Immigration law proposals

Ed Miliband has promised to generate an immigration costs creating “clear, reliable and concrete changes” within months, if Labour wins next year’s basic election.

The party leader likewise said there would be an end to “false promises” on the subject if he ended up being head of state.

Mr Miliband pledged action on border checks, exploitation and opportunities available to UK employees.

David Cameron has actually promised “more action” to suppress migration.

Official figures published in August revealed UK net migration – the difference in between those entering and leaving – enhanced by more than 38 % to 243,000 in 2013-14. EU residents accounted for two-thirds of the growth.

Mr Cameron has said his aim of lowering the figure to below 100,000 is still attainable.

In current days, it has actually been reported that the coalition could look for an “emergency brake” to stop EU migration after it reached a specific level or to restrict the variety of National Insurance numbers provided to new arrivals from the EU. Mr Cameron is attending an EU summit in Brussels on Thursday and Friday.
‘Standards’.

Mr Miliband was speaking on a check out to Rochester and Strood, Kent, where a by-election is taking place next month following the defection of MP Mark Reckless from the Conservatives to UKIP.

Its predecessor seat, Medway, was held by Labour from 1997 to 2010, when the brand-new constituency was developed.

However a survey by ComRes recommends Mr Reckless is on course to win in Rochester and Strood, putting him on 43 %. It positions the Conservatives on 30 %, Labour on 21 % and the Liberal Democrats and Green Party both on 3 %.

In his speech Mr Miliband repeated Labour’s guarantee to count everyones going in and from the UK and make it a criminal offence when employment recruiter recruit exclusively from abroad.

He added that he would improve and expand apprenticeships and make sure that “public sector workers in public-facing roles have minimum requirements of English”.

These measures would be consisted of in an Immigration Reform Bill, to be detailed in more information in the first Queen’s Speech after a Labour triumph next May, he stated.

Mr Miliband also guaranteed to “seek change in Europe”, including:.

Longer transitional controls on migration when new countries sign up with the EU.
Stopping youngster advantage and youngster tax credits being paid to children living abroad.
Doubling the period of home before people would be entitled to advantages.

However he added: “False promises on immigration just make people more negative about politics. I won’t belong to that. I will not make guarantees I cannot keep.”.

Mr Miliband also stated: “I will certainly never suggest a policy or a course of action which would damage our nation. (UKIP leader) Nigel Farage wants to leave the European Union on which 3 million British jobs and countless companies in our country depend.

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Matrimonial Funds – Women Claims

A leading household law specialist has said a Court of Appeal fight brought by the former spouse of a millionaire accountant, could lead to even more females fighting over the money of their ex-husbands.

It as been stated that the case of Julia Hammans, who is battling her ex Nicholas Hammans is being viewed with great interest by household legal representatives throughout the nation.

When the couple married in the early 1980s Mrs Hammans, then a financial director of a department store made a comparable wage to her then partner.

Nevertheless, in the years whilst she gave up work to raise a family, her other half’s profession took control of and he now earns almost £1m a year, whilst her income is less than a tenth of his and now she says she is being required to offer the household home, which she has actually resided in since they split around 10 years ago.
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In her legal challenge, she declares the settlement was an unfair divide of the family wealth.

Earlier this year a judge purchased she offer her £1.75 m six-bedroom the home of assist part fund her future after she had actually defended another £2.6 m from her ex-husband and was granted simply £400,000.

“There does seem a concern in this case regarding whether the award need to consist of a total up to “compensate” the wife for lost career chances as the lowered award will plainly impact her future standard of living. The concern for the Court of Appeal is whether this is fair, Simon Leach commented.

“It’s typically the way that the female suffers financially, but regardless of how the judges requirement, this topic is a complicated one, as each individual circumstance is various. However, it raises a debate about mums whose careers have suffered in order to bring up a family,” he included.

“The department of financial resources following divorce is an irritable issue, and I’m sure we will be hearing even more about this.

The judges will offer their ruling at a future date not yet decided.
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Protecting step-family members

Exactly what the law can do to help to protect step-family members.

With increasing numbers of increasingly complex household structures, attorney Ian Taylor has guidance on how the law can assist secure children and parents who find themselves in step families

In the United States, they hold a yearly National Step Family Day. It intends to celebrate step-families, identify that combined families are an ever enhancing part of our society, as well as flag up that newly-formed step-families often need support.

In the UK, this may all feel a bit cheesy– however possibly our buddies in America have a point. One in 3 people in the UK are now part of a step-family in some form, be that as a step-parent, step-child, step-sibling or step-grandparent. Nevertheless, research has actually found that it can take a minimum of 4 years for a step-parent to construct a relationship with their step-child.

With increasing varieties of increasingly complicated household structures, how can the law assistance to keep parents and children protected?

Step-parents frequently play an integral parenting duty, providing psychological and physical care to their step- kids– but they regularly have no legal rights or duties.

According to household charity One Plus One, step-families are among the fastest growing types of household in the UK. In 2009, nearly 20 % of marriages involved the remarriage of one partners and 16 % involved the remarriage of both partners.

However this is simply the tip of the iceberg. The real number of step-families in the UK is much higher because couples are more likely to cohabit than be married. In 2001, 28 % of all cohabiting couples with children were step-families, compared to 8 % of married couples with children. We can just assume these figures continue to grow.

Whilst society has actually accepted couples co-habiting, the law sees things rather in a different way in regard of step-families. Where relationships break down in between a parent and step-parent, the step-parent has very little rights of access to the step-child, even if that step-parent has actually played a lead role in raising that youngster.

Step-parents wanting to adopt their step-children appears to be ending up being a trend, with high profile cases such as TV presenter Ulrika Jonsson’s little girl Bo being adopted by her step-father, Brian Monet.

Nevertheless, family courts do not generally favour this because adoption ends all parental responsibility by the natural parent. It’s only when a kid is able to make reasoned choices by themselves, aged 12 or older, and wishes to be embraced.

A Step Family

In Ulrika’s words, Bo’s step-father had actually “really earned the right to be her dad”, but this procedure still involved the basic adoption procedures including check outs from social services, witness statements and authorization from Bo’s biological father.

It’s reasonable that some families wish to seal their relationships through law, to provide security for all include. Natural parents can enter into adult duty contracts with their partner, however this is only if they are wed. This does not get rid of natural parents from the equation, but indicates the step-parent can be involved with raising that youngster and all the linked choices.

Where couples are co-habiting. but not wed, achieving adult responsibility for the step-parent is harder.

Relationship charity Relate explains that these complex family structures suggest that step-parents, in whatever guise, need to get brand-new skills. They advise agreeing standards on the best ways to treat the kids, in particular it’s crucial to settle on discipline, privacy (for everybody) and arrangements with other moms and dads.

It’s possible to create step-parenting strategies, just like parenting plans. These are files, frequently made use of by separating moms and dads, to concur practical problems of parenting. They could be helpful for households where natural parents are separated, and where step-parents play an active duty in raising the children.

These documents put the very best interests of the kids first, and state a shared dedication by all parents to their children and their future. They can cover communication, living arrangements, cash, education and health care and emotional well-being– each one of which can become sticky subjects when natural parents are not together.

This might seem rather official, naturally. Nevertheless, I have actually seen first hand, as a deputy district judge in family courts, how uncomfortable and difficult communication can be among apart moms and dads. Parenting plans and step-parenting strategies can help everybody get on the exact same page and do their finest by the kids impacted by changing household patterns.

Whilst the scenarios that cause a step-family forming are typically agonizing, the family unit it produces amongst parent, step-parent and children can be extremely strong and nurturing for the kids involved. My advice is to always seek the very best legal advice to safeguard both parents and youngsters in any family structure.

Find out more at http://www.westernmorningnews.co.uk/law-help-protect-step-family-members/story-23061061-detail/story.html#D0GXepBWSpOrouR5.99

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Wills and Contentious Probate: Have you made a Will?

Tanya Vasileva looked after her friend, Gertrude Stanley, in the years before her death at the age of 89.

Mrs Stanley, who had fled to London from the Nazis on the eve of the Second World War, believed she had no living relatives after her sister died in a concentration camp.

She promised her flat to Miss Vasileva in return for her years of care. After the widow’s death, in December 2009, she moved in.

But Mrs Stanley had not made a will, and a legal wrangle ensued after Peter Birchwood, a professional genealogist who has appeared on BBC series Heir Hunters, traced two distant cousins of Mrs Stanley.

Heir hunter: Peter Birchwood

Mr Birchwood, acting on behalf of Mrs Stanley’s estate, argued Miss Vasileva was a “trespasser” who should be ousted from the property and made to pay £50,000 for her years of rent-free occupation. But a judge ruled Mrs Stanley had promised the flat to her carer and said Miss Vasileva had “done her best” to look after the widow.

Judge Mark Raeside QC awarded Miss Vasileva £20,000 from the estate and dismissed Mr Birchwood’s financial claim against her. But he also estimated the value of the care provided by Miss Vasileva to be only £70,000, compared with the £160,000 value of the flat, and said she would have to leave by December so it could go back to the estate.

The High Court heard how Mrs Stanley fled Vienna and arrived in London in May 1939, when she was 19. She and her husband, Lawrence, lived together in their Belsize Park flat for 48 years, until his death in 1994. They did not have any children.

Despite her fortune, most of which was discovered in bank accounts and shares after her death, the widow lived a frugal existence and worried she would run out of money, the court heard. In 2002, the court heard, Mrs Stanley met Miss Vasileva at the supermarket where the younger woman worked. Miss Vasileva, who had moved to the UK from Bulgaria the year before, said they struck up a friendship after she delivered Mrs Stanley’s shopping.

After a stay in hospital in May 2005, Mrs Stanley phoned Miss Vasileva and asked if she could come to collect her. She did not want any professional carers and asked Miss Vasileva if she would help her stay in her own flat.

It was then that Mrs Stanley first said she wanted her friend to have her flat after she died — a promise she repeated many more times, the court heard.

Miss Vasileva looked after Mrs Stanley — including cooking, cleaning and helping her bathe — until she went into a care home in April 2009.

After the case Miss Vasileva said: “We weren’t just friends, we were more like grandmother and granddaughter, we were very close. She will always be in my heart.”

Original reporting by the London Evening Standard on the 8/7/14.

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Relationships, Economic downturn and Recuperation

Relationships, Economic Downturn and Recuperation

The function of relationships in creating social recuperation.

A study has been reported by relate – which is briefly dpresented here.

Recessions and recuperations are features of the economic cycle. Right here we look at the implications of future recessions and recoveries for our relationships, and vice versa. Economic crises and recuperations tend to be primarily understood in slim, financial terms. Yet economic downturns are also social phenomena which influence individuals’s lives in various methods– including their couple, household and social relationships. We refer to this social impact of economic downturn as ‘social economic crisis’. Social economic downturn can be triggered by financial recession, however can also exacerbate and lengthen it, hindering recuperation. In this research report, we analyze the ‘social recession’ in terms of the social repercussions economic recession can have. Specifically, we concentrate on the sustained decline in the quality and stability of couple, family and social relationships.

We took a look at individuals’s experiences throughout the last economic downturn which began in 2008. In order to figure out the extent to which individuals’s experiences of recession corresponded to the quality and strength of their relationships, we examined information from the Understanding Society longitudinal research, which includes 40,000 homes throughout the UK, over the economic crisis duration. We categorised individuals according to their experiences of recession utilizing seven indications, organizing people with similar experiences, and analyzed their relative chances of experiencing deterioration in their relationships.

One could expect economic crises to take a toll on family life and relationships– arguments over cash are known to be a major reason for relationship problems. Sure enough, the findings show that a ‘social economic downturn’ has actually occurred alongside economic recession, in regards to a substantial correlation between unfavorable experiences of economic crisis and degeneration in relationships: people who were disadvantaged financially throughout economic crisis were considerably more probable to have actually experienced deterioration in their relationship quality and stability.
The groups who felt the impact of economic crisis most strongly, nevertheless, were considerably more influenced in their relationships, in comparison with the standard (the ‘Advancing’ group).
These relative possibilities of experiencing relationship breakdown held even after we accounted for picked background qualities, such as their income, family structure, education and relationship length.

The findings right here verify those of previous researches, which similarly reveal that financial shocks and unemployment can decrease relationship quality by enhancing conflict in relationships, decreasing mental wellbeing, and even impacting on physical health. Previous studies also show that this lowered relationship quality throughout economic downturn translates into increased danger of relationship breakdown. The findings contribute to this evidence base adding useful insight into the ways in which economic crisis experiences associate with relationship wear and tear.
Breakdown of relationships can respond to counselling but when the relationship has broken down irreversibly a good family lawyer can a minimum of ensure that a customer retains an appropriate proportion of the joint assets.

At WhichSolicitor, we can make an appropriate recommendation for you.

Original article can be found as a PDF here

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Family mediation take-up rising

Family mediation take-up rising, however not yet from the woods

12 SEP 2014
Autumn most likely to indicate more enhancement on significant increases
Data from National Family Mediation (NFM) reveals a considerable increase in the take-up of its services in the very first 6 months of 2014.

NFM was reflecting on information covering its affiliated services and mediators from 1 January to 30 June 2014.

Jane Robey, Chief Executive of NFM stated:.

‘Whilst family mediation services across the country suffered a decline in 2013 after the Government revamped legal help, the signs for the career are positive in the first half of 2014.

The picture varies across the nation, however in a number of our service locations increases of 30 to 40 per cent in numbers of individuals attending mediation compared to the exact same duration in 2013 are common.

There is no doubt a greater proportion of individuals are reaching agreement with mediation, realizing they can successfully settle household matters in a budget-friendly way.

Yet whilst it’s clear the change in the law reliable from April has signalled an upturn, household mediation is not yet from the woods. Our mediators and managers will continue working relentlessly to show the value of mediation, which is quicker, less stressful and generally cheaper than going to court.’.

Under the Children and Families Act, executed on 22 April 2014, it became compulsory for individuals to go to a mediation details and assessment meeting (MIAM) session before they can get a court order.

Jane Robey added that as we head into the autumn, household mediators are positive the increase could continue:.

‘Mediators often report a quiet time throughout the summer, but referrals were unseasonably high in August this year. And after the vacation duration, September signals a go back to the regimen of work and school. Extremely typically this is when couples choose to different, as the momentary twinkle of hope signalled by the sunlight and break-in-routine is well and really snuffed out.’. We would emphasise the need to work with a family solicitor even if you do go down the mediation route.

Read original …..

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Pre-Nuptial Agreements Increasing in the UK

A pre-nup is often a subject of much mirth in the UK; a dinner party debate about the merits of pragmatism versus idealism. Considering what you might do in the event of a divorce with regards to your estate is of course very pragmatic, but the partner calling for the agreement has often been depicted as a tad mercenary.

The demand for prenuptial practicalities is on the rise, with one London company reporting a 50% rise in people inquiring about pre-nups. Evidence from CAFCASS supports these claims, with a 2% increase in Private Law demand between 2013 and 2014. This followed a 9% increase on the 2012/13 figure.

This upsurge could have been partly prompted by the Law Commission’s suggestion that a pre-marriage agreement should form part of the marriage reform, and that pre-nups should be given the kind of legal weight which they’re afforded in Scotland.

The question was thrust into the news in 2010 when renowned German heiress Katrin Radmacher’s pre-nup was upheld by the Supreme Court. Radmacher’s partner, Nicolas Granatino, had been part of a pre-nup which agreed that no claim would be made on each other’s assets. After changing his mind on this agreement and asking for a sizeable chunk of his former wife’s estate, the court substantially reduced his claim in accordance with the pre-nup.

The rising prominence of the prenuptial agreement probably reflects the times we live in. Divorce is much more commonplace, and whereas marriage probably still carries as much weight in terms of devotion, people recognise that they can drift apart and this doesn’t tend to carry the same social stigma as it did in the past. Add to this the fact that family life can now be very complicated with marriages then remarriages, and the complicated family ties which emerge as a by-product of these separations.

Family solicitors in London have said “We strongly recommend that couples consider a pre-nuptial agreement – especially if property is involved. Also with social media being an increasing presence in most of our lives it may not be that surprising that couples are now not only taking steps to protect their estate in an event of a divorce but also their online reputation by including a social media clause in their pre-nup.”

There’s also the fact that the way we earn money as couples has changed dramatically. Modern couples are often equal partners in terms of income, so why should one person have claim over any assets that were acquired before marriage.

The question will always be a great topic of debate with its conflicting moral and practical dimensions. Many couples who neglected to sign a pre-nup will rue their lack of forward planning, but when everything is rosy, why spoil the party by introducing a potential bone of contention.

Perhaps the pre-nup is not that far removed from making a Will; divorce and death are both pretty grim prospects, but few people would question the practicality of making a Will.

Original reporting by PropertyWire 18/8/14

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Commercial Conveyancing Boom in London Surburbs

The company, around half of whose £1.2 billion portfolio is centred on London, owns a clutch of properties in locations which include New Malden, Acton, Bromley and Brentford.

But CLS, which has spent more than £40 million on suburban offices in the past two years, said a “significant increase in competition” from both foreign and domestic buyers as well as more readily available bank credit had pushed up prices in the outskirts of London.

The business’s chief financial officer John Whiteley said: “There are far fewer bargains about. We’ve bid on £90 million of property in the past six months and looked seriously at around three times that, but we’ve not bought any.

“We don’t want to overspend on any of them, we’ve been a bit greedy.”

Demand for space in cheaper areas of the capital has pushed rental values up almost 9% in the past six months.

Our service has become known as a reliable recommendation source for commercial businesses.

The UK’s biggest listed property company, Land Securities, continued its recent run of wheeler-dealing in shopping centres today as it sold its 50% stake in Bristol’s Cabot Circus to AXA Real Estate for £267.8 million. The company recently spent £656 million on a stake in Kent’s Bluewater shopping destination.

Original reporting by the London Evening Standard 13/8/14

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Benefit Fraud of £74,000 = 12 Months Jail

A benefits fraudster has been jailed after fleecing the taxpayer out of nearly £74,000 while running a £2.6million property empire.

Seema Bassi, 49, claimed she was a jobless single mother to pocket handouts for more than a decade.

But she was secretly amassing a property portfolio across Kent raking in a fortune from tenants, Snaresbrook Crown Court heard.

Bassi owned 26 homes worth a total of £2.6million, providing her with about £150,000 in rent a year.

She bought her first property in 1994 and started claiming benefits three years later.

Her portfolio included 14 flats and four houses in Gravesend, a house in Canterbury, three flats in Herne Bay, a two-bedroom terrace in Greenhithe, and a house in Richmond Street, Hartlepool, Cleveland.

Some of the properties were leased to Gravesham Council in Kent as sheltered housing for asylum seekers, the court heard.

Her fraud was uncovered after Gravesham Council started investigating her brother for failing to pay council tax in 2012.

The paper trail led investigators to contact Redbridge Council for more details about Bassi when they learned she had purchased 18 houses from her brother.

Stacks of documents were seized from Bassi’s home in Ilford, including bank statements and tenancy agreements.

For criminal defence solicitors in London please contact us.

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First Time Buyers Loans Hit 7-Year High

Mortgage lenders made 28,600 first-time buyer loans in June, 7% more than the previous month and the highest since November 2007, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders. By value, banks and building societies lent £4.2 billion to those taking their first step on the ladder, the highest amount since August 2007.

Loans to other homebuyers also grew over the month but at a slower rate, increasing by 4% to 31,900 as the market cooled slightly in response to tighter mortgage restrictions introduced at the end of April, as well as higher anticipation of interest rate rises from the Bank of England.

CML director general Paul Smee said: “For the second month running since new rules took effect, lending characteristics remain similar to the market beforehand.

“We now feel confident that, as we would hope, the mortgage market review effect is more gentle dampener than hard brake.”

The CML’s figures showed affordability for first-time buyers little changed with buyers borrowing 3.47 times their income. They borrowed an average £123,865 in June, up from £121,500 in May. Record low interest rates meant payment burdens remained relatively low in June, at 19.3% of gross income. Over the second quarter as a whole, there were 79,900 first-time buyer loans — 24% up on the same period a year earlier.

Mark Harris, chief executive of mortgage broker SPF Private Clients, said: “The lending market remains strong, suggesting that the impact of the mortgage market review has not been detrimental.”

To paraphrase Harold Macmillan, the former Prime Minister “Conveyancing solicitors in London have never had it so good!”

Original reporting by the London Evening Standard 11/8/14

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Blog

Immigration law proposals

Matrimonial Funds – Women Claims

Protecting step-family members

Exactly what the law can do to help to protect step-family members.

Wills and Contentious Probate: Have you made a Will?

Relationships, Economic downturn and Recuperation

Relationships, Economic Downturn and Recuperation

The function of relationships in creating social recuperation.

Family mediation take-up rising

Family mediation take-up rising, however not yet from the woods

Pre-Nuptial Agreements Increasing in the UK

Commercial Conveyancing Boom in London Surburbs

Benefit Fraud of £74,000 = 12 Months Jail

First Time Buyers Loans Hit 7-Year High

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