There are many Divorce self help books and sites on the internet that might lead you to believe that it is cheaper, quicker and easier to ‘do it yourself.’ However, is it really that simple and will you save money or will it be a false economy?

As Family Lawyers we are often consulted by Clients who have tried to deal with the Divorce and resolution of the property and financial implications ‘in person’ (on their own), but who have then sought help when complications have arisen or when they have felt ‘out of their depth’. Sadly, for some, the mistakes have already been made, and when they come to see us it’s a matter of damage limitation.  The results can be devastating.  Please read on so as to avoid this happening to you.

Common Pitfalls

1.  Crossing out the Ancillary Relief claims in a Divorce Petition!

When dealing with Divorce proceedings, as the Petitioner, don’t delete the prayer for Ancillary Relief in the Petition, as by doing so you are excluding the Court’s jurisdiction to approve or impose an Order about the finances, as it will appear to the Court that you won’t need any help sorting out things.  If you later discover that you do need the help of the Court, you will have to ask for ‘leave’ (permission) of the Court to be able to even start an application about the finances. 
 
There is a Court fee for an application to amend your claim, whether the other side agrees to the change or not.  The additional expense, not to mention the Solicitors costs in preparing the application, and the wasted time taken in making the application, could be avoided by taking early advice as to how to draft the Petition.

2.  What happens if you agree a division of the family assets with your spouse, but fail to record the agreement with the Court and therefore don’t have an Order?

There is every possibility that your spouse will come back and seek further provision, particularly if there has been a deterioration of his or her financial circumstances.  You may have been fortunate to have been awarded a huge pay rise or won the National Lottery since you divorced and, not surprisingly, your former spouse may want to re-think his/her claims against you.  These rights usually come to an end by a final Court Order.  Where one or both parties to the marriage do not wish to proceed with financial claims, then provided the Court agrees that such an Order is appropriate, an Order can be made dismissing claims.  Decree Absolute does NOT in itself prevent a former spouse from making a financial claim against you, but a final Court Order can!

3.  What happens if you remarry before resolving the matrimonial and property issues?

You are caught in the re-marriage trap.  The effect is that you lose the right to make most financial claims against your former spouse. 

Your re-marriage does not prevent your former spouse from making claims against you (assuming they’ve not re-married also), and so again, a final Court Order is vital.

4.  Do not underestimate the need for full financial disclosure on both sides.

You may feel uneasy about revealing all of your details, but, imagine how you will feel if you agree a settlement based upon very limited or no respective disclosure and subsequently discover that your former spouse had savings stashed away that could have lead to a different final agreement.  If a final Court Order is made, that is very often the end of the story, and you’ve lost your chance of including reference to your former spouse’s savings.  Disclosure safeguards against anything being missed out from the division of assets and ensures that a fair and reasonable settlement is achieved.  It is often the case that a spouse, who will not disclose his /her assets to the other spouse, will give the information when solicitors get involved.

5.  If you are acting in person, the Court can only protect your interests to a certain extent.

It is for you to take legal advice about a proposed final Court Order.  The Court will do it’s best to ensure that you are not disadvantaged within any proceedings if you do not have a Solicitor, but, ultimately, the Court cannot advise you substantively about the law or as to what to do next.  A Solicitor acting for your former spouse cannot advise you as to the law either.  If you refuse to take legal advice about a final Court Order, having been given the opportunity to do so, you will only have yourself to blame if things don’t go as you had hoped or you don’t understand what you may have agreed to!

6.  How can you separate the emotional issues from getting on with sorting out the finances?

We all have difficulty focussing on the task in hand and being practical and realistic from time to time, and when everything that is most important to us is at stake, it becomes even more of a challenge.  Bennett Griffin understands the mixture of stresses that separation and Divorce can present.  We will endeavour to ‘turn down the heat’ on volatile situations and act as a buffer when you can’t face dealing with your spouse.  We are here to represent and protect your interests robustly with a view to achieving an equitable result for you and your family.

We at Bennett Griffin LLP have the expertise, care and attention to help you through what is often a daunting and confusing process.  Give us a try: we do what we say.

Contact the Family Team on 01903 229903 for further information.

The removal of legal aid for all but the most serious family matters will be a setback for many.  The cost of legal proceedings may be a worry but it needn’t be as horrendous as you might think.  Mediation is one of the options you might want to explore.  It can help couples resolve their differences, whether resulting from the relationship breakdown, the property and finances or issues concerning the children.   Mediation is generally quicker and less expensive when compared to Court proceedings and can in some cases lead to improved relations between the parties.  This will be a positive benefit for all concerned, not only the children and the parties, but also the extended friends and family who will undoubtedly feel the pain and anguish of the emotional discord.  If you want to explore Mediation, talk to Jackie Gifford on 01903 229903.

However, if Mediation is not your cup of tea, there is always the option of seeking legal advice.  We currently offer a 30 minute face to face consultation where we give solid advice for a fixed fee of £60 plus vat. 

Talk to us.  We’re here to help.

Spring is illusive this year, and this Easter is set to be one of the coldest yet.

As we all hope that April Fools’ Day will herald warmer times, the changes in public funding rules (legal aid) which will start on that date, are unlikely to bring about a sunnier legal climate for many.

In short, the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012  will mean that all public funding services for Family work will be withdrawn, save as to cases where there is, sadly, a domestic violence element. Public funding will remain available for Mediation (where financial eligibility is proven), and this underlines the move towards the use of alternative dispute resolution, and away from Court applications.

We do not offer public funding advice or representation at Bennett Griffin LLP, but we do offer viable, cost effective alternatives for funding your case. Our initial fixed fee consultation is £60 plus VAT, for 30 minutes, for solid legal advice. Additionally, if you need longer than 30 minutes, and funds are limited, why not try our “pay-as-you-go” service, whereby you pay for our time, as and when you can afford it, perhaps in sessions of an hour at a time.

If Mediation might be the right path for you, our Jackie Gifford, trained Mediator, would be happy to meet and discuss tailoring a package which will fit your budget.

Contact our Family team on 01903 229903, and we’ll do all we can to help you achieve a brighter forecast for you and those closest to you.

This year for Comic Relief Bennett Griffin staff spent the day dressed as cavemen to suit this year’s super cute dinosaur red noses!  In addition at lunchtime on Red Nose Day the staff all got together at Ferring office for some themed games and the Great BG Bake Off! 

 
All of this silliness and fun raised a fantastic £169.68 for Comic Relief and we are thrilled to have been able to support such a brilliant charity.

 
Some photos from the day are shown below but to see all of them please have a look at our facebook page by clicking here.

Civil Partnerships have been in existence for nearly a decade now, and yet we can all no doubt remember the controversy and debate which took place before the law changed so monumentally. In February this year, the Commons voted in favour of the law being changed to allow same sex couples to be able to marry, and therefore be referred to as spouses, with all the associated legal rights and entitlements automatically flowing from that status.
 

Are you considering entering into a Civil Partnership or same sex marriage (at the earliest opportunity), but would like to know more about the related law concerning children’s or inheritance issues before you commit? Could  a Pre-Partnership or Pre-Nuptial Agreement be of benefit to you?

 
We in the Family team at Bennett Griffin LLP promise to provide a quality, affordable service. Please feel free to contact our expert and approachable Family lawyers, Jackie Gifford and Jackie Mensah on 01903 229903.

 
We look forward to helping you create a big day full of “happy ever after”, without an “if only I had done that” in sight.

Yet more snow for the South of England!

Our offices are all open today, but with a slightly reduced workforce.  We expect there are many other employers out there in the same position – but how does this affect employment rights for those unable to make it to the workplace?

Legally, an employer is under no obligation to pay an employee who fails to attend work, as it may be argued the employee is in breach of contract.  However this does not automatically allow the employer to deduct payments from wages as employees have statutory protection against unauthorised deductions being made.

Problems may arise as a result of school closures, leaving dependent children without care.  Employees are entitled to take unpaid dependent’s leave to make arrangements for childcare.

So how do employers deal with the problems of absence caused by bad weather? Some employers may choose to allow paid absence.  Other options may include making up the hours missed, taking annual leave or working from home.  The basic advice to employers is to act reasonably and consistently.

Employees should make all attempts to attend work by using alternative methods of transport if the normal one is not available, but they should not take unnecessary risks.   If the transport to work is a contractual benefit provided by the employer the onus is on the employer to make alternative arrangements for the employee.

If the employer decides to close the workplace as a result of severe weather conditions, all employees should be paid as normal. This also apples to early closure on a normal working day.

For those employers who have a Staff Handbook it is always advisable to have a ‘Bad Weather Policy’ which sets out the position and the steps to be taken.

For any further information in relation to employment law please contact Elaine Smith at Bennett Griffin LLP on 01903 706966 or es@bennett-griffin.co.uk

Lawyers and staff from Bennett Griffin will be going back in time to raise money for Comic Relief by spending the day dressed as cave men and women (perhaps thrown together with the odd dinosaur)!

On Friday 15th March 2013 staff from Bennett Griffin will be celebrating Red Nose Day 2013 by making fools of themselves to raise buckets of cash for Comic Relief!  We will gather at the Ferring office at 12.30 for some games, a cake sale and prizes for the best outfits.  Please feel free to drop in and see us!

Members of staff will spend the day going about their usual business dressed in cave men/women costumes…one member of staff is going one step further and trying their hand at a dinosaur outfit, just like this year’s lovely red noses!

Staff are spread across our offices in Rustington, Ferring and Worthing, but we will gather together at lunchtime at the Ferring office for some caveman antics.

Come lunchtime on Friday 15th March, the office will be transformed into neanderthal Britain (and it might be a bit nippy if this weather continues!)  Please join us to show your support by raising big bucks for a great cause.

The most important part – the money we raise will help people living unimaginably tough lives across the UK and Africa.

Ian Macara, Partner at Bennett Griffin, says, “What a sight the office will be on Friday!  We are definitely doing something funny for money by giving it a go for Red Nose Day 2013!”

For more information please call Jo Edwards on 01903 706963 or email jae@bennett-griffin.co.uk

Do you know what a Lasting Power of Attorney is?  Don’t be surprised if you don’t; most people have heard of them, but don’t know much about them.  We tend to shorten the name to LPA.  Briefly, a LPA is a document that allows you to appoint someone else to manage your finances for you, or make decisions about your welfare and medical treatment, in the event that you cannot.  The article in The Telegraph focuses on age-related conditions, such as dementia, but there are, sadly, many other reasons why someone’s ability to make decisions for themselves can be affected at any age, for example, by an accident.

If you suffer from an accident or condition, such as dementia, and you have not prepared a LPA in advance, your family’s only option is to ask the Court of Protection for authority to look after your affairs.  This is a lengthy process, which can leave you and your family at risk until the Court makes a decision, particularly if you have financial obligations, such as a mortgage or loan repayments.

Some people are put off by the cost of making an LPA, but a Court of Protection application would be more expensive.  The article in The Telegraph estimates that preparing a LPA in advance could cut costs to less than a quarter of what they might otherwise be.  It is also worth bearing in mind that an LPA gives you control over who manages your affairs; you would not have this control if the Court was involved.  We would urge you to read the article in The Telegraph, which goes into more detail about the costs of a Court application.  It is for this reason, and many other reasons, that we recommend that everyone makes a LPA, whatever their age.

Having said all this, we do appreciate that the cost of making an LPA can be restrictive.  If you would like the benefit of a lawyer’s advice and experience in preparing your LPA, we will do our best to work with you so that you are in control of the legal costs.  We have developed a menu of charges so you can decide how much, or how little, assistance you require from us.

For more information about LPAs, and other ways to plan ahead for your future, please contact one of our specialist LPA lawyers Katie Haffenden, Jo Edwards, Tania Clapham, Tricia Stephenson or Ian Macara, call us on 01903 229999, or email us at recw@bennett-griffin.co.uk.

Bennett Griffin are pleased to announce that our Associate Solicitor, Tania Clapham, based at our Ferring office, has been accepted as a member of the national association ‘Solicitors for the Elderly’ (SFE).

SFE is an association of lawyers who specialise in legal services for older people and their carers.  Members of SFE have a wealth of experience within this key legal area and they are required to have spent a substantial amount of time working for elderly clients.  The aim of this national association is to improve the knowledge and service provided on legal issues including tax planning, wills, powers of attorney, long-term social and health care and other retirement issues.

At Bennett Griffin, solicitors based in Worthing and surrounding areas, we provide a variety of specialist legal services.  We have a team of lawyers who specialise in legal issues for the elderly. Tania’s membership of SFE will provide clients with the assurance that Bennett Griffin has wide ranging expertise in providing legal services for older people.

For more information, please contact Tania Clapham on 01903 706983 or tac@bennett-griffin.co.uk.

Some of us travelled into work on public transport, others were out and about in Worthing during the day, but we all managed to attract a lot of attention for a very worthy charity.

We’ve just found out that we managed to raise over £424.38 and we’re feeling rather pleased with ourselves.  Many of our staff and clients have had personal experience of the amazing work that St Barnabas do, and we are really pleased to have helped them in a small way.

We’re now looking forward to next Christmas so we can dust off our Santa Suits again!

The Family Team at Bennett Griffin have a vacancy…

This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced Matrimonial Solicitor with a proven track record of successfully attracting and acting for medium to high net worth clients in divorce, ancillary relief and all aspects of private client family work.  For the right candidate the post will not only cover the caseload and responsibilities during maternity leave of the current Associate Solicitor Head of Department, but also offer the realistic prospect to remain in the Department that has grown due to his/her efforts.  The varied and interesting role includes supervising the Department, marketing, and networking to attract new clients of a good quality.

If you believe that you have what we are looking for, and would like to discover more about us, please explore this website or call or email Linda Robinson on 01903 229943 lr@bennett-griffin.co.uk to arrange an interview with the Managing Partner, Steve Hollamby.

Jackie Mensah, Head of the Bennett Griffin Family department  is a Resolutions trained collaborative solicitor. Collaborative law offers clients an alternative to Court proceedings.

Below is a link to some useful information from Resolutions on the collaborative process and how it works.

If you would like any more information on collaborative law or any advice on matrimonial, family law advice then please give Jackie Mensah a call on 01903 229938

Finding Solutions Together

Nick Tompkin, solicitor in the Commercial team at Bennett Griffin, has recently been instructed by a new client which is the longest registered Company at Companies House. Nick has been asked by this company to provide short term cover during the absence of a key employee to approve agreements and ensure that the business continues to run smoothly.

Whether you are just starting up or have a long established history the Commercial team can provide a full range of legal advice and services for your business.

If you would like further information on the services provided by our Commercial team please call us on 01903 706977.

An interim payment – a payment made before the conclusion of the claim – was secured to enable our client to undergo psychotherapeutic treatment.

Liability was denied but we fought the case hard on behalf of our client and a settlement of £45,000 was ultimately agreed.

If you have had an accident and would like to speak to one of our experienced dedicated personal injury team please contact us on 01903 229999.

The claim was brought in England and against our client’s insurance company under the application of French law that decrees that the driver of a vehicle is liable for any injury to their passenger regardless of fault. 

We managed to secure early specialist rehabilitation intervention which helped our client make an extremely good recovery from her injuries and a final settlement of £28,000 was achieved.

If you have had an accident and would like to speak to one of our experienced Personal Injury team please call  us on 01903 229999.

Settlement of the claim was finally negotiated at £165,000.

Legally, an employer is under no obligation to pay an employee who fails to attend work, as it may be argued the employee is in breach of contract. However this does not automatically allow the employer to deduct payments from wages as employees have statutory protection against unauthorised deductions being made.

Problems may arise as a result of school closures, leaving dependent children without care. Employees are entitled to take unpaid dependent’s leave to make arrangements for childcare.

So how do employers deal with the problems of absence caused by bad weather? Some employers may choose to allow paid absence. Other options may include making up the hours missed, taking annual leave or working from home. The basic advice to employers is to act reasonably and consistently.

Employees should make all attempts to attend work by using alternative methods of transport if the normal one is not available, but they should not take unnecessary risks.  If the transport to work is a contractual benefit provided by the employer the onus is on the employer to make alternative arrangements for the employee.

If the employer decides to close the workplace as a result of severe weather conditions, all employees should be paid as normal. This also apples to early closure on a normal working day.

For those employers who have a Staff Handbook it is always advisable to have a ‘Bad Weather Policy’ which sets out the position and the steps to be taken.

For any further information in relation to employment law please contact Elaine Smith at Bennett Griffin LLP on 01903 706966 or es@bennett-griffin.co.uk

The Enterprise and Regulatory  Reform Bill (shortened to the ERR Bill!)  should become law by April 2013. Capping compensation to 12 months pay or a new limit yet to be fixed is excellent news for employers. But did you respond to the consultation? It ended on November 23rd. The ERR Bill intends to weed out weak cases before they get to the Tribunal; repeals the law which made Bosses liable for the harassment of their workers by Third parties – which always seemed unfair; brings in Settlement Agreements instead of Compromise Agreements; awards more costs against wayward claimants. Good to get  companies and employers out of the frying pan!
But don’t relax completely- nothing is that clearcut in this tricky area of law.
 It is the discrimination law which is, if anything , strengthened. No new rules or guidelines  but have a look at the size of the awards- and remember –there is no upper limit in Discrimination cases.  Average award last year for Disability Discrimination was £22,000. The top award , however , was £390,871. For Age the average was £14,327 and the max was £144,100; Sex Discrimination averaged £9,900 and a top of £89,700. And don’t forget how many different ways there are to discriminate- Religious discrimination awards averaged £16,725 and topped out at £59,522; Sexual orientation  were less common but the highest award was £27,473; and Race  discrimination averaged £10,200 but the maximum last year was an eye-watering £4,445,023.00! So hopping out of the frying pan, doesn’t mean you are safe from the fire.

And not into the Fire!
A few tips to avoid falling. Have a good staff handbook or manual –printed out  or just as easily and as validly  published  on your website or intranet. That is essential. Make sure (1)you have clear instructions identifying discrimination(2) that your staff know the policies outlawing discrimination and(3) that you implement them.
Make sure all the policies against Discrimination are in place and you will sleep easily at night.
On top of that remember to have your anti-corruption policy and procedure in place under the Bribery Act; and the rather complex provisions of the Agency Workers Regulations 2011 are now fully in force. You need to make sure that any agency workers are treated  in the same way  as permanent staff – but there are qualifying provisions –so double check.
Amongst all these changes, don’t forget also the Minimum Wage went up to £6.19  from 1st October 2012.  All these big changes are designed to make Business feel safer, reduce red tape, encourage enterprise and  increase employment numbers. If you are reading this , you probably have got all this in place or know where to get it. You do n’t have to worry half as much as the manager who thinks that ERR.. is  what you say when someone asks you if you have proper policies in place , available, accessible and up to date.
For expert advice contact your adviser or if you want to know more, do please contact Elaine Smith or Peter Bennett on es@bennett-griffin.co.uk or pgb@bennett-griffin.co.uk  or ring 01903-229999.

Enjoy 2013!
Have a prosperous New Year from  us all at BG Commercial.

Read the full article here:  scan@bennett-griffin co uk_20121219_094721

Pictured below are (from left to right)

Becky Derham – Smart Wood Flooring, Mark – Carpenter Box Accountants, Michael – The Computer Man, Neil Watson – IPS Fire & Security, la Martakies – Rosemary  Bookkeeping

Mark Landon – PEP the Printers, Sandra Wyatt – The Recycled Goods Factory, Mark Kennedy – UK H2O, Mike Ablett – Northwood Lettings/Estate Agency

A big Thank You for their support.

Whilst welcomed by the Institute of Directors as a basis to creating a long awaited flexible labour market, Unions claim it affords less protection to employees and in reality it will be easier and quicker to terminate employment.

If you would discuss any employment issues please contact Elaine Smith on 01903 229999 or email es@bennett-griffin.co.uk

If you don’t have a will or your current will needs updating please contact Ian, Tania, Jo, Katie or Tricia on 01903 229999.

Our staff are kindly taking part in the Wear a Santa Suit day for St Barnabas House, click here to have a look at the pictures on facebook and see if you can recognise anyone!!

I’ve just finalised payment to a client in a professional negligence claim against another firm of solicitors.  The settlement was a five figure sum, plus a four-figure contribution to costs.
Unfortunately, the client was still short on the deal as his own liability exceeds the amount he received by another five figure sum.
However, I was able to negotiate a better settlement for him than I had expected, so I’m happy about that. The likely result I had forecast would have left him quite a lot worse off. And actually continuing to a final Court hearing would have been quite a risky option.
At least now he can look forward to Christmas with a real prospect of getting back to his feet, financially, in the New Year.

 If you would like to discuss this further please contact Stephen on 01903 229999 or email sn@bennett-griffin.co.uk

You may be looking forward to planning your wedding; moving house;  a new arrival, or all of the above. Or, you may be anxious about your former partner/spouse getting married before you have a financial settlement in place, or he/she moving away from the area with the your children.

Either way, the Bennett Griffin Family team are here to help. We can put you in touch with our Wills and Conveyancing teams so that all of those essential related areas of concern are looked after also.

Feel free to call Jackie Mensah (01903 229938) or Jackie Gifford (01903 229903) to make an appointment, perhaps before 21st December, just to be on the safe side…

There is a very good reason for this – we are participating in St Barnabas’ ‘Wear a Santa Suit Day’ to raise money for their work in tackling the practical, physical and emotional issues that arise when someone has an advanced illness.

Please feel free to call in to any of our offices and see us in our Santa Suits today, and if you can spare any change for this worthwhile charity, it would be gratefully received.

We will be posting photographs to our Twitter and Facebook pages during the day, so keep an eye out for our lawyers looking silly!

For more information, please contact Jo Edwards on 01903 229999 or email jae@bennett-griffin.co.uk  

Bennett Griffin are pleased to announce that our Associate Solicitor, Jo Edwards, based at our Ferring office, has been accepted as a member of the national association ‘Solicitors for the Elderly’ (SFE).

SFE is an association of lawyers who specialise in legal services for older people and their carers.  Members of SFE have a wealth of experience within this key legal area and they are required to have spent a substantial amount of time working for elderly clients.  The aim of this national association is to improve the knowledge and service provided on legal issues including tax planning, wills, powers of attorney, long-term social and health care and other retirement issues.

At Bennett Griffin, solicitors based in Worthing and surrounding areas, we provide a variety of specialist legal services.  We have a team of lawyers who specialise in legal issues for the elderly. Jo Edwards’ membership of SFE will provide clients with the assurance that Bennett Griffin has wide ranging expertise in providing legal services for older people.

Jo Edwards said: “I have been specialising in legal services for the elderly for many years, and am looking forward to continuing my development in this area so that I am able to give my clients and colleagues first class legal advice in a field of law which is constantly evolving, as the requirements of the elderly population change.”

For more information, please contact Jo Edwards on 01903 229999 or email jae@bennett-griffin.co.uk.

The event is open to anyone, regardless of whether you are at work, college, doing the shopping, or just watching TV! 

At Bennett Griffin, we are already feeling the Christmas spirit now that we have our Christmas trees up and decorated in the offices!  24 members of staff have signed up to take part in the Santa Suit Day…which just shows that we all love an excuse to dress up, especially for such a worthy cause!  We have posted our registration form to St Barnabas, and are excitedly awaiting our Santa suits and fund-raising packs!

Unfortunately, we are unable to take part on the day designated by St Barnabas, Friday 14th December, so we are going to do it on Thursday 13th December instead.

Many of our staff will be making their way into work on the bus, and will be out and about in the local area during the day.  Please look out for us, and donate any spare change you have to this very worthy cause. 

For more information, please contact Jo Edwards on 01903 706963 or jae@bennett-griffin.co.uk