Terese Kingman, a Legal Executive based at our South Molton office has been elected Joint Chairman of the South Molton Business Association along with Jon Lawrence from Turning Point Clinics in South Molton for 2013/2014.

Terese has been involved with the SMBA for the past four years in helping to bring local businesses together in support of South Molton. Meetings are held on the first Thursday of the month at 6.00pm at The George Hotel, South Molton. Breakfast networking meetings are held on the last Thursday of the month at various venues in South Molton.

TAX RELIEF FOR FARMERS

Our South Molton office specialises in agricultural law. In this article Terese Kingman, a Legal Executive based at our South Molton office, looks at tax reliefs available for farmers

Inheritance tax (IHT) on a single person’s estate presently stands at £325,000 April 2013).  Anything over and above that figure will be liable to IHT at 40%.

Impending tax and benefit changes will require residential landlords to adopt a change of approach to their property lets.  Slee Blackwell’s Terese Kingman and Iain Robinson review the new rules, their effect, and possible solutions for landlords.

A team of 5 men from Slee Blackwell took part in a fundraising walk in wet and windy conditions from Bideford to Barnstaple on 10 February, and raised over £3,500 for our charity partner, North Devon Hospice.

Kate Kernahan, currently a trainee in our Commercial Department is running the London Marathon on 21 April 2013. Kate is hoping to comp the course in close to 4 hours, is training hard and has already raised over £2,000 for the North Devon Hospice in the process. http://www.justgiving.com/katy-kernahan

Does a Landlord have a remedy against an Insolvent Tenant?

Insolvency is becoming more common.  Official figures indicate that personal insolvencies - bankruptcy orders, debt relief orders and individual voluntary arrangements - rose from approximately 8,000 in 2002 to approximately 35,000 in 2010.

As the small claims limit rises to £10,000 we predict a rise in the number of Litigants in Person and the availability of new Damages Based Agreements

Can a Will be varied?

North Devon based Probate Solicitor, Emily Hockin, looks at the variation of Wills

A person can make a Will to reflect their wishes and who they would like to benefit from their estate. However, in practical terms, the person benefiting from the estate could end up being disadvantaged by the terms of the Will. This is where a Deed of Variation can sometimes help.

 Injury solicitor, Sam Robson, has succeeded in winning compensation for two people who have tripped on defective flooring at Primark’s store in Romford, Essex

We have succeeded in recovering compensation on behalf of two people who suffered accidents at Primark in Romford, Essex.

A review by the FSA has highlighted a number of banks, including Barclays, Lloyds, HSBC and RBS, who may have mis-sold interest rate hedging products, principally to small and medium sized businesses (SMEs).

Interest rate hedging products were developed to protect borrowers against the risk of interest fluctuations. These products take several different forms, such as:-

Professional Negligence lawyer at Slee Blackwell’s Taunton office, Lee Dawkins, looks at judicial criticism of the “tick box” approach adopted by E.Surv in a recent surveyors’ negligence claim

The courts have given further guidance on the approach to be taken in negligent mortgage valuation cases.