The latest changes to trust registration – what you need to know
HMRC now require most trusts to be registered. But what does this mean and who does it affect? The short answer is that trustees are under a legal obligation to...
Commercial property advice to an award-winning travel company
HF Holidays is an award-winning travel and hotel company that owns and leases 17 holiday resorts throughout the UK. We helped the business to restructure itself in the wake of...
St Albans District Council redeveloping the site of a former social club
Our local authority client, St Albans District Council, has recently redeveloped the site of an old social club to form seven residential freehold properties. We have been helping them to...
Advising a university professor in an unfair dismissal and age discrimination claim
Our client, Professor John Pitcher, was a long‐standing employee of Saint John the Baptist College and the University of Oxford. His employment was terminated due to forced retirement when he...
Top tips to pandemic-proof your business for the next stage of Covid-19
It’s been almost six months since lockdown restrictions were lifted. But with Covid variants bringing new challenges, the long-term impact of the pandemic is as uncertain as ever. For business...
Helping a Dutch company acquire an equity stake in a private company that owns land in Kent
Our client is a Dutch company which offers self-build and shell home products and services. We helped them to acquire a 50% equity stake in a private limited company which...
The Divorce Day myth?
Whilst many people start the New Year by making resolutions, the media says that family practitioners prepare for a surge in new divorce and separation enquiries and refer to the...
Annual employment law update in association with Herts CIPD
In January 2021, employment lawyers, Louise Attrup and Michael Kerrigan presented a legal update to over 100 HR professionals at the annual Hertfordshire CIPD employment update. Louise and Michael highlighted the key employment...
Notarial services
Notarial services offered Debenhams Ottaway does not itself provide clients with notarial services. However, notarial services are offered to clients by certain lawyers who work at the firm as set...
Growing concern about drop-off in LPA registrations
Recent figures released by the Office of the Public Guardian, the government body responsible for registering lasting powers of attorney (LPAs) reveal that the number of applications to register LPAs...
Helping the seller of a private limited company which owns land in Kent
Our client was the seller of the entire issued share capital of a private limited company. The company owns a large piece of land in Kent, on which a (currently...
Beneficiary witnesses and void gifts in a Will – new rules needed to include cohabiting couples
With various rules governing who can witness a Will, it’s important that Wills, trusts and probate lawyers and Will writers know how the witness is connected to the testator and...
DNA: inheritance disputes evidence
The DNA testing cases linked to inheritance disputes have always been of particular interest to me ever since my first case involving such an issue over ten years ago. It...
Covid-19 rent arrears case set to be heard at the Court of Appeal
The case of London Trocadero v Picturehouse Cinemas Ltd and others sought to deal with the issue of rent arrears during the covid-19 pandemic where the tenant’s income has been...
All I want for Christmas is a new executor
The role of executor (or trustee) is a very important one. In some cases it can be a sole executor that handles the administration of an estate meaning they are...
Battle of the forms – last shot does not always prevail
“Battle of the forms” refers to a contractual dispute where both parties allege that their terms and conditions govern the performance of the contract, over and above the other party’s...
St Albans Nutcracker Trail – Introducing our “anonymous” Nutcracker!
Debenhams Ottaway is proud to support the St Albans Nutcracker Trail 2021 by hosting a nutcracker (we can’t tell you the name and location!). St Albans BID is organising another...
Helping a financial services company with a pre-packaged administration sale
We helped a financial services company with its acquisition of the peer-to-peer currency exchange platform business and associated assets of another company (in administration) via a pre-packaged administration sale. We...
Helping an angel investor with a business acquisition
Our client, Veruth Holdings Ltd, is an angel investor both investing in start-ups and acquiring established manufacturing businesses. By way of share purchase, the client acquired 80% of an established...
Debenhams Ottaway strengthens its corporate team with senior City lawyer
Corporate lawyer Rebecca Lorne has recently joined Debenhams Ottaway’s corporate and commercial team. With many years’ experience in the City, advising clients on corporate finance deals as well as commercial...