This website uses cookies to improve functionality and performance. For more information on how we handle your data please see our Privacy Policy

Bryan Johnston – Former senior and managing partner

Bryan Johnston – Former senior and managing partner

Nov 25, 2020

Bryan Johnston

Our former senior and managing partner has moved further along track to become a Consultant to the firm. 

Bryan was appointed a partner in 1998 and has over the last two decades made his mark in Colchetser and North Essex. He has been  President of the Colchester Committee of the Essex  Chamber of Commerce. He has sat on the employers committee of NEST the Government Pension organisation. He has been Chairman of the Essex Committee of ABF the Soldier’s Charity. Bryan also  sat on the board that successfuly brought the BID to Colchester. Bryan  had a play performed at the Brentwood Theatre and whilst he  will remain involved as a Colchester Ambassador and be on the Board of the Mercury Theatre during their multi-millian pound redevelopment  he wants more time with Wendy to write, trek, sail and travel-covid permitting.

If you would like any advice from our Family department

Contact GoodyBurrett on 01206 577676 or email [email protected]

Family court hearings during Covid

Family court hearings during Covid

Nov 22, 2020

Family court hearings during Covid

It many come as a surprise, but the Family Court has been operating throughout the Covid crisis this year with varied but generally successful results. What this means is that you need not put on hold resolution of your family problems: you can still apply for an injunction, a divorce, contact to your child or whatever application you need to make.

I recently ‘attended’ a two-day final hearing for a financial settlement following a divorce. The small mountain of paperwork under the name of the ‘court bundle’ had been filed electronically. Such bundles are often so large, they have to be submitted over three or four e-mails.   The court had set a date for the hearing and beforehand, had sent out a sheet explaining what technology we required – Skype for Business which is now Microsoft teams – and what number or email address they should use for each party.

My client & I were sitting – socially distanced – in the spacious library at the GoodyBurrett office in Colchester. He could have stayed at home but for a number of reasons, mostly related to the technology involved, we decided it would suit us to hold the meeting at our offices. Our barrister was in her office loft in Ipswich; my client’s ex-wife was at home in Peterborough and her barrister was in Yorkshire. The District Judge was at home dispensing justice from his dining table with a backdrop of very elegant French windows.

We switched on the computer, opened Teams and one by one, the participants switched on their screens and checked their sound & vision.   When we were all present, the District Judge opened the hearing and we all introduced ourselves with the formality required of a ‘normal’ court hearing. We all confirmed we were in a private space with no interruptions. The District Judge conducted the hearing as ‘normal’. Evidence was given over the internet, everyone kept their cool, referred to documentation in their court bundle and carried on. Halfway through the second day, we completed the hearing and the District Judge read out his judgement after lunch. Once completed, we switched off our computers and were done for the day. We had pre- and post-hearing conferences with the barrister by telephone

The only real differences were that the hearing was a lot more relaxed in our library than it is when you are sitting in a stuffy witness room at court and of course, there was a lot less travelling involved and no parking charges.   I have to say I was surprised and converted. I suspect the court will continue to hold hearings in this way even in a post-Covid era. There have been reports of badly behaved participants: there will always be some who find self-control a challenge and it requires a certain amount of discipline and imagination to transport yourself from your kitchen to the courtroom, but on the whole it works. Thanks to co-operation from everyone concerned, it was successful and far better than yet another adjournment.

Go for it!

Sue, Family Solicitor, Colchester

If you have a family matter which would you like to discuss, please feel free to contact our Family Department on 01206 577676 or email [email protected]

Our Family Department also offers a fixed-fee meeting, this can also be available via Zoom click here for more infomation.

If you would like any advice regarding family matters

Contact GoodyBurrett on 01206 577676 or email [email protected]

A guide for Attorneys

A guide for Attorneys

Nov 16, 2020

A guide for Attorneys

Due to Covid 19, a lot of people will have spent some time in the past 7 months shielding. This would have inevitably caused a lot of stress and uncertainly to those who were unable to go out to conduct their daily business, including their financial affairs.

For some of the people shielding, their predicament would have been a lot easier by relying on their Attorney’s to deal with their day to day finances if they were unable to go out to banks or building societies.

It would have been a very difficult time for Attorney’s who for some, may have never acted in their capacity of an Attorney before.

We often get asked, “What is expected of an Attorney. What can they do?”. We have put together a helpful guide to assist you in acting as an Attorney.

  • As an Attorney you must follow the principles of the Mental Capacity Act. You must assume that the person you are helping (the donor), can make their own choices and decisions until it is established that they can’t. You must encourage and support the donor to make their own decisions. You must remember, the donor can make unwise decisions, even if you don’t agree with them. You cannot assume they do not have capacity to make a decision just because you do not think it is the right decision.
  • When the donor is no longer able to make decisions, you must always act in their best interests when making decisions for them.
  • You must always act in the least restrictive way to preserve the donor’s rights, dignity and freedom.
  • You must follow the instructions and consider any preferences that the donor has included in their Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA) documents. Remember, they created their LPA’s when they had capacity and the ability to consider what they would want should they lose capacity. As such, their guidance and instructions should be followed and respected.

Property and financial affairs

  • You must keep the donor’s money separate from your own. You should not put their funds into your account as this could quite easily become mixed up with your own money. The exception to this would be if you already had a joint account for example, that is in both of your names.
  • Before using the LPA, you need to provide a copy to the bank or building society. The copy will need to be certified and a solicitor can do this for you. You will need to also provide proof of your name and address.
  • As a Property and financial affairs attorney, you can also make decisions relating to benefits and pensions, household bills, care bills, taxes, investments and property.
  • You can give gifts on the donor’s behalf on occasions such as birthdays, weddings and Christmas. You can also make donations to charity in keeping with what the donor used to do for themselves. However, you must not make gifts or donation if doing so would mean that they couldn’t afford to pay for things they needed themselves or put them into financial difficulty.
  • You can buy and sell property, but it is always best to get legal advice before doing so.
  • Keep an updated record of the donor’s assets, income and what you are spending their money on.

Health and welfare

  • You can make decisions about medical care, where the donor lives, what meals they have and how the dress and the like. However, you can only make decisions for the donor when they no longer have capacity.
  • You can use the donor’s money to buy things to support them to have a meaningful life, for example, going on holiday or buying a comfortable new bed, or paying to have regular haircuts.
  • The donor, when creating the LPA would have either given you the power to consent to or refuse life sustaining treating, or in the alternative, they would have reserved this power for the medical professionals only, meaning you do not have the power to make these decisions. It is important to check the LPA and make people aware of your powers, such as GP’s, care staff, social workers and other medical professionals involved in the donor’s care.
  • Keep a record of all key decisions you make relating to medical treatment and care.

If you are an Attorney and you would like some guidance, or if you would like to make Lasting Powers of Attorney for yourself, then we are here to help. You can contact our Private Client department on 01206 577676 or email [email protected]

If you would like any advice regarding Lasting Powers of Attorney

Contact GoodyBurrett on 01206 577676 or email [email protected]

There’s no one quite like Grandma……

There’s no one quite like Grandma……

Nov 11, 2020

There’s no one quite like Grandma……

Some of us reach a certain age and very much look forward to being an active grandparent.  It must be extremely distressing to reach that point, and perhaps begin sharing your time with your new babes, only  to find that your son/daughter encounters relationship/marriage problems and the ‘ex’ restricts or disallows your contact with your grandchildren.  Its not fair on them or you………..can you do anything about it?   How can the law help you?

The first thing is to try a sensitive approach to the ‘ex’ – perhaps an offer of help with the children.  Sometimes, a gentle phone call or e-mail might be very welcome to a stressed person who’d like a bit of time to themselves.   If that approach doesn’t yield results, you could try Mediation.    You could contact one of the Mediation organisations locally who would offer you and the children’s parent/s a meeting to explain how Mediation can help and offer you a meeting.  If you still aren’t getting anywhere, see a Solicitor.  Have an Agreed Fee Meeting with one of us here and we can explain in straightforward terms your rights and the procedure to follow to be able to exercise those rights.  You might have no option but to apply to the Family Court for a Contact Order.

Essentially, only people with ‘parental responsibility’: parents, step-parents or guardians can make an application for a Contact Order as of right.  However, as grandparents do not usually have parental responsibility, what they can do is apply to the court for permission (‘leave’) to apply for a Contact Order.  Will they be granted permission to make the application?  The court will consider the following:

  • Your connection with the child.
  • The nature of the application for contact.
  • Whether the application might be potentially harmful to the child’s well-being in any way.

If you are successful, you can then apply for a Contact Order through the court to gain access to your grandchildren.  If one, or both parents raise objections you are likely to have to attend a full hearing in which all concerned can put forward their evidence. It is essential that you receive good legal advice at this stage because you will need to persuade the court that you have a meaningful and on-going relationship with your grandchildren, which significantly benefits their lives.

The court will always consider all the child’s circumstances and must only make an order where they consider it better for the child than making no order at all. For example, they might have to weigh up whether your continuing contact with the child might have a negative impact on the rest of the family relationships.  Fortune favours the bold:  it is only in extreme circumstance that a court will refuse access to grandchildren.  In my experience, most Judges and Magistrates (perhaps most being of a certain age themselves?) are very appreciative for the love, friendship and fun that grandparents provide.

If you would like any advice regarding the above, please contact our Family Department on 01206 577676 or email [email protected]

 

If you would like any advice from our Family department

Contact GoodyBurrett on 01206 577676 or email [email protected]

Coronavirus: An update on evictions and re-possessions

Coronavirus: An update on evictions and re-possessions

Nov 3, 2020

Coronavirus: An update on evictions and re-possessions

During the pandemic, the Government put certain restrictions in place to prevent evictions and possessions of properties.  Hence, protecting tenants who may struggle to pay bills during lockdown.  The Court, however, are now starting to handle these cases and new procedures have been in place for when a landlord choses to evict a tenant.  If you are a landlord, there are numerous rules and regulations you should have in mind.

The Coronavirus Act 2020 has more recently been amended by The Coronavirus Act 2020 (Tenancies: Protection from Eviction) (Amendment) Regulations 2020 and means the eviction ban ended on the 20th September 2020.  However, the rules have significantly changed:

  • Prior to 26th March 2020, a Landlord was only required to give 2 months’ notice when serving a S21 Notice;
  • Any notices served on tenants between 26th March 2020 and 29th August 2020 required at least 3 months’ notice to given;
  • Now, since 29th August 2020, landlords must give 6 months’ notice under S21 to terminate an Assured Shorthold Tenancy – a restriction which is now in place until 31st March 2021.

 

Help for Tenants

In light of the above, there are numerous ways that landlords can or will act illegally when seeking to evict tenants or when seeking to implement a rent increase.  If you are a tenant and want to understand your rights in more detail, do not hesitate to contact someone in our litigation team.  If you feel you have been treated illegally by your landlord, we would recommend the following:-

  1. Speak to your landlord as soon as possible. They may arrange a rent repayment plan if you are struggling or in arrears.  Your landlord may be willing to not evict you and allow you to pay less rent.
  2. Gather all evidence, including rent paid and when – communications with your landlord. If you or your income has been affected by Covid-19 make sure to flag it up as soon as possible.
  3. Double check that any notice given by your landlord is valid and the correct notice period has been given depending on the date you received. (See above).

 

Landlord

It is important that if you are a landlord, you are acting cautiously in terms of a notice period and providing a tenant with all the information required under a S21 notice.   With the law changing rapidly, if you are ever unsure of what notice period you should be giving when evicting a tenant, you should seek independent legal advice.

If you are a landlord who requires advice on what to do next in relation to eviction proceedings, or a tenant who is facing eviction, please contact the GoodyBurrett Civil Litigation team on 01206 577676 or email [email protected]

If you would like any advice from our Family department

Contact GoodyBurrett on 01206 577676 or email [email protected]