Had an Accident? Why You Should Instruct Your Solicitor Straight Away

Usually, when people have been injured in an accident, the last thing on their minds is to pursue a claim for their injury. This can be due to a number of personal factors however; it is not always the best decision to make.

Being in an accident is stressful. If you have a right to make a claim, the daily stresses of life may mean although you are thinking about it you are just not getting round to take the practical step if doing it.

There are numerous reasons as to why delaying this process can affect your claim as a whole. The reasons are as follows;

• Your memory at the time of the accident, compared to a few months down the line can fade. Therefore, crucial facts in establishing liability can be forgotten or not be a true reflection of how the accident actually occurred. Examples of this may be the time of the accident or the speed of The third-party driver.
• Witnesses to the accident may be harder to reach. They may not value the importance of the specific information required in order to establish liability. They may also forget important factors of accident circumstances.
• If there is any CCTV of the accident, this may no longer be available as this is usually only kept for a period of 3 months. This is an essential piece of evidence when assessing liability.
• The third party’s insurers will question why you have left it so long to pursue a claim and can try and allege it is not genuine.

Taking into consideration the above listed points, at Nayyars Solicitors we urge you to bring your claim to our specialist claims handlers as soon as possible after the accident. Should you need to come into the office to discuss your claim initially, you are able to book a face to face appointment when it is convenient for you.

Can There Be a Dispute Over Your Will When You Die?

You are entitled in your lifetime to divide your property up any way you wish. This should be done with certainty and without the worry that it may not be followed in the future. Recent Government statistics showed that the number of Wills that are being contested each year is rising. It is still a very small percentage in comparison with the number of Wills that are written.

The question we often get asked when taking instructions to draft a Will is – can it be challenged? The short answer to that is yes. We know that is not what the client wants to hear but nothing can stop someone from contesting a Will. However, the real question should be “Can my Will be successfully challenged?’. The short answer to that is that is depends on how well it has been drafted. At Nayyars Solicitors we take great care in taking detailed instructions and our aim to always to make a client’s Will watertight and stand up in Court to any challenge.

Wills are challenged if they contain anything controversial, so for example, if one of the children is missed out or nothing is left to a spouse. A Will is normally contested by the person who expected to receive part of the estate as a beneficiary. They can challenge the Will on a number of different grounds including the person making it was under undue influence or was not of sound mind.

There are several legal methods in making it clear that the contents of the Will were the wishes of the person making them. As stated above, we will complete a detailed questionnaire with the Will and keep extensive notes. These are stored with the clients file and may be produced as evidence of the client’s wishes. We normally advise clients to tell their loved ones (if they want to) what they have done and why. They could write a letter to their Executors which sets out the reasons why they have excluded a particular person from the Will. This letter can be stored with the Will. The reason could also be mentioned in the Will itself.

A good solicitor should be able to draft a Will according to the clients wishes without the worry that the Will could be successfully challenged. At Nayyars Solicitors we handle all matters of Wills and Probate with sensitivity and confidence.

If you would like to make a Will call our Team today.

Calling an Elderly Relative to the UK

Being separated from a parent who is in another country can be difficult. Even more stressful, can be the fact that he/she is alone and has no-one to depend on. In many cultures, particularly in the Asian subcontinent, off-spring are expected to look after their aging parents. There are no provisions for care homes or pensions and the parent is dependent on their adult child in their old age to care for them. How do the U.K’s immigration laws treat this situation? Do we not all deserve the right to a family life together?

The position in the Immigration Rules is clear. If you satisfy the very onerous requirements then an adult dependent can be granted indefinite leave to remain in the U.K and reside with his/her adult sponsor. The catch however, is it is extremely difficult to satisfy the criteria.

First of all the person you want to sponsor has to be a parent, grandparent, sibling or child over the age of 18 of the person who wants to call them over. An uncle or aunt does not fulfil this criteria.

Secondly you need to be able to show that your adult relative dependent has a level of long term personal care that they cannot get in their own country, either due to cost or availability. Personal care is defined as requiring assistance with everyday tasks such as washing, cooking, dressing. This can be due to age, illness or disability which means they require long term personal care to perform everyday tasks. You will need independent medical evidence to prove the relatives physical or mental condition. You will also need to prove the relationship by way of birth certificates or other evidence.

Thirdly you have to prove that they cannot get the care in their home country, even with the practical and financial help of the sponsor because it is not available and there is no-one to provide it or it is not affordable. If they have a spouse or other child in that country living with them or nearby then the Application is likely to be refused as they will be expected to look after the relative.

The Application has to be made from abroad. It cannot be made from the UK.

These are very difficult Applications to make and recent statistics show the number of successful Applications has significantly fallen. It is vital that you instruct the right solicitor to do this for you.

If you do wish to bring over a parent or grandparent to the UK to look after them, please call our Immigration Team. We can assist in advising you on the Application for an Adult Dependent Relative Visa.

Are You Ready? Gdpr (General Data Protection Regulation)

The GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) will take effect in every EU member state on 25th May 2018 and will affect every organisation that collects or handles data relating to EU residents.

Failure to meet the requirements could turn out to be expensive – up to 4% of annual global turnover or €20 million, whichever is greater. The data controller is responsible for demonstrating that the organisation applies to the six principles outlined in Article 5 of the GDPR:

Personal data must be:

1. be processed lawfully, fairly and transparently.
2. be adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary for processing.
3. accurate and kept up to date.
4. kept in a form such that the data subject can be identified only as long as is necessary for processing.
5. processed in a manner that ensures its security.

and can only:

6. be collected for specified, explicit and legitimate purposes.

These six principles are at the heart of the Regulation, but it’s important to consider other areas, including: consent and documentation of consent, lawful processing, controller/processor contracts, the data protection officer (DPO), accountability and the board, and how to respond to data breaches.

There has to be a legitimate reason for collecting data. This should be made clear in the organisation’s GDPR Policy.

If you consider that a breach has taken place then you need to report it to the ICO within 72 hours. This may result in a fine/ civil and/or criminal action.

At Nayyars all of our data is collected and used in a compliant manner. We take Privacy very seriously and will only use your personal information to update you on your file and also to provide you with news about our legal services.  We will NOT share your personal information with any third party companies.

A full copy of our Privacy Policy is available from our Website or by contacting us on 0161 491 8520.

Macmillan Coffee Morning – Come and Join Us

Just a quick reminder that the Nayyars Annual Macmillan Coffee Morning is taking place tomorrow between 11-1pm at our offices in Cheadle. We are holding our Coffee Morning a couple of days earlier than the official one as we have so much on this week…. but we didn’t want to miss out on a Nayyars tradition!

We have been busy baking cakes and sweet treats for you to sample. We have some amazing cakes…. look out for our Kit Kat Cupcakes, Vanilla Sponge and Courgette & Cheese Muffins! Mary Berry eat your heart out!

There will be tea and coffee to enjoy too. Your favourite legal team will be happy to mix and mingle with you all too.

There is a serious part to this too. Macmillan Cancer Support is a charity that aims to improve the lives of people with cancer. They do an incredible job and we are proud to be helping support them. Every penny that you donate at our Coffee Morning will be passed to Macmillan Cancer Support.

Please try and join us! We are looking forward to this year being our best ever yet!

The Coffee Morning will take place at our Cheadle Office at Hexagon House, 21-23 Gatley Road, Cheadle, SK8 1NZ. There will be car parking available. Our telephone number is 0161 491 8520 for further details.

Does the Reason for Divorce Matter?

For anyone who is considering ending a marriage, the prospect of having to point to a specific date or event as the reason for the divorce is daunting.

It can be even tougher if you don’t have a smoking gun and want a divorce because you have simply drifted apart?

In reality, there isn’t a judge in the country who will refuse a divorce. In today’s world, it is accepted that not all marriages will last forever but do you still have to give a reason?

Does the Reason for Divorce Matter?

For many years, anyone seeking a divorce has had to demonstrate fault to the court. That means if a wife wants to get divorced from her husband, she has to show he did something to make the marriage irretrievable.

To do this, there were five reasons – also known as facts – for why marriage has broken down and a divorce may be granted, including

1. Adultery: Your husband or wife had sexual intercourse with someone else. Adultery cannot be used as a reason if you lived with your partner as a couple for more than six months after you found out about it.
2. Unreasonable behaviour: Your husband or wife has behaved in a way that means you cannot be expected to live with them. This could include but is not limited to domestic violence, drunkenness and refusal to share living expenses.
3. Desertion: You husband or wife has left you for a minimum of two years before you apply for divorce.
4. Separated for two years: If you’ve been separated from your husband or wife for two years, you can be granted a divorce if you both consent.
5. Separated for five years: If you’ve been separated from your husband or wife for five years, you can be granted a divorce even if one party does not consent.

As you can probably guess, the requirement to apportion fault to at least one of the parties did, in some instances, take perfectly amicable separations and invite blame and bitterness. This made some divorces difficult for entire families.

This is still the case today. However, the reason we’re speaking about these reasons in the past tense is because change is on the horizon.

Removing the Blame Game

As of 9th April 2019, the Government announced that legislation would be introduced to remove the need to attribute fault by the reasons given above.

Instead, individuals wanting to seek a divorce would only have to provide a statement of irretrievable breakdown. In this way, those seeking a divorce do not have to point to singular moments and instead can give a more rounded account of why they wish to end the marriage.

While the scrapping of the three fault-based reasons for divorce is the headline change, other elements of the proposed legislation will also have a significant impact. These include:

• The removal of the husband or wife’s right to contest the divorce (though a legal ground for challenging the application will remain).
• The option to submit a joint application.
• The minimum time a divorce will take to complete will be six months from petition to divorce (unless there are exceptional circumstances).

The current two-stage decree process will be retained, in which a decree nisi is granted first. This is a court order that identifies a future date on which the marriage will end unless good reason not to is produced.

Secondly, a decree absolute is granted, which actually dissolves the marriage. Both of these decrees will still need to be applied for separately.

This legislation was only announced recently, and as such, a date has not yet been set for when it will come into force. However, there are calls for it to be enacted quickly. If you’re considering a divorce, then, speak to a solicitor to learn more about your options now and in the future.

Starting Divorce Proceedings

If you want to explore the potential of ending your marriage, the best first step you can take is to speak to an experienced solicitor. They will be able to help you understand the divorce process in more detail and give you more information on how to demonstrate the marriage has broken down irretrievably.

If you’re just looking for a little more information on the process of divorce, here are the rough steps:

1. Speak to your partner: This may seem the toughest part, but the best way to achieve an amicable divorce is to agree on elements such as child arrangements and the division of money, property and possessions.
2. Use a mediator: Depending on your reasons for considering divorce, you may choose to use a neutral third party to help you resolve any issues you’ve encountered in agreeing on the terms of the divorce.
3. Apply for divorce: You can apply for divorce using details of yourself and your partner, along with your marriage certificate, or your solicitor can do so for you. If you’re expecting any kind of dispute it’s well worth using a solicitor.
4. Your partner responds: Following the acceptance of your application, the court will send your partner the divorce application and ‘acknowledgement of service’ form. Your partner will need to reply within eight days and state whether they agree with the divorce, intend to try and prevent (defend) it or object to paying the costs you’ve claimed.
5. If your partner agrees with the divorce: You can apply for a decree nisi.
6. If your partner defends the divorce: They’ll need to provide an ‘answer to divorce’ form stating why they disagree with the divorce. If they do not submit an answer you may have to go to court to discuss the case.
7. Apply for decree nisi: If the divorce is agreed by your partner you can apply for a decree nisi. If it is not agreed, you can still apply, but you’ll have to go to a court hearing to discuss the case so a judge can decide whether you are entitled to a divorce.
8. Apply for a decree absolute: This decree will legally dissolve your marriage. You’ll have to wait 43 days from the granting of the decree nisi before you can apply for the decree absolute, during which time you’ll still be legally married.

This is just a brief overview of the divorce process in England and Wales. If you expect there to be a dispute from your partner over the divorce itself, the division of assets or child care and maintenance, you should seek professional advice from a solicitor as soon as possible.

Conclusion

At the time of writing this article, you still need to provide one of the five listed reasons for wanting a divorce. However, change is on the horizon, with the Government planning to abolish the current blame-game process.

You’ll still need to provide a statement to show why the divorce has irretrievably broken down, but you’ll no longer have to show fault or point to any one moment, should you not wish to.

If you’re considering a divorce or going through the process currently, speak to Nayyars Solicitors to discuss your options and learn how we can help you make the process as smooth as possible.

Farewell 2019!

So as we enter the last few days of 2019, I can sit back and reflect on all that we have achieved. It has been without doubt our best year to date. When we started Nayyars, I have to confess we didn’t really think about what the future would hold…I was too busy holding my head above the water (and my newborn baby!). Suffice to say we have been a success story and 2019 was the year that really was the icing on the cake.

We were nominated for and won a number of prestigious awards including one from the Law Society itself at their Excellence Awards. The ballroom at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London was packed full of the creme de la creme of the legal field and to go on an win an award really is the pinnacle of any lawyer’s career. We are now ready for our own trophy cabinet!  I know this year we have made winning awards look easy but I can assure you it is not. There is an incredible amount of hard work and dedication that goes on behind the scenes by everyone at Nayyars. We have been shortlisted again for awards in 2020 so watch this space….

Our motto at Nayyars has always been to work hard and play hard. This year has been no different as our Social Committee have successfully organised a number of events where the Team have had a lot of fun together!

I spent the summer filming as a Presenter for the forthcoming BBC documentary “Crime: Are We Tough Enough?” I have now had a chance to watch it and honestly cannot wait to share the journey with you. It airs on BBC 1 at 9.15am on 27th January 2020. Set that record button now!

We took part in a number of charity projects this year including our annual Macmillan Coffee Morning, collections for the Wellspring in Stockport and a visit to Pakistan to visit a school Nayyars Solicitors have adopted there. Throughout the year, all money raised from oaths, attestations and certifying documents is donated to charity. Giving back is important to the Nayyars Team.

We have had a month of fun in December at Nayyars and we are ending the year on a high. Our Xmas Party, Festive Bingo and Guess the Baby Competition have been our best yet! We close from 1pm on Xmas Eve until 2nd January 2020!

Thank you to the Nayyars Team none of whom it would be possible without. We are a work family at Nayyars and that is what makes us different from other law firms. We have a number of new starters in January as the Nayyars Team will be expanding. 2020 is looking to be a great year already!

Thank you to all the amazing companies that we work with many of whom we have the pleasure of calling good friends (you know who you are!).

Finally thank you to all our clients who continue to work with us and recommend us.

There is no better feeling than when hard work pays off!

Wishing you all the best for 2020.

Cohabitation

Know your rights when it comes to cohabitation: If you’ve recently moved in with a partner, make sure you know your legal rights! Our very own Ayesha Nayyar appeared on Steph’s Packed Lunch to discuss cohabitation rights as more people are moving in together in these strange times.

Redundancy

Redundancy is a big concern for people especially with furlough finishing and employers being asked for bigger wage contributions, they will be making difficult decisions. The R word is on a lot of people’s minds at present and sadly everyone worried needs to think about a contingency plan. It is important that you are prepared and know your legal rights

If you are told there are going to be redundancies at work, what should you expect? the answer to that depends on the future of the whole business. If it’s closing, then redundancy is inevitable. However, if only certain people are being made redundant, that is different. They will go into a redundancy pool and there will be a consultation period. Employees should be told what the selection criteria is and these must be fair and objective. Employers can’t discriminate on grounds of race and sex obviously but also age, whether the person has children, disability etc. It’s not just last in, first out. The criteria can also look at disciplinary records, staff appraisals, skills, experience, qualifications etc. Most employers will have a marking scheme to rank the employees.

The consultation process is a two-way process. There has to be a meaningful discussion between employer and employee and at least one meeting. You can ask to take a colleague or a union rep into meetings for support or to take notes. At this stage you may be fighting for your job so it is important that you prepare for the meeting. Try and come up with solutions to save your job eg to vary the terms of your contract or fewer hours in order to stay on

Once the consultation period is over you should be notified of the result in writing and you have the right to appeal – check with your employer how that works.  If your employer offers you another job you’re not obliged to take it but you could do a four-week trial period. If you reject it after that, you will still get redundancy. Do all your communication about this in writing.

If you are going to be made redundant, then it is important to know what you are entitled to. Your contract will often outline your redundancy pay and notice period. If the contract is silent on this or refers to statutory redundancy, there’s a set amount which depends on how long you have been employed. If employed for more than two years you are entitled to redundancy pay and the amount will depend on your age. 21 or under: half a week for every full year worked. Between 22 and 40: full week for every year worked. Over 41: week and a half for every year worked.  It’s based on your normal average wage, not furlough pay. Holiday pay and commission is included (at pre furlough rate). The bad news is there is a statutory cap so you can only get up to £538 per week to a maximum of £16,140.

Your employer will tell you in writing how your redundancy payment is calculated and about your notice period – you should be paid for your notice period on top of redundancy pay and you should expect to work it. Your employer can never make you accept statutory redundancy pay if your contract offers something different – the terms of your contract supersede the statutory provisions.

Losing your job is very tough but it’s the job that’s being made redundant, not you, so try not to take it personally. It is important to know where you stand. Read your contract (or the statutory provisions). ACAS runs a free redundancy helpline and has lots of resources on its website

The Government have launched a new scheme JETS and it’s aimed at people on jobs benefits who have been out of work for 13 weeks. It will offer work coaches, specialist advice and help moving between sectors. You never know, it might be time to reassess your career and training

You are in the same position as a lot of other people out there, help is available and remember however bad it gets history promises us that we will get out of this economic recession. There is always a new dawn.