

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.

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.

In recognition of the millions of workers not earning enough to support a normal standard of living, in his budget of July 2015 Chancellor George Osborne announced a new ‘National Living Wage’ for all workers in the UK over the age of 25.