it is a tax on your estate (your assets) that may be liable for inheritance tax when you die. Usually, if your house, money and other belongings are worth less than £325,000 you don’t pay. If you’re married or in a civil partnership, the threshold goes up to £650,000 on the second death; after that it’s usually a flat rate tax of 40%. It’s tempting to think this is a tax only for the wealthy, but with house prices as they are today you might want to think again. From 6th April 2017, there is an additional allowance being introduced.  It starts at £100,000 per person which is in addition to the £325,000. There are various criteria to qualify: they include owning a residence which will pass to direct descendants.

What is a declaration of trust?

A declaration of trust is a document that sets out who owns what percentage of a property, so when it's sold everybody knows what they’re entitled to. They’re useful documents if you're an unmarried couple, you've made unequal contributions to buying a house, or loaned somebody else the money to buy or improve a house. 

A trust is a legal device used as a way of planning for the future and providing protection. You can use a trust to pass your wealth on to your children or grandchildren, to pay for school fees or a care home, or as part of your tax planning. 

Incapacity law steps in when people can no longer make decisions for themselves. Mental illness, old age or accidents can make every day decisions harder. We might not understand or remember the choices or even be able to communicate a decision. The implications can be severe – for example, on personal finances. If you’re concerned about your own future, or somebody you know is aving trouble making decisions, you should get professional advice. 

Whether you can change terms and conditions without consent will normally depend on what you are seeking to change, and whether the contract allows you to do so. In the absence of a contractual right to vary, employers should normally seek to obtain employees’ agreement to the changes sought. Failure to do so may give rise to claims including breach of contract and/or constructive dismissal. However, consultation and agreement with staff to vary terms, for say, reduced hours, can be a practical and effective way to minimise or avoid compulsory redundancies and should be considered where appropriate. 

You can seek employees’ agreements to pay reductions on a temporary or permanent basis to avoid or reduce redundancies. If you have a contractual clause to place staff on short time working that may also provide you with a way to reduce your payroll costs on an interim basis. In the absence of agreement or contractual right, employers who impose pay reductions could be liable for claims by employees including breach of contract and/or unlawful deductions from wages.

Each case will depend on the circumstances but the test for redundancy is set out under section 139 of the Employment Rights Act which defines a redundancy situation, typically as meaning a reduction in the needs of the business for work of a particular kind. This test should be applied at the point at which the decision to make an employee is redundant is confirmed. If circumstances change and an employer wishes to re-hire we recommend seeking legal advice as there may be implications of doing so, particularly if an alternative role is offered before their current employment ends. 

Every employer is different and may have different options available to reduce or avoid redundancies, and which may also depend on the reasons for the redundancy situation. If there is a need to save costs employers may consider a range of options including inviting volunteers for redundancies, putting bonuses on hold, pay freezes, cutting other costs and expenditure. However, a failure to apply an alternative costs saving measure to avoid redundancy will not necessarily render a dismissal for redundancy unfair.  

The stages of a redundancy process will depend on the type of business, reasons for redundancy, and numbers involved. If 20+ redundancies special collective consultation rules apply and the decision to make redundancies must be notified to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. There would then follow, a process of organise the election of employee representatives would be consulted for minimums of 30 to 45 days depending on the numbers of staff involved, along with some individual consultation before redundancies are declared. For less than 20 staff affected, there are no set timescales but a requirement for meaningful consultation. Typically this can include inviting volunteers and consulting on ways to avoid redundancies, and proposed selection criteria, application of those criteria, and then, for those selected, consideration of any potentially suitable alternative roles available. 

This will vary from one employer to another. Care should be take in applying subjective criteria to ensure that any opinions can be substantiated. Objective criteria might include attendance, time keeping, work output. Take care to avoid discriminatory criteria or applying criteria that would be discriminatory. There may be a need to make reasonable adjustments for employees with a disability.