Blog
See our latest blogs below
22 December 2015
A reminder that the government’s plans to crackdown on deeds of variation have been put on hold.
Earlier this year, the Chancellor George Osborne announced that deeds of variation would be reviewed as part of efforts to tackle tax avoidance.
However, following the recent Autumn statement the government announced that it will not introduce new restrictions on how deeds of variation can be used for tax purposes but will continue to monitor their use.
Anyone who is about to inherit and may be thinking of passing down some of their inheritance to their children...
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10 November 2015
Last week, one of Coventry and Warwickshire’s leading law firms Alsters Kelley LLP celebrated its fifth anniversary of the launch of the Alsters Kelley Limited Liability Partnership.
To mark the event celebration cakes were delivered to each of their offices in Leamington Spa, Coventry & Nuneaton.
Cathy Wahlberg, Operations & Finance Member said, “The last five years have gone so quickly and like most businesses we have had our ‘ups and downs’ during this time. Our staff are vital to the success of our business and the Members wanted...
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26 October 2015
The Government has recently announced that it is to open more Courts specifically intended to help parents with drug or alcohol addiction avoid losing their children within care proceedings.
Coventry Family Court has been chosen as part of this expansion programme and started to receive cases from the start of this month.
Many families that are faced with care proceedings have at least one parent with a drink or drug problem.
The Coventry Family Drug & Alcohol Court will have its own team of experts and doctors. Parents facing these proceedings will come...
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15 October 2015
Yesterday (Wed 14th Oct) the Supreme Court granted two ex-wives, Alison Sharland & Varsha Gohil, the right to challenge their divorce settlements after finding that their husbands had misled the courts in relation to their assets, in the original hearings.
This decision clearly demonstrates that the family courts will not tolerate dishonesty and non-disclosure and this outcome is likely to have a wider impact for other such cases.
Erica Kemp, Member and Head of Family Law at Alsters Kelley LLP, said, “It is important that parties to financial proceedings...
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21 September 2015
This was a recent headline following the latest judgement in the long running case of Ilott v Mitson.
This is the case involving a daughter, Heather Ilott, who was deliberately left out of her mother’s Will, Melita Jackson who died in 2004.
The relationship between mother and daughter had deteriorated many years earlier when Heather, aged 17 eloped with her then boyfriend who later became her husband.
Mrs Jackson subsequently left all her estate to three animal charities, with which she had very little connection or involvement with.
Heather Ilott...
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18 September 2015
The champagne was cracked open at Alsters Kelley in Coventry recently, as two members of staff from the Family Care Department celebrated length of service awards with the firm.
Catherine Stephens, Head of the Care Department has recently reached five years’ service, whilst Penny Ross, one of the legal secretaries from the same department is celebrating 10 years’ service with the firm.
Catherine qualified as a solicitor in 1997 and has 17 years’ experience in public childcare proceedings as well as being a member of the Children’s panel since...
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31 July 2015
With effect from 17th July 2015 the Legal Aid Agency has announced that some evidence need not be re-examined before a final hearing if a certificate has already been granted earlier in the legal process.
An amendment to the Civil Legal Aid (Procedure) Regulations 2012 will take away the risk of legal aid being withdrawn because the individual's evidence is considered to be out of date.
Previous regulations sometimes required the victims of domestic and child abuse to produce evidence that the abuse had taken place within the past 24 months.
This was necessary...
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24 June 2015
This was one of the headlines in the BBC News on 9th June 2015 when it reported that Rebecca Minnock and her three year old son Ethan disappeared from their home in Highbridge, Somerset.
On 27th May 2015, a District Judge ruled that Ethan should live with his father after finding Miss. Minnock had made false allegations and obstructed contact between father and son.
Jackie Lee, a Solicitor of Alsters Kelley LLP says ‘ No one can be certain what the District Judge exactly ruled as hearings in family proceedings are confidential. Indeed it is an unusual...
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