Sector Focus
Legal
Sponsored by: Sydney Mitchell LLP
Will you marry me but…
More and more couples are choosing to live together than marry. It is not surprising that one of the reasons some couples choose not to marry is because they are anxious to protect income, assets, pensions and businesses which they believe might be lost if the marriage ends in divorce comments Mauro Vinti, Partner Sydney Mitchell LLP. Many people are not aware
that they can take steps to protect assets. Pre-nuptial Agreements are not just for the rich and famous. There are many reasons why a pre- nuptial agreement is a good idea. Some people are concerned to make sure that their children receive assets which they have built up over a lifetime, rather than go to a spouse on divorce. Some families want to protect the shareholding in a family business to make sure, if there is a divorce, the business is not affected. Parents want to protect the investment they have made into a child’s property to help them get on the property ladder so that if that property becomes “the family home”, that investment is not lost. Increasingly Pre-nuptial
Agreements are being upheld by the Court in divorce proceedings. Ideally both parties should have legal advice. The Agreement should be signed well in advance of the wedding and certainly not less than a month beforehand. Sometimes a pre-nuptial agreement is seen as “unromantic”, but they can be a way of talking about expectations for the marriage and give some certainty if the marriage comes to an end.
If you wish to discuss prenuptial matters, please call Mauro Vinti, Partner, Sydney Mitchell LLP on 0808 166 8870.
Sydney Mitchell LLP is a Top Tier Legal 500 firm with offices in Birmingham, Sheldon, Shirley and facilities in Sutton Coldfield.
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Are you compliant with National Minimum Wage?
The National Minimum Wage (NMW) has as its heart a noble purpose – but it has led to various unintended consequences for employers. Helena Morrissey, senior associate, labour and employment practice, Squire Patton Boggs, takes a look at NMW and some of the pitfalls that businesses can inadvertently fall foul of.
It is clear that most businesses take pride in ensuring 100 per cent compliance with the NMW and that they go to great lengths to avoid appearing on the Government’s ‘named and shamed’ lists, which publicly exposes those businesses who have breached the rules. However, compliance with NMW
is more than simply paying the prescribed hourly rates and there are many hidden pitfalls that an honest business can fall foul of, not least due to the complexity of the way that the scheme works. There are therefore likely to be thousands of well-meaning businesses operating unknowingly in breach of the NMW rules, and if they don’t take steps to address
this before HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) conduct an audit, they risk being publicly named and shamed. The chances of being audited
by HMRC are increasingly high because it has an assigned budget of £25m in 2018 for enforcement of NMW and currently has more than 2,500 open investigations. The Government is also running a NMW awareness campaign. All employers are in scope,
covering around two million workers in low-paid jobs.
We are seeing more and more
businesses, across all industries, being audited for compliance. The annually-increasing NMW
rate has been one of the reasons for this activity. More employers are paying at or around the NMW rate than ever before – however, compliance is not simply a case of ‘do you pay the correct NMW rate for the correct age bracket, per hour of a shift?’ There are a number of areas
where employers who think they are compliant may in reality paying their employees below the NMW.
‘We are seeing more and more businesses, across all industries, being audited for compliance’
No-deal Brexit will hit EU trademarks
A trademarks and designs expert is warning of the dangers faced in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Dr Chris Moore (pictured), head of the
Birmingham office intellectual property service HGF, says that the UK and EU have failed to reach agreement on these areas. He added: “While provisional
arrangements have been made with respect to EU trade marks and designs in the event of a Brexit agreement being reached, it appears that no provisional arrangements have been made in the event of a no-deal Brexit. The effect of a no-deal Brexit on trademarks and designs could be detrimental to UK businesses. “In July the UK Government gave reassurance to UK businesses that
existing EU trademarks and registered and unregistered design rights would be converted automatically into parallel UK rights post Brexit. “These existing EU rights would have to be converted into parallel
UK rights via bridging legislation drafted and implemented by the UK and EU governing bodies. However, this is contingent on a withdrawal agreement being reached before the Brexit deadline. “In the event of a no-deal Brexit, the bridging legislation is unlikely
to be triggered and EU trademarks and designs would not automatically become corresponding UK trademarks and designs. “Because there is currently a lack of certainty, we have seen
recommendations to file parallel UK and EU applications for the same trade mark or design routinely. While we do not recommend that clients adopt such a filing strategy as a matter of course, we do advise that clients should consider filing parallel applications if there is a reason to mitigate the risk of a loss of rights.”
Solicitors connect rural WiFi funding
Thursfields Solicitors has advised wireless broadband supplier Airband on securing investment of £16m through the National Digital Infrastructure Fund (NDIF) which supplies superfast and ultrafast broadband to rural areas. The investment will enable
Airband to expand its network to an additional 50,000 business and home premises in England and Wales by 2021. As part of the deal, NDIF has
also acquired a substantial minority shareholding in Airband. The Thursfields team was led by
director Gareth Burge, who said: “Airband is a family-owned internet service provider which specialises in providing fast broadband to rural, hard to reach areas that conventional suppliers don’t cover. “We have enjoyed working with
Airband and its founders, Redmond and Miranda Peel, and are delighted to have advised on this transaction.” Redmond Peel said: “Providing
better infrastructure and connectivity to rural areas of the UK is at the heart of the Government’s plan for growth - and is crucial in the post-Brexit economy. This £16m investment means that we are able to play a key role in creating better infrastructure.”
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