Following a recent request, and in consultation with our family law author, we have developed a Questions on the financial statement precedent for the Financial remedy guide. Read more...

Following feedback, we have added a declaration for those giving a gift towards the purchase of a property. This declaration is requested by many lenders, and we have incorporated the various different requirements into one single, simple, document. A covering letter is also now included. Read more...

We are pleased to announce that a new Estates Disputes publication has been published. Comprising two guides, Estate disputes – Acting for the claimant and Estate disputes – Acting for the defendant, the publication contains all the commentary, precedents, and forms needed. Read more...

The domestic agreement process can be tricky for clients to understand. By Lawyers have published several new client enclosures to help practitioners further explain the process and inform their client. Read more...

With the welcome return to some kind of normality for us all, the last vestiges of Practice Direction 55C have expired. This means the impact of COVID-19 no longer needs to be discussed in particulars of claim for possession proceedings. The relevant property dispute commentaries and precedents have been updated to reflect this. The related paragraphs in the defence precedents will remain for a few months as we appreciate that responding to a claim may take some time.

The Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022 is in force from 30 June 2022. The Act restricts ground rents on new residential long leases to an annual nominal rent of a peppercorn. Any landlord who contravenes the Act can be fined up to £30,000. The property guides have been updated to reflect these changes.

The Private Child Arrangements guide has been extensively reviewed and updated to ensure that the commentaries and precedents are in line with current law and practice. Read more...

The Immigration Appeals guide has been updated to include new forms for proceedings in the Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber). The matter plan now also includes precedents for a Brief to counsel, Skeleton argument and Witness statement for use in Immigration matters. We invite you to explore this updated publication. Comments and feedback are always welcomed.

The recent decision to change the name of this folder to General Deeds, Agreements, Statements, Declarations, Consents & Execution Clauses grants the opportunity to highlight its usefulness once again. Read more...

The Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020 heralds the biggest change to divorce law for decades and a new guide tailored to fit the new process has been published. The commentary and matter plan both guide practitioners through the new process, and new letters reflect the updated terminology.

In the light of the UK Government’s Living with COVID-19 plan the Dealing with legal issues during COVID-19 publication has been amended and updated. This helpful resource can be found at the top of every matter plan and covers a wide range of issues.

Most of the requirements for possession claims set out in Practice Direction 55C are no longer in force, and our commentaries have been amended accordingly.

Two new precedents have been added to the Sale and Purchase of Land guides: a Deed of covenant and a Deed of rectification. The commentaries have also been significantly enhanced. Read more...

We have published a new article on Using Retainer Instructions which we hope By Lawyers users will find helpful.

n response to a user request, we have compiled four example content documents covering the four most common concise financial remedy orders: Concise clean break order with one joint account to close and one property to be sold; Concise clean break order with a lump sum payment, one pension to be shared and one property to be transferred; Concise order with spousal maintenance, one pension to be shared and one property to be transferred; and Concise Mesher order for deferred sale. These can be found in the Financial Remedy guide, within the C. Settling it early folder. They are alongside a Template Financial remedy order into which the example content can be copied and pasted. The paragraphs in the Clauses for a Financial remedy order (The Orders Project - Financial Remedy Omnibus) can be used to supplement the new concise orders to cater for more complex situations. We have also produced a Deed of assignment to secure legal costs - Sears Tooth Agreement also in response to a user request. This can be found in the Getting the matter underway folder.