Hand Morgan & Owen Employment Bulletin – Spring 2023 INCREASE IN TRIBUNAL LIMITS In accordance with The Employment Rights (Increase of Limits) Order 2023, there will be the following increases to the limits of compensation in Employment Tribunal claims: Compensatory Award: Increasing from £93,878 to £105,707 A week’s pay for the purpose of calculating the […]
Hand Morgan & Owen Employment Bulletin – AUTUMN 2022 EUROPEAN UNION DERIVED EMPLOYMENT LAW The Government has published a Bill, the retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill 2022 which could lead to the abolition of some or all of law retained from the European Union. This would cover derived legislation that has continued […]
New Head of Residential Conveyancing, Rugeley office The Partners are delighted to announce the appointment of a Tracy Barnett who will head up Residential Conveyancing services at our Rugeley office. Tracy is an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives with considerable experience of residential property matters having worked in Staffordshire, West Midlands and […]
NEW TRAINEE SOLICITORS We are proud to announce that we have now recruited three new Trainee Solicitors. Previous Trainees Olivia Lyons and Katie Riley qualified as Solicitors this year, and we now welcome Olivia Smith, Mike McKeever and Naimh Rudge to our Stafford office (pictured above). Olivia Lyons-Hughes Katie Riley Olivia Smith Mike McKeever Naimh […]
Hand Morgan & Owen Employment Bulletin – Spring 2022 NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE RATES From 1 April 2022 these increase as follows: For workers aged 25 or over from £8.91 to £9.50 per hour For workers aged 21 to 24 from £8.36 to £9.18 per hour For workers aged 18 – 20 from £6.56 to £6.83 […]
Estate administration is easy, isn’t it? If you find yourself needing to administer the estate of a loved one (usually because the person who has died has named you as an executor in their will), a question which often arises is “Do I really need a solicitor – can’t I do this myself?” Taking a […]
Wills, Powers of Attorney and End of Life decisions Coronavirus: should you make an advance care plan? It is not easy conversation to have, but it is never too soon to discuss End of Life matters with your loved ones (see above article) Members of the Private Client team are on hand to give you […]
HOW TO PROTECT YOUR ONLINE ASSETS WHAT IS AN ONLINE ASSET? Online assets are anything that you may use, on the internet, that can involve money or data that belongs to you. For example, your online banking accounts, Tesco online shopping account, Paypal and even your Facebook profile and its contents. Not all online assets […]
British Sign Language communicator The Partners are pleased to congratulate Associate Solicitor Jennifer Woodyard who has recently passed the British Sign Language Level 1 examination. She completed a 30 week course in June 2019 and will be able to communicate with and make any deaf or hard of hearing clients very welcome to the firm.
Family homes become legal battlefield Parents who lend to their children to help them to buy a home can find it difficult to get their money back. In situations where a parent claims that money was made available as a loan, rather than a gift, and the child believes otherwise, the onus is on the parent […]
If you’re thinking of an online divorce petition…….. The sealed application sent out by the court is a summary version, about two pages long – significantly shorter than its paper counterpart, which can be at least 14 pages long. As a result, it is not immediately obvious that this two-page summary is the formal petition. […]
Hand Morgan & Owen Employment Bulletin – Spring 2019 VENTO GUIDELINES The Vento Guidelines deal with the compensation payable for injury to feelings in a discrimination claim. They are used to determine a level of compensation for the distress or anxiety that a worker or employee may have suffered as a result of discrimination. They […]
Obituary: Paul Donald Stewart Slater (1959 – 2019) It is with immense sadness that the partners of Hand Morgan & Owen solicitors announce the death on 22 February 2019 of Paul Donald Stewart Slater, aged 59, after a battle with cancer. Paul’s father, George, was also a solicitor, the senior partner of a law firm […]
Protect your property from fraud Property Alert is a free property monitoring service that can be used to check whether a registered property could be at risk of fraud. An individual can sign up to the service to receive email alerts when certain activity occurs on their monitored properties. You can also call the Property […]
Hand Morgan & Owen Employment Bulletin – December 2018 STATUS For December’s Employment Bulletin by Hand Morgan & Owen we concentrate on what status an individual has when doing work for a business, and why this is important. If as a matter of law an individual is an Employee then he/she is entitled to the […]
Hand Morgan & Owen Employment Bulletin – October 2018 EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNAL STATISTICS The Ministry of Justice has published statistics for the Employment Tribunal for the period April to June 2018. The following figures give a clear indication of the impact of the abolition of the Tribunal fee regime in July 2017; The number of […]
ONLINE ASSETS – considerations when making a Will Technology and social practices have changed massively in the past 25 years, and so has the law.When thinking about your Will, all of these factors should be taken into consideration. Most people have a digital aspect to their life, whether it is social media profiles, online banking […]
Bank of Mum and Dad The ‘Bank of Mum and Dad’ is now one of the top 10 mortgage lenders. Unsurprisingly, many young people look to family to enable them to realise their otherwise distant dream of becoming a homeowner. However, it is not only first-time buyers who are relying on handouts from family. A […]
Collapse of Universal Wealth Preservation As highlighted by the BBC documentary the above Will and Trusts writing firm has gone into administration leaving many concerned as to their assets and protection put in place. We can help regain control of Trusts and with Wills and Powers of Attorney drafted by Universal Wealth and its subsidiary […]
HOW TO PROTECT YOUR ONLINE ASSETS WHAT IS AN ONLINE ASSET? Online assets are anything that you may use, on the internet, that can involve money or data that belongs to you. For example, your online banking accounts, Tesco online shopping account, Paypal and even your Facebook profile and its contents. Not all online assets […]
September Congratulations! We would like to congratulate Abigail Groom (right) on her admission to the Solicitor’s Roll and Lucy O’Connor (left) on her training contract with the firm, seen above with our Managing Partner, Patrick Farrington.
Civil partnership law incompatible with European Convention on Human Rights, concludes Supreme Court R (on the application of Stenfeld and Keidan) v Secretary of State for International Development (in substitution for the Home Secretary and the Education Secretary)[2018] UKSC 32 Rebecca Steinfeld and Charles Keidan have won their appeal to the Supreme Court which has […]
Hand Morgan & Owen Employment Bulletin – March 2018 TIME LIMITS STAND STILL DURING DISCIPLINARY PROCESS Time limits apply to the bringing of claims under employment legislation. There are situations when for the calculation of a time limit time will not run. One such situation is where an employee intends to bring a claim […]
Enduring and Lasting Power of Attorney Are you entitled to a refund? The Ministry of Justice has now launched the refund scheme for powers of attorney registered between 1st April 2013 and 31st March 2017. Donors and attorneys can make the application through the online process and court appointed deputies or executors need to contact […]
HELP TO BUY ISA BONUS SCHEME This bonus scheme was introduced at the end of 2017 as a way to assist first time buyers who are buying a property with a mortgage, and to encourage people to save for their first home. Individuals need to open a dedicated ISA account with a bank or building […]
“BANK OF MUM AND DAD”-PROPERTY The ‘Bank of Mum and Dad’ is now one of the top 10 mortgage lenders. A gift or a loan? At the outset of your purchase, we will ask you how the purchase is being funded. If your parents are funding the deposit (or part of it), we will be […]
Christmas Tree Festival Hand Morgan & Owen were delighted to support St Mary’s Christmas Tree Festival once again 2017. This year’s tree had an “office window” theme, with silhouettes of different members of the firm hard at work! It also included a replica of our distinctive green front door and various decorations created from letterheaded paper. […]
Changing lives with every slice On Friday 29th September, HMO staff took part in the ‘World’s Biggest Coffee Morning’ in support of the Macmillan Cancer Support charity. The grand total raised amounted to £155.62! Pictured above are our wonderful bakers along with their fabulous bakes! Left to Right; Sara-Jane Newell, Kayleigh Shakespeare, Jayne Thaker, Tyler […]
Hand Morgan & Owen Employment Bulletin – September 2017 TRIBUNAL FEES At the end of July a landmark case in the Supreme Court ruled that the fee regime for Employment Tribunal claims was unlawful leaving the Government having to refund £32,000,000 worth of fees paid since the regime was implemented in 2013. The controversial regime […]
Best Foot Forward During the course 2017, two members of staff at Hand Morgan & Owen have taken part in the Macmillan Mighty Hike series to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support. In July, Kristy Lomas walked 23.5 miles along the Jurassic Coast in a time of 11 hours 19 minutes, and this month Jennifer […]
Cupcake Day! On Monday 19th June, the staff at HMO took part in ‘Cupcake Day’ in support of the Alzheimer’s Society. From Salted Caramel and Pecan to Strawberry Cheesecake, our fabulous bakers did very well to produce such a wonderful variety of cakes for the occasion and in doing so raised a fantastic £61.00 for […]
HMO Quarterly Bulletin – May 2017 Child Care Assistance On 28 April 2017 the Government’s new childcare scheme began potentially reducing child care costs for working families by up to £2000 per child per year. Employers may wish to point these workers to the Childcare Choice Website and its “Childcare Calculator” to check whether they […]
STOP PRESS – 21 April 2017 Probate Court fee increase scrapped The proposed plan to increase Probate Court fees on 1 May 2017 (with the introduction of a banded system, based on the net value of the estate at the date of death) has been cancelled. This means that the flat-rate fee of £155 for […]
Wife Refused a Divorce The recent case of Owens v Owens [2017] EWCA Civ 182 made the headlines as the wife was refused a divorce. The parties had been married for 37 years and the wife had filed a petition based on the husband’s unreasonable behaviour. The husband did not want a divorce and defended […]
Flipping fun at the Pancake Race 2017! On February 28th, we saw HMO’s finest pancake flippers take part in the annual Pancake race in the Market Square. The event, held annually by the Borough Council, is hosted by the Mayor and attracts a large audience all watching to see who reigns victorious. HMO’s ‘Flipping Lawyers’ […]
Probate fees to increase significantly in May 2017 The Government has announced its intention to proceed with plans to increase probate fees and has confirmed that from May 2017, the fees structure will change to a banded system. This is despite an overwhelming rejection of the proposals by law firms, the Law Society and groups […]
Government has no plans for “no-fault” divorce The Government has confirmed to the House of Lords that it has no plans to reform divorce law although it is considering further reforms to the family justice system. Asked by Lord Pendry whether the government has any plans to review the fault-based divorce system, Lord Keen of […]
Hand Morgan & Owen Employment Bulletin – January 2017 AGE LIMITS FOR RECRUITMENT An interesting Spanish case recently dealt with the issue of whether a maximum age of 35 years to be recruited to the Police Force was compatible with the Equal Treatment Framework Directive (a general framework for EU Members to establish equal […]
A Legal Christmas Tree! Hand Morgan & Owen were pleased to support St Mary’s Christmas Tree Festival, which took place from 30th November-4th December. Our tree incorporated a number of different and inventive legally-themed decorations, including crackers made from mock Deeds and Conveyances, festive inkwells, sparkling law books and the scales of justice attached to […]
Statistics Show Average Age for Separating Couples Is Rising The latest divorce statistics show that the average age of divorcees is continuing to rise with 40-49 the most common age group separating. The office of national statistics figures show that there were 111,169 divorces in 2014, around a 3% decrease compared with the previous year […]
Hand Morgan & Owen Employment Bulletin – October 2016 EMPLOYING YOUNGER WORKERS ACAS has produced an excellent publication for those who are looking to employ under 18s. Some headline points include; • Young workers should not normally work at night – there are some exceptions • Young workers should not work more than 8 hours a […]
What behaviour amounts to harassment? The breakdown of any relationship is difficult and it is not uncommon for a party to feel harassed or threatened by their former partner. In some cases it is appropriate for an order to be sought preventing further harassment or threats or indeed physical abuse. This is known as a […]
HMO Employment Bulletin – June 2016 THE NATIONAL LIVING WAGE From 1 April 2016 the National Living Wage came in to effect. In reality this is not a great deal more than an adjustment of existing provisions for the National Minimum Wage. From the 1 April there will be five Minimum Wage rates; • […]
HMO Quarterly Employment Bulletin – March 2016 Holiday Pay There are now two time limitations upon a worker bringing a claim for a short payment of holiday pay. The first limits the shortfall to that which has occurred for up to a two year period. The second limitation in time is that it is […]
Adverse Possession of Land The law to be applied to squatters rights depends upon the age of the squatters claim. A squatter has to prove a period of possession. If the period expires before the 13 October 2003 that period will be 12 years. Disputes as to whether or not adverse possession has been obtained […]
No Fault Divorce Bill to receive second reading in January 2016 The No Fault Divorce Bill is to receive a second reading on 22nd January 2016. At present, under the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 (MCA), irretrievable breakdown is the sole ground for a divorce and the following 5 facts constitute reasons for irretrievable breakdown: The […]
Support for St Mary’s Church Christmas Tree Festival Hand Morgan & Owen was pleased to support one of Stafford’s festive events by sponsoring a tree to be decorated by Katharine House Hospice. The four day festival was a huge success, attracting many people and supporting local businesses.
Employment Bulletin Winter 2015 As the Christmas period beckons the Employment Team at Hand Morgan & Owen continue their tradition of putting a dampener on the festive period by warning of the risks and pitfalls of Christmas activities. Decorations These raise a number of health and safety issues that employers should be careful of. Lights […]
New Test on Private Parking Fines Fish fryer, Barry Beavis, challenged a fine levied by the owners of a private car park when he overstayed his welcome by 1 hour. The penalty was £85 which he declined to pay. Remarkably for such a small amount, the case ended up in the Supreme Court. Although the […]
Residential Property Possession: Changes to the Section 21 Regime The writer has long been an advocate of the Section 21 route for possession of rented residential property for his Landlord clients. The Section 21 route involves possession on the grounds of expiry of the original term of a tenancy or, in the case of a […]