,

HEXHAM SOLICITORS WELCOME NEW RECRUITS

Steve Bell, Helen Appleby-Mitchell and Richard Nelson

Hexham Solicitors Nicholson Portnell are delighted to announce the recruitment of new members to their busy conveyancing and Private Client teams.

Although steeped in farming thanks to his upbringing on a Devon Farm, Steve Bell took the opportunity on leaving school to enter the legal profession, initially in a clerical and later IT capacity. This sparked a lifelong interest in the law, which Steve pursued by initially qualifying as a legal executive. This led to further academic qualifications and ultimately to his qualifying as a solicitor in 2006.

Pursuing his career with four firms in his native Devon, Steve initially dealt with both Conveyancing and Private Client matters before eventually opting to specialise in Private Client work.

Changing family circumstances led Steve and his wife Tracy to make the decision to relocate to the North East. Explaining the decision to move the entire length of the country, Steve says that he and Tracy have been in the habit of visiting the North East for a number of years, eventually leading to their decision that it was the place for them to settle.

Since making his move north, Steve has been filling his spare time with exploring his new surroundings and especially in walking the beaches in Northumberland coast.

His move north also made it somewhat easier for Steve to pursue one of his other interests in life namely following Leeds United Football Club. Asked how he came to follow this particular team, Steve attributes it to his elder brother, who was a dedicated fan in the Leeds heyday of 1970s, and who passed on his love of the club to younger brother Steve.

Steve’s involvement in football has not been limited to  spectating, having been a speedy winger in his youth. Indeed, speed seems to be something of a common thread in Steve’s sporting interests, as he is a been motorcyclist and Formula 1 fan, and has even, on occasion, raced Formula Ford in his time.

Nicholson Portnell’s second recruitment of the spring actually sees the return of a familiar face in Helen Appleby-Mitchell. Originally from Gateshead, Helen was with Nicholson Portnell  from 2014 until 2016, having previously attended the university of Hertfordshire and trained as a solicitor in Milton Keynes.

Following her initial spell with Nicholson Portnell, Helen worked as a solicitor with firms in the Chester le Street and Gateshead areas, before taking a career break to become a mum to daughter Robyn and son Joe. Having become a mum, Helen wanted to adjust her work-life balance, and Nicholson Portnell, with its family-orientated flexible working patterns, seemed the ideal place to restart her career.

As a busy working mum, Helen’s spare time is limited, but she invests much of it in music. A multi-instrumentalist in her youth, Helen now concentrates on singing in a Rock Choir. Although Helen’s choir is based in Chester le Street, Rock Choir is a national organisation, which occasionally sees several local branch choirs linking up into national mega choir.

Not content with this, Helen is also a keen runner, currently returning to the “Couch to 5K” fitness programme. She has completed several marathons in the past and is now working up to that level once again.

Welcoming Steve and Helen to the firm, partner Richard Nelson said that he was delighted that the firm had acquired 2 experienced practitioners who both fully subscribed to the firms ethos of providing a professional yet personal service.

Both Helen and Steve look forward to meeting clients and being of service to them in the years to come.

 

/by
,

ARE YOU A TRUSTEE? YOU MAY NEED TO TAKE ACTION TO COMPLY WITH NEW REGULATIONS

Sara Frost

Sara Frost

The introduction of the 5th Anti-Money Laundering Directive means that a great number of Trusts, which did not previously need to be registered with H M Revenue & Customs (HMRC), may now need to register with an on-line service called the Trust Registration Service (TRS), even if they have not incurred any tax liabilities.

There may be many Trustees who are not aware of this or may not fully appreciate that the way that they co-own assets with other people may in fact constitute a Trust which needs to be registered. For example, people who have property registered in their names, but in fact the property is also held by them for the benefit of other people whose names do not appear on the legal title deeds are in fact Trustees and would need to register with the TRS.

Other types of Trust which may need to be registered are Trusts created by a Will or during some-one’s lifetime and certain types of financial products such as Investments written in Trust and gift and loan Trusts.

For Trusts already in existence, the date they should be registered is the 1st September 2022. Trustees can deal with this themselves (www.gov.uk/guidance/register-a-trust-as-a-trustee), although the procedure is a little complicated, or they may find their accountants are able to help them deal with this. They will need to have available details of the Trust document, and the name, address, date of birth and national insurance number for the Trustees, and the names of the beneficiaries of the Trust. The lead Trustee, dealing with the registration on behalf of all Trustees, will need to have created an on-line organisation gateway account with HMRC.

HMRC have power to impose a penalty of up to £5,000 for failing to register or to keep the TRS up to date once registration is complete if they feel this is a result of deliberate behaviour on the part of the Trustees.  They have stated that if they identify such a Trust, they may issue a warning letter initially, with a penalty following if the warning is ignored. However, professionals dealing with assets held in Trust are now obliged to check that the Trust has been registered with the TRS, so if this has not been done it may need to be registered before any action can be taken.

If you need advice on whether your Trust would need to be registered, please contact Sara Frost, Alan Douglas, or Rebecca Griffiths.

/by
,

Buying or Selling? Quality Assured

Read more
/by
, ,

Pension Sharing on Divorce

When a marriage breaks down the parties will usually seek legal advice as to how their assets should be divided.  Matrimonial assets include any pension benefits which the parties owned at the date of their separation. Generally only those pensions which have been built up during the marriage (and any period of living together immediately before the marriage) are taken into account.

A pension sharing order, if made, will  form part of a general financial  order made within the divorce proceedings and will state that one person should receive a specified share of the other person’s pension or pensions.  If it is agreed in principle that pensions should be shared equally and a number of pensions are involved or a person who is a member of a final salary pension scheme is close to requirement it may be necessary to ask a pensions specialist to give advice as to how the pensions should be shared in order to provide equalisation of income to each party on retirement.

Once a pension sharing order has been made a copy is sent to the pension provider(s) for implementation.  The NHS Pension Scheme currently charges £3,142 and the Teachers’ Pension Scheme £3,000 to implement a pension sharing order but most pension providers charge considerably less. With some schemes the person receiving the ‘pension credit’ will have to become a member of that particular pension scheme. Other schemes will insist that the credit is transferred to a separate personal pension plan in the name of the person to whom the credit is to be transferred.

If a person is some way from retirement he or she may agree not to pursue a clam for a pension sharing order or accept a reduced percentage in return for receiving a greater share of the other assets (for example the proceeds of sale of the family home). This is known as ‘off setting’.

It will be seen that pension sharing is a complicated issue which may involve lawyers, pensions specialists, accountants and independent financial advisers.

 

/by
,

Surcharge Stories

It is now just over a year since revised rules relating to Stamp Duty Land Tax implemented.

The aim seemed straightforward; SDLT payable on the purchase of our home is payable at a basic rate, but if we buy an additional residential property we pay the normal rate plus a 3% surcharge.

However in practice the legislation can give rise to many surprises and anomalies;

For example, say Mr and Mrs C lived in a cottage provided by Mr C’s employer, several years ago they bought a buy to let property.  Mr C has now changed his job and no accommodation is provided.  They decide to buy a home to live in, without selling the buy to let.  They must pay a surcharge on the property they are now buying because they already own a property. If Mr and Mrs C had always owned their home, and were now selling and replacing it, normal rates would apply.

Married couples are treated as one entity; so, say a couple Andrew and Belinda, both home owners decide to marry and move in together into Andrews’s house;  Andrew can afford the mortgage so there seems no need to put the property in joint names.  Belinda decides to sell her house and replace it by a small flat, and the flat is nearby that will be more convenient to let out, than her former home.  Because they are a married couple the purchase of the new flat will be subject to the surcharge.  If they were not married it would be at the normal rate

These are two very specific examples. Lease Extensions, Transfers of Equity, Company purchases, people owning property abroad, partnership property and more can all be caught by the surcharge. There are also some surprising exceptions.  If you or your spouse any interest in another property, it might be worth getting advice on SDLT before buying, to help with budgeting.

It might even affect your actions – Stamp duty considerations might not have deterred Andrew and Belinda from marrying, but they might wish Belinda had bought her flat before the wedding, they could have saved enough to pay for an expensive honeymoon!

 

 

 

/by

A Major New Inheritance Tax Relief Residence Nil Rate Band

A new IHT relief is to be phased in from April 2017 starting at £100,000 and increasing in stages to £175,000 by 2020/21.  There are however conditions attaching to the allowance which mean that it will not be available to everyone.

The intention of the new relief is to make it easier to pass the family home to direct descendants.  Individuals who do not own property cannot benefit and nor can those without children defined under the statute .  Additionally, estates worth over £2 million are subject to a taper relief which reduces and might potentially eliminate the benefit.

The relief is only available on death, and can only be claimed on the value of a property which has been occupied as a residence by the deceased at some time although it does not need to be their main home.  There are separate considerations where someone has downsized or given away their property since 8 July 2015.

The recipient of the gift must fall within a specified list of descendants although this is widely defined and would include step children and foster children.

If a gift is by will to a beneficiary through a trust, care will be needed as not all trusts will qualify.

Gifts to grandchildren dependent upon them attaining a specified age would fall foul of the requirements.

/by