LEGAL CORNER
Jack Of All Trades By owen Hill, Consultant Solicitor
My dad used to say: “Jack of all trades - master of none”. His words of wisdom came to
me in recent efforts to find someone who had the right blend of technical skill and engineering brilliance to resolve a problem on my boat. she has a bolt-on piece of cutting edge technology (when she was new in 1986) that is supposed to produce the magic of “mains” electricity when the engine is running. everything whirs and whistles as it should when this is engaged but the output is zero. I asked around my friends in the yachting fraternity and invited a few recommended characters to look into this and quote for a fix. this proved to be complicated by the fact that my boat was built in america where the standard for mains electricity is set at 120 Volts whereas in europe it is 230 Volts and 240 Volts in the uK. a couple of guys carried out various tests and replaced fuses but to no particular effect. then I saw a man loading tools into a sign written van in the marina car park that made me think he might be worth a try. so I walked right up to him and explained my problem in generating power. within seconds I knew that I had found the right man for the job. He told me
that he had dealt with a case just like mine some years ago and knew how to source the cogs and gears that would be needed to fix my problem. I could have hugged him. In a quiet moment sometime later I realised that when someone needs legal advice they look for the word “solicitor” above the door but have no real idea whether the particular person has experience in the relevant field. In my life time the traditional High street law firms have morphed into much larger practices and the driver for this is that we have all had to specialise in certain finite areas of law to gain the experience required to hold ourselves out as experts in our chosen field. many commercial clients still think in terms of the
Company solicitor, and consumer clients frequently refer to the Family solicitor but the truth these days is that it is more about the relationship with the firm than any single individual. the bigger firms frequently adopt a team approach when drawing from the right experts in the field to deal with specific legal issues in the way that produces the right result in the minimum time. when I had a call from a client with a problem this morning I was asked if I could help. the issue was not in my comfort zone but it was a pleasure to say: “no, but I know someone who can”.
will the government vary the Deeds?
By Marinella Hollies, partner During the course of the 2015 Budget, the Chancellor made a political statement directed towards the tax planning undertaken by the then leader
of the Labour Party, Ed Miliband, indicating that the use of ‘Deeds of Variation’ would be the subject of a consultation. that consultation has taken place and I am writing this
article in advance of the Chancellor’s autumn statement due on 25th november this year when changes may be announced. some commentators have said it was just an excuse
to have ‘a dig’ at mr miliband. But many believe that it will result in a change in the use of these Deeds and are genuinely concerned that the opportunities that currently exist to vary one’s will using a Deed of Variation and to make use of the favourable tax rules, will be changed. a will is more than just a mechanism to set out the wishes of the person who has died and to arrange the distribution of their estate. a will is also a useful tool to protect assets and provide for loved ones by tax efficient planning. However, over time, the nature of the estate, the position of the beneficiaries and the legal approach to Inheritance tax can be subject to change, and these changes may erode the benefits of the tax planning provided in a will. to try and deal with this, it is currently possible to create
a Deed of Variation within two years of the deceased’s death to alter the terms of their will and the distribution
of their assets, the idea being to mitigate Inheritance tax. For example, a Deed of Variation may be used by a beneficiary to transfer their legacy from the deceased to another beneficiary. through this, a beneficiary is able to potentially mitigate any Inheritance or Capital Gains tax liability and make maximum use of available tax reliefs. over two thirds of people don’t have a will. the Intestacy
provisions which apply by law when someone dies without a will don’t always operate fairly and a Deed of Variation can be a lifeline for their heirs. although the Government may be targeting Deeds of
Variation to restrict the avoidance of Inheritance tax, these Deeds can also simply provide some level of flexibility for the bereaved. there are many cases where variations are used to
correct tax mistakes or use business and agricultural allowances on death, where a widow and other family members of the deceased want to make a change so that the estate can go to somebody else. without Deeds of Variation, executors may have to resort to
the Courts and it does seem a shame that something that has been around for generations to enable the straightforward handling of estates between families is potentially being questioned as a mechanism for tax avoidance. the repercussions of any changes made by the autumn
statement could lead to substantial and unavoidable tax bills. If you have a will and you feel it may now be out of date, it may also be beneficial to arrange for a review sooner rather than later.
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