Family, Home & Personal Law issues

This section addresses matters that affect individuals. There are times when it seems as if the problems we encounter during the course of our daily life, expand year on year. We have outlined below the areas where our firm is able to provide legal advice and support services; or access to specialist practitioners, where your particular circumstances require specific skills.

Residential property
This is both a traditional and core area of business for us. We provide advice and a comprehensive range of support services covering: conveyancing, remortgaging, buy-to-let, equity release, as well as tenancy and lease arrangements.

Family issues
Providing legal advice on family matters requires tact and empathy. Our team take time and care in dealing with the issues you may face as a result of separation or divorce (including arrangements for children). We also advise and provide support services for disputes between unmarried couples and for cases involving domestic violence.

Personal injury
Personal injury claims may arise from accidents at work, in public areas, road accidents, industrial diseases (including asbestos claims) or as a result of criminal injury. If you have any doubt regarding a potential claim we will not only advise you of your rights but can also pursue the claim on your behalf.

Wills, Probate, Tax and Trusts
People are living longer than every before and the need to protect accumulated wealth for your own use, or to pass on to your heirs, is vital. House price inflation means many homeowners fall into the Inheritance Tax net and with more and more people buying second homes, in the UK or abroad, there is increased need to use specialist advice to protect estates. We can advise on the drafting and updating of Wills, Inheritance Tax planning and the use and drafting of Trusts, Power of Attorney and Enduring Power of Attorney *. We also provide elderly client services and can deal with the administration of estates on death, including Probate.

* Enduring Powers of Attorney will become Lasting Powers of Attorney in October 2007

Employment
If you are an employee, at some stage in your career you may find yourself having to deal with unsettling and upsetting employment problems, where specialist knowledge and help is essential. The most common areas where we provide assistance and legal advice are: negotiating compromise agreements or severance terms, agreeing redundancy terms, unfair dismissal claims, dealing with disciplinary and grievance procedures, discrimination in the workplace and issues surrounding contracts of employment.

Resolving disputes
Disputes can cover an increasingly wide range of matters from boundary and property disagreements and conflicts with retailers, suppliers or service providers, to claims on the estate of someone who has passed away. They can also encompass repayment of debts or dealing with problems with contracts (employment or others), including landlord disputes.

Our firm has the experience and expertise to deal with these areas and, where required, provide support services to cater for personal debt management.

Criminal proceedings
We can advise on and provide legal services to deal with motoring offences, youth crime, fraud and corporate crime. Our services extend to providing advice and support arising from arrest and detention at the Police Station to dealing with the Crown Court or Court of Appeal; including finding and instructing a Barrister, where required.

Clinical negligence
Despite improvements in healthcare, incidents of clinical negligence sadly remain an issue for some individuals. We can advise and take action on your behalf for injuries resulting from negligence during birth, orthopaedic, trauma and surgical procedures (including dental treatment), as well as cases regarding access to cancer or other critical illness treatment and care.

Our firm can also provide these services under the Legal Aid scheme for individuals who are eligible to receive funding.