New hiked up skill and salary thresholds are set to put the brakes on work-related immigration after the Easter break. Tougher criteria will apply, but as always, it isn’t straightforward, and employers may struggle to make sense of the new landscape. Matthew Davies, Partner and Head of Business Immigration and Tracie Udall, Partner put the latest changes into context and perspective, and set out the key points.

As a general rule, proprietary estoppel claims normally arise after the death of someone who has made a promise to another - only for the latter to discover that the former had reneged on their promise and that, against expectations, they do not stand to inherit the property as promised. The case of Guest v Guest is however, an example of a proprietary estoppel claim being brought by the son against his parents while they were still alive.

The Employment Rights Bill, which was published on October 10, 2024, proposes to make significant changes to UK Employment Law, which will affect both employees and employers. It is said to be one of the most significant “overhauls” of UK Employment Law in decades.

“An Englishman still remains at liberty at his death to dispose of his own property in whatever way he pleases or, if he chooses to do so, to leave that disposition to be regulated by the laws of intestate succession” Re Coventry (deceased) [1980].

We are continuing to see increasing numbers of contentious probate enquiries but what are the practical considerations to think about before embarking on this sort of litigation.

The Parliamentary Group for Inheritance and Intergenerational Fairness has been looking at IHT since February 2019 and has come up with some wide-ranging recommendations including reducing the current 40% inheritance tax rate to 10 – 20%, removing the tax-free CGT uplift on death, and abolishing APR and BPR.

Learn more about what constitutes unreasonable behaviour in divorce and how it could be considered in your divorce settlement.

Exploring the funding or payment options which are available for your legal fees is an important step before you decide which firm to instruct to represent you. On the face of it, a No Win, No Fee agreement might be attractive but deferred payment agreements can be less costly if you are successful with your claim. Both options are explored further in this article.

A common factor in all the maternity-related scandals I’ve commented on over the past 10 years or so is staffing. Now, a report by the Royal College of Midwives underlines the chronic understaffing in some parts of the country by revealing the high number of vacancies with some Trusts having to increase their reliance on bank or agency staff.

A significant change to worker rights set to be introduced in April will ensure flexible working is more accessible than ever before and demonstrates the traditional 9-5 working pattern is ‘no longer the norm’, according to an employment law expert.