Individuals
This is (hopefully) a once in a lifetime experience for all of us and most of us are struggling to come to terms with the enormity of it all. Those of us who can work from home are trying our best to juggle home-working and family life. Lack of childcare means that anyone with school-aged children now find themselves with the additional role of teacher. With our home now doubling as office and school, we find ourselves struggling to find some space to work and think.
Trying to balance work, schooling children and caring for older relatives is a new reality for many of us, a reality that has thrown up so many new questions to which people are searching for the answers. Our teams of experts are on hand to help guide you through these difficult times.
Employment
At IBB we number among our clients people who are the height of their career, in demanding roles at fast moving organisations. Until now, the trajectory was probably looking pretty good for most of us, but this is a very challenging and worrying time. Whether you are an executive and board member of a large corporate or a senior manager in financial or professional services, employment worries may be keeping you awake at night. Even though the news tells us that the government is offering support packages to employers, many of us are unsure what that means in our individual cases. This is particularly true for those whose monthly income is far above the threshold currently set by the government relief measures.
Our employment specialists are on hand to provide answers to your questions and solutions to your legal issues.
Wills Trusts and Probate and Contentions probate
This uncertainty has prompted many of us to look at our personal and financial affairs, to ensure that we have effective solutions in place to protect our wealth and provide properly for our loved ones in the event of our death or if we become unable to manage our affairs.
At IBB, we are used to advising high-net-worth individuals and can offer bespoke solutions and guide you through areas including Inheritance Tax, care fees, complex family relationships and disputes.
Making sure we have an up-to-date Will, that clearly sets our wishes, is something that every one of us should make sure we have addressed. A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) will make sure that our financial affairs can be properly managed if we are unable to do that ourselves.
NHS employees
IBB is extremely grateful for the sacrifices that the NHS is making on behalf of our colleagues, friends and family, and we would like to offer a small gesture to express our gratitude. We are offering to put in place a will for every NHS employee at half our usual fee.
Our Wills Trusts and Probate and Contentious Probate specialists can answer all your questions and help to ensure that you have the peace of mind from knowing that you have planned for your family’s financial future.
Family
These additional challenges, coupled with the fact that we are physically isolated from our friends and family, are putting a huge amount of pressure on couples and families. For those who were already experiencing relationship problems prior to this crisis, this pressure must seem unbearable. City executives who are usually out of the home for most of the working week are now adapting to remote working and are spending much more time with their partners and families and, in some cases, this may be creating more strain than the relationship can take.
Families who are co-parenting will find this period of isolation very challenging and some may, unfortunately, use this to alienate the non-resident parent from their children.
Those already in the process of divorce or financial settlement will face the difficult decision of whether to continue proceedings or postpone until the country comes out of lockdown.
With businesses struggling and employment worries even among top executives, you may have concerns that the terms of financial settlements agreed before the pandemic may now be difficult to pay when your assets are devalued.
Our Family Team has extensive experience in dealing with high-value divorce and separation and complex children issues
Conveyancing
The government advice is to stay put – we have been told that unless our house sale or purchase is almost complete, we should not consider moving at this time. This is worrying news to many who were trying to buy or sell when lockdown occurred. You may also have questions about the impact this may have after the restriction are lifted.
Our Residential Conveyancing team is on hand to help with all your conveyancing needs.
Park and Holiday Homes
Government has directed that all “non-essential premises” must close with immediate effect. This definition includes “Caravan parks/sites for commercial uses”, which covers holiday and touring caravan parks. However, even though the Government has directed that holiday and touring caravan parks should close, this does not necessarily mean that all caravan holiday homeowners and/or occupiers who are already staying on those parks must leave. The guidance says: “Where people live permanently in caravan parks or are staying in caravan parks as interim abodes where their primary residence is not available, they may continue to do so”. What this means in practice is, as yet unclear and every situation will be different.
