Professional service offices have changed radically in the wake of lockdown, or son of lockdown or other impediment to free movement or association.  More people now work in hybrid environments - working from home as well as from an office building and many folk with vulnerabilities are still seeking to avoid Covid-19 by reducing the time they spend in face to face situations. We are very happy to deal with your legal work in any way that works for you but, just to be clear, if you would like to actually see any of our staff we can usually arrange a one-to-one video link.

We support Cisco WebEx, Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Messenger, WhatsApp and Skype and most of us look much better on camera than we do in real life.  If you would like to link to us from the safety and comfort of your own home or office just let us know and we will be pleased to accommodate you.

In the current coronavirus emergency the government is taking extraordinary steps to restrict movement (and therefore to reduce the rate at which the virus spreads in the wild).  If you are moving house and have already exchanged contracts this gives you a potentially serious problem.  Under the terms of the contract you will have made legally binding pledges to move out / in (if you are selling or buying respectively) and both if you are both selling and buying.  Your solicitor may also have requested your new mortgage funds, if you are buying with a mortgage, and a redemption statement to be able to pay off any current mortgage on your sale.  All of these figures are usually time critical. The government has now advised that if the property you are planning to move to is not already vacant then you should make every effort to agree, within the chain of transactions that may be affected, that you will all agree to a postponement.

From a legal point of view this could be a nightmare but there is very strong governmental pressure upon all the relevant parties who are involved to facilitate this.

It may be as simple as agreeing to postpone a previously agreed completion date for a certain length of time or you may run the risk that the contractual provisions, which oblige you to vacate the house you are selling, are enforced against you by law (if an open Court can be found!).

If your removal company cannot meet the date they promised, they should agree to rebook without charging you an additional fee - but the terms you accepted when you signed up, may compel you to pay them, if the reason they cannot fulfil your insturctions is due to force majeure.

Most mortgage lenders have agreed that the validity period of any mortgage they have offered to you will be extended for three months if you have exchanged contracts but not been able to complete.

Last minute searches to check the state of a title at the Land Registry can be quickly and simply re-done by your solicitor to make sure that your purchase is protected.

The underlying position will be a sudden sharp cooling in the housing market and this may affect values of properties in the longer term.  If you find yourself in a difficult position in relation to your house sale or purchase as a result of the lockdown, take advice from your solicitor.  Most firms are running electronically with their staff now working from home and will be pleased to help you if they can. 

The aim, as always, is certainty, to make sure everyone know what is going to happen.

If you can't move, be kind, be patient and stay safe - this too shall pass.

I had the great good fortune to spend a couple of days in meetings in Strasbourg recently. A very beautiful city to visit - compact old, very old. and also very new.  The European Court of Human Rights sits on one of the many waterways through the city - looking, it has to be said, like a badly stacked drum kit.   Look at these pictures for a classically Strasbourg contrast.

IMG 20200210 181120 IMG 20200210 125507

 

The age old waterways - once a very thriving trade route and the Court responsible for moving forward the protection of Human Rights - and before anyone complains about the interference of that Court ask yourself which of your human rights do you not want protected?

We see a lot of clients who have been advised (sometimes elsewhere) to make Lasting Powers of Attorney ("LPA").

Generally speaking most clients do not clearly understand why this is a sensible thing to do so this article sets out to look at the pros and cons.

Firstly, what is an LPA?
This is the modern form of an Enduring Power of Attorney - in those the power "endured" regardless of the mental or physical state of the person who set it up (usually called the "donor" (Latin for "giver")) as a Power of Attorney is usually "given" by the donor to their trusted stand-in or attorney. 

In just the same way as Enduring Powers of Attorney continued to be applicable even after the donor lost capacity the "Lasting" in lasting powers of attorney means that the powers granted by the donor to the attorney "last" in the same circumstances.  Just to make this a little clearer - there are also "ordinary" powers of attorney - these neither endure nor last - if the donor loses capacity the power of attorney can no longer be used as the power to use it is an extension to the powers of the original donor - so, if they can no longer act, neither can their attorney.

They come in two flavours.
LPA for property and financial affairs - these allow the attorney to make decisions and deal with the property and finances of the donor.

LPA for health and welfare - these allow the attorney to make decisions about health care (including agreeing to or refusing life sustaining treatment, if the donor wishes them to have these powers) and welfare generally.

Why should I / shouldn't I make one?
The vast majority of people will be fortunate and will retain mental and physical capacity to make their own decisions and sign their own documents for their whole life.  However each step forward in medical care makes it more likely that an increasing  number of us will lose the capacity to manage our own affairs - and for those folk having a trusted appointed attorney may be vital.  For many purposes the LPA may take effect as though it were a Will but allowing your attorney to deal with your affairs during your lifetime, rather than allowing your executors to deal with them after your death. If you have any concerns about what would happen if you were to lose capacity then you should certainly consider making an LPA.

The real difficulty is that the LPA is not something which can be set up in a few minutes.  The forms do not take long to complete but registering the power with the Office of the Public Guardian (a necessary first step before the power is valid) currently takes 8-10 weeks - not conducive to urgent decision-making - and this is probably the most important reason for making an LPA when you don't have any urgent need to.

Crucial things to understand.
An LPA does not usually give attorneys any powers to benefit themselves - the entire regime is set up on the basis that decisions made by an attorney must be made in the best interests of the donor - this sometimes leads to some serious difficulties - for example if one of a married couple becomes unwell and cannot any longer manage their own affairs it may seem logical that their half share in the matrimonial home might be passed to their children - after all if they are in a home they no longer need it and it would be better for their financial interest in the property not to still be in their hands if questions about their ability to pay fees may arise - but would the actions of the attorneys deciding to transfer the patient's property share be legal?

Regardless of LPA - most healthcare decisions are taken on the basis of perceived medical need - doctors admitting someone to hospital in a distressed or confused state will tend to treat the symptoms first and may have no idea whether there is an LPA giving a third party the right to be involved in health care decisions.

So who should I appoint?
If you have a trusted next generation appointing someone who is younger and fitter but who has your interests at heart is usually a good bet. There are rapacious children who would conspire to do their parent down - but they are fortunately very rare.

How should I appoint my attorney(s)?
I think the commonest mistake most people make when constructing their own LPA is to appoint more than one attorney but to then specify that they must act "Jointly" - if you have three attorneys and all of them are appointed jointly then if any one of them dies, is unavailable, or declines to act, their individual action (or inaction) means that no other attorney can carry out your wishes as you said they could only do this if they acted "jointly".  It is far better to opt for "jointly and severally" which basically means your attorneys can act alone or together - so any of your attorneys can make decisions for you even if the others are away, unwell or perhaps even dead.

Restrictions:
Many folk get very exercised about whether or not they should impose restrictions or conditions upon what their attorney(s) can do.  For example some people regard their home as so important that their attorneys should not be allowed to consider selling it unless they are unanimous - or unless a doctor certifies that they have lost capacity.  My own view is that rather than imposing restrictions on what the attorneys can do it is usually better to choose an attorney whose judgement you trust and who you know will look after you as a priority.

We are always happy to help clients consider Lasting Powers of Attorney - please contact Nick Fluck or James Buxton via our contacts pages for more details.


We are delighted to be open more or less as usual once again.

If you need to see someone specific please note that some of our staff are still splitting their time between working from home and working in the office.

Our main office number gives details of how to contact us and our staff can be called and emailed using the numbers and details in their contact entries on this website.

If you need to contact any member of staff please use our main office telephone number first during normal office hours. 

If you have an appointment and become unwell or if you are aware that you have been in contact with someone who has the virus please do not come to our offices but contact us by phone or email and we will arrange a video call if you have the equipment or can usually set up a telephone conference for those with less technology in the home.

Please ring us on +44 (0) 1780 751226.

 

(Our phone lines are usually open from 09:00 - 13:00 and 14:00 - 17:00 with an answerphone service outside those hours).

Our fax number is +44 (0) 1780 766407.

If you have become an afficionado of video conferencing during lockdown, we will be pleased to meet with you virtually - there is a separate corner of cyberspace set aside and freshly wiped-down just for you!

We often deal with email contacts outside these hours and can also often arrange to see clients outside these hours by appointment too.

Do come and see us or drop us a line on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or use our contacts links if you know who you need to see. 

We look forward to meeting you!