Sector Focus


Legal


Sponsored by: Sydney Mitchell LLP Sector Focus


Making a Will? The default position is that you can benefit whoever you wish


By Ravinder Sandhu Private Client Lawyer, Sydney Mitchell LLP


The validity of wills is sometimes subject to legal challenge, but the default position is that everyone is allowed to leave their worldly goods to whoever they wish reports Ravinder Sandhu, Private Client Lawyer at Sydney Mitchell. A judge made that point in


giving effect to the wishes of a strong-minded pensioner who bequeathed everything she had to one son, cutting out the other two. Five years before her death,


aged 88, the woman executed a will by which she made her middle son her sole heir. She had previously put the family home, worth about £350,000, into their joint names, with the result that he automatically inherited the entire property on her death. In a letter written five years before she died, she explained her wish to reward her middle son for the assistance he had given her during her final years. She wrote that her youngest son was in no need of her bounty, being economically independent, and that she rarely saw her eldest son, who she could not rely on to help her. In dismissing the eldest son’s


challenge to her will and the lifetime gift of her home to his brother, the judge found that there was no evidence that his brother had brought undue influence to bear upon their mother. The pensioner knew her own


mind when she reached the rational decision to benefit her middle son alone. He was very close to her and had sacrificed his hairdressing business in order to move in with her and care for her when she experienced ill health in later life.


For help and advice on Wills Trust or Probate matters, contact Ravinder Sandhu on 0808 166 8870 r.sandhu@sydneymitchell.co.uk


Sydney Mitchell LLP is a Top Tier Legal 500 firm with offices in Birmingham, Sheldon, Shirley and facilities in Sutton Coldfield.


60 CHAMBERLINK April 2018 The latest news from the sectors that matter to business


City’s restaurants and bars continue to boom


One of Birmingham’s leading licensing law experts is refusing to call time on the city’s continuing boom in new bars and restaurants. Peter Adkins (pictured), director of


regulatory services at city centre law firm, Emms Gilmore Liberson, has issued an upbeat assessment of Birmingham’s licensed sector, despite a string of recent high-profile closures and as many as two pubs a day closing their doors nationally.


‘Birmingham city centre is seemingly becoming one of the places to go for food’


Established city-centre cocktail bar and restaurant, Chameleon, closed suddenly in February, while Rofuto, Izza Pizza and Mughal-e-Azam have all recently shut down. Figures suggest the closures are part of a national


picture of decline. Pub numbers fell from 54,674 in April 2010 to 43,066 in April 2017, with 616 pubs having closed since last year’s hike in business rates. The number of UK restaurants going bust rose by


a fifth last year.


Jamie’s Italian is the latest high-profile victim, with plans to close 12 of its 37 UK branches as part of a rescue package. Peter Adkins, who is highly regarded


for his expertise in Regulatory, Licensing and Gambling Law, said: “Is the apparent national trend reflected in the local market place? You wouldn’t think so if you walked around the city. Birmingham city centre is seemingly becoming one of the places to go for


food. “There seems to be a never-ending


stream of people that want to open up new licensed premises - many are restaurants but new


bars are also opening. “The reduction in national pub numbers is a figure


well down from the depths of the recession where there were regularly reports of 50 pubs a week closing. Pub closures from 2010 were blamed on many factors, not just the recession and pubs also had the effect of the smoking ban to deal with.” Several new bars and restaurants are set to open


in Birmingham this year. They include The Ivy, a new Fiesta Del Asado,


Revolucion de Cuba, Dirty Martini and Oodles. Sabai Sabai opened a new restaurant in December.


Opening doors with legal apprenticeships


A Burton and South Derbyshire College apprentice has shown she’s got the skills and commitment to make it in the legal industry, after being offered a permanent position at a local law firm. After completing her A Levels, Jodi Attwood-Boot (pictured) was working


part-time at a pub while looking for full time employment. It was her lifelong interest in law that inspired her to apply for an apprenticeship position at Bowcock and Pursaill Solicitors in Uttoxeter. Jodi gained the Level 2 apprenticeship and is now


training to be a legal executive. She said: “I have really enjoyed my


apprenticeship; it has been good to learn skills on the job instead of just writing essays. I am now studying a CILEx course - an apprenticeship is a brilliant way to get into a job.” Bowcock partner Rob Fearnley said: “We


have over the past few years recruited two apprentices through the college and have found them both assets to the business. “I am pleased to say that they both have


successfully completed their course of study and decided to stay with the firm to build upon the skills learnt under the apprentice scheme. I hope to be able to continue to train and retain people who see a career in the law.”


Ministry of Justice announces refunds


Elderly and vulnerable people who applied for loved ones to look after their financial affairs could be owed millions of pounds, according to a leading Midlands law firm. Thursfields Solicitors says the


Ministry of Justice has invited hundreds of thousands of individuals to apply for refunds after its Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) overcharged for Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) arrangements between 1 April 2013 and 31 March 2017. A Ministry of Justice announcement issued on 2 February explains that refunds of up to £54 a time plus interest can now be claimed for each LPA registration made in that four-year period. Michelle Hetheridge, director of


wills and estates at Thursfields, said: “When you consider how many LPA registrations were made in that period, the total due to be refunded is estimated to run into millions of pounds.”


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