16 minute read
Outdoors
RIVER WALKS
Something most humans have in common is the craving to be near water whenever we feel the need for rest and relaxation. It’s no coincidence that so many retirement communities are near the coast – but for those of us that don’t have the luxury of retiring just yet, there are still plenty of opportunities to get our fix of peace and tranquillity close to home.
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From popular riverbank walks right under our noses in the suburbs, to remote and hidden waterside spots way out in the sticks, here are my top five recommended destinations for enjoying fresh air with the sound of babbling water. And best of all, if you’re following the course of a river, you don’t need a map.
1. Fletcher Moss and the Mersey. Starting close to home – in fact, right in the heart of Didsbury, it’s sometimes easy to forget that there are miles and miles of riverside walks, where the dog can run off the lead and you can completely forget the proximity of the city. All you have to do is walk into Fletcher Moss Park, keep going until you reach the banks of the Mersey, then turn right for a long snake through Didsbury towards Chorlton Water Park.
2. The Garden House, Marple. On the banks of the River Goyt and next to Roman Lakes Country Park, there’s a lovely petting farm, where kids can interact with rabbits, goats and even alpacas for just the cost of a donation to the charity. These animals live on an idyllic bend in the river that’s also popular with wild swimmers, because the gently running water is quite deep in places but well shaded and crystal clear.
3. Millers Dale and the Wye. A bit further afield, deep in the Peak District between Buxton and Bakewell, lies the beautiful village of Millers Dale. You can park there and eat at the popular Anglers Rest pub, then follow the Monsal Trail along the Wye, heading east towards Cressbrook Mill with no sound except the water running over pebbles.
4. Hope to Hathersage. If you walk along the Derwent Valley Heritage Way, you can not only enjoy the famous Hope Valley via an alternative route to the A-road that runs along it, but you can also set your destination for the famous outdoor swimming pool in Hathersage to complete your water fix. This familyfriendly lido is open all year round, heated to a comfortable temperature and surrounded by some of the most glorious scenery (not to mention some of the best outdoor equipment shops) in the North of England.
5. Macc Forest Reservoirs. Macclesfield is surrounded by reservoirs with pretty paths for less strenuous walks. There’s a particularly nice cluster around Langley, where the Leather’s Smithy pub is surrounded by Ridgegate, Bottoms, Trentabank and Teggsnose reservoirs in very close walking distance. Keep dogs on leads as there’s sheep about.
OutdOors
What Everybody Ought To Know About Writing A Will And Drafting A Lasting Power Of Attorney
Gareth Morgan, head of Private Client at Blackstone Solicitors, discusses the many facets of his role and how his team can help you. Gareth, a Former English Teacher in South Korea, began his journey in law 12 years ago. Following a short spell working in the Employment Law field, Gareth has predominantly practiced as a Private Client Solicitor. In summer 2021, he joined the renowned Legal 500 firm Blackstone Solicitors, based in the village of Hale, Cheshire, as the Head of Private Client.We asked Gareth to answer some of the more frequently asked questions faced by a Private Client Solicitor and give us an insight into his area of law.
What does a private client solicitor do? A Private Client Solicitor Deals with the discussion and drafting of Wills, Lasting Powers of Attorney and Trusts and helps to administer the estate of a person that has passed away. Private Client Law is becoming an increasingly prevalent area of law, as individuals seek to preserve, grow and pass on their assets, whilst minimising tax liabilities. Estate planning is vital for any individual who wishes to get the most from their estate and protect it from issues such as Tax and care home fees in order to ensure their loved ones and their respective inheritance is safeguarded as much as possible.
Issues dealt with by Private Client solicitors are becoming more and more contentious. Many of these contentious issues could be avoided by seeking a solicitor’s advice and with careful drafting of legal documents to minimise or eradicate these potential issues.
Why is a Will important? It is important for you to make a Will, whether or not you consider you have many possessions or much money. 61% of people in the UK still do not have a valid Will. That equates to approximately 30 million people. This is amazing when you consider the issues which can be avoided for your loved ones by this oftensimple document. The problem is that many people often don’t see a Will as something that is necessary. Unfortunately, these people leave things too late, and this can cause serious problems for their family and loved ones following their deaths.
These are some common issues which I find many clients are unaware of :-
● When a person dies without a Will, certain rules known as ‘the rules of intestacy’ apply which dictate how much money, property and possessions should be allocated. This may not be how you had intended your estate to be divided or to whom it is distributed.
● Unmarried partners and unregistered civil partners cannot inherit from each other without a valid Will (There is no such thing as a Common Law husband or Wife!)
● Wills can be used to arrange who will care for your minor children should both parents die.
● Also, a Will is revoked by marriage or civil partnership.
It is particularly advised to use a solicitor to draft your Will where you share property with somebody other than a spouse or civil partner; where you wish to make provision for a dependant who cannot care for themselves; where there is a high probability of somebody contesting your Will; you own property overseas or there is a business involved. Can my Will be contested following my death? I often encounter clients who have either forgotten to complete a Will or their Will is contested by friends, family or others who believe they are entitled to some or all of the deceased party’s estate.
Even the rich and famous have sometimes had their Wills disputed Below is a list of 4 of the most famous Will disputes to have occurred in the past few decades.
● Martin Luther King Jr It is well documented that Martin Luther King Jr’s children have not always seen eye to eye. The executor of Mr King’s Will was Dexter King, one of his sons, and the Will was challenged by two more of his children who accused Dexter of wrongfully appropriating from their father’s estate. Dexter refused to show the two challengers financial records and other documents that divulged in-depth detail of the estate’s operations. The family again fell out over a dispute surrounding Martin Luther King Jr’s travelling Bible and his Nobel Peace Prize medal. The argument here was between two of his sons and his daughter who claimed to have been left the two assets. A court ruled that this wasn’t the case and a settlement was agreed, details of which have remained confidential.
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● Jimi Hendrix The Guitar Legend is a perfect example of why you need to make a Will specifying what you want to happen to your estate in the event of your death. When Jimi Hendrix died in 1970 he left behind an estate valued at approximately $80 million. Unfortunately, he hadn’t made a Will and this pitted his half-brother against his adopted sister for control of his assets and his estate. Initially, a lawyer had control over Hendrix’s estate until 1995, when his father gained the rights to his son’s music and a large part of his estate. When his father passed away, Jimi’s father left most of the estate to his daughter and Jimi’s adopted sister Janie. Jimi’s half-brother was not written into Jimi’s father’s Will, and as a result, Jimi’s half-brother contested the Will, suggesting that Janie had manipulated her father into excluding him from the Will. In the end, The Superior Court in America upheld Jimi’s father’s Will and his half-brother remained excluded.
● Nina Wang Nina Wang was Asia’s richest woman with a reported fortune of £7.1 billion. After her death, her partner Peter Chan made a claim that he should inherit her estate along with all of its financial assets. Unfortunately for Mr Chan, his claim was refuted and her full estate went to charity after she died of cancer in 2007. In another twist, Mr Chan was later sentenced to 12 years in prison after it was discovered he had tried to forge Nina Wang’s Will.
● James Brown James Brown is the second musical icon on this list. He left behind an estate worth $100 million after he died in 2006. His Will stated that his estate was to be separated into two trusts, one for the education of his grandchildren, and the second for the disadvantaged youths of South Carolina and Georgia. Brown clearly stated in his Will that he hadn’t mistakenly left anyone out of the Will. Despite this, his wife and children contested the Will in 2009 and were awarded $50 million.
What is a Lasting Power of Attorney? A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) is a legal document which allows you to appoint somebody (The Attorney) to deal with matters on your behalf. There are two types of LPA, a Financial Decisions LPA which deals with your finances and property decisions, such as selling your house or managing your bank accounts and other investments. There is also an LPA for Health and Care Decisions, which deals with making medical decisions and liaising with local authorities and social services, care homes when issues arise and ultimately, it enables the Attorney to make life sustaining decisions. You must have sufficient mental capacity to be able to instruct a solicitor to draft a power of attorney.
Where a person lacks capacity, the options become more technical, expensive and limited and must be referred to the Court of Protection. This situation can be avoided for your family and loved ones by ensuring you have an LPA in place.
The tragic case of Kate Garraway The heart-breaking impact of the coronavirus pandemic has been publicly apparent for journalist and TV presenter, Kate Garraway, whose husband Derek was diagnosed with covid-19 in March 2020 and still needs round-the-clock medical care at the time of writing.
During an already stressful time, Kate has had to juggle the needs of her family with managing their finances. This was made more difficult as Derek was often the named person on the bills, investments, bank, and insurance policies.
Without a lasting power of attorney (LPA) it has been extremely complicated for Kate to sort out financial matters and, in fact, it is impossible to access investments in someone’s sole name without it.
If an LPA for property and finances is not in place, it is possible to apply to the Court of Protection to be appointed as a deputy. However, this is a much more expensive and lengthy process. It also requires the vulnerable person to have lost their ability to make decisions for themselves.
In Derek’s case, this test for mental capacity was borderline because he is still being assessed to understand the effect covid-19 has had on his cognitive health.
Without a health and welfare LPA, Kate did not have a legal right to access Derek’s medical notes due to data protection. Only in exceptional circumstances will a deputyship for health and welfare be granted by the Court. An LPA can be considered to be similar to an insurance policy. Whilst we all hope an LPA will never be required, should the worst happen, your loved ones will have the necessary authority to deal with your finances and make decisions about the care you should receive.
Why instruct a Solicitor to deal with Probate matters? Probate is the area of law which I find is most challenging to many clients. They are often still grieving for the loss of a loved one and have not appreciated the volume of work that is often necessary to deal with following a death. This can feel incredibly daunting during an already difficult time. An experienced Private Client Solicitor can take away that pressure and assist with obtaining the Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration, liaise with various asset holders such as banks and other financial institutes and complete the relevant forms to deal with any tax implications and ensure any wishes in a Will or intestacy are carried out correctly. The Private Client Solicitor will also speak with other departments within the firm to ensure that issues such as property transfers are carried out and ensuring the process is administered as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible.
Blackstone Solicitors has been successfully advising its clients for over 10 years. The firm is expanding and is very experienced in a number of areas of law.
For legal advice contact us on: 0161 929 0121
Lund Bennett – divorce without the drama
When you’re entering one of the most daunting periods of your life, you really do want someone like Kirsten Bennett by your side
Co-founder of family law firm Lund Bennett, Kirsten's approach – filled with compassion, positivity and empathy – is only rivalled by her and her team’s legal expertise.
The Altrincham-based firm was established in 2012 and offers a bespoke and namenot-a-number service to those needing legal representation in matters such as divorce and children’s law. A year on from our first meeting, we caught up with Kirsten to talk about latest developments within the firm and the advent of the new no-fault divorce and its positive impact on matrimonial proceedings.
Great to see you in person and not on a screen, Kirsten! What changes have happened within the firm since we last spoke?
We are extremely pleased to have had Hollie Aspinall join us in April of this year. She is a great young solicitor who specialises in matrimonial finance and is a fluent Welsh speaker. This is such a huge bonus, as we support and represent people from all across the UK. The rise of the video call during the pandemic means most people are now comfortable with remote meetings, which makes it easier for us to act for people who aren’t living on our doorstep.
What makes a good family solicitor?
Knowledge of the law is a must, but confidence, presenting well and appreciating that family law is as much of an art as a science are extremely important too, as is being able to balance empathy with professional and effective advice to best serve our clients. At Lund Bennett, we are great communicators, we know how to listen and react appropriately. Clients are individuals and we will put them at ease by being relatable and human but also professional and effective.
Being a family lawyer can be quite a feat of personality, where the practitioner can be confidante and advisor but also needs to be strong and self-assured. Sometimes, a client needs to be told something they don’t want to hear. Almost all our work comes from personal recommendation, so our clients undoubtedly value our approach.
What’s keeping the team busy at the moment?
No-fault divorces – known officially as The Divorce, Separation and Dissolution Act 2020 – are definitely keeping us busy. They came into being in April and have changed the face of divorce proceedings entirely.
Tell us more...
Under the old regime, you had to rely on one of five facts. The first two were unreasonable behaviour and adultery –both fault-based and required one spouse to make accusations about the other’s conduct in order to demonstrate that the marriage had broken down. The third and fourth were two years’ separation with the other person’s consent or five without the other person’s consent. The fifth, final and extremely rare factor was desertion. Now, all you need to do is show that your marriage has irretrievably broken down. No consent is needed.
What are the overriding benefits of the new law?
It can fundamentally improve the tone at the outset of proceedings. Couples are no longer required to be critical or readdress old wounds, which should in turn help ‘control the temperature’ and minimise emotional charge. This leaves couples the space to focus on other issues, such as finances and children. It removes the ‘blame game’ and it too avoids the ‘one party refusing consent’ scenario, which always had the potential to leave somebody locked in an unhappy marriage if a judge ruled they could not adequately prove their case. Yes, there’s still an element of trepidation, but with no allegations having to be made, it’s certainly less scary. It’s certainly helping people who might have otherwise opted not to make the initial move towards divorce – put off by the requirement of identifying fault and fearful of their partner’s reactions to it. Divorce is always pitched as something that has to be fraught with drama (there’s even a TV show The Split dedicated to it!), so client apprehension must be high?
It is, but we are here at Lund Bennett to put people’s minds at rest. Divorce doesn't have to mean a fight. We guide them through the process and help them with the legalities of it all, putting everything into layman’s terms. We show them that it doesn’t have to end up in court. There are lots of ways to resolve disputes without going to court – round table meetings, mediation and even private court hearings. A private court hearing is where a paid barrister sits as judge and gives an indication of what the outcome may be if the matter proceeds to a contested hearing or a trial. This indication is intended to oil the wheels of settlement and to help the parties reach an agreement, thus avoiding expensive, both emotionally and financially, court proceedings.
One of your other specialisms is dealing with missing persons cases. Tell us how your gentle-yet-expert touch can help clients at one of the most difficult times in their lives?
Luckily, the law changed in 2013 and the process of obtaining a certificate of presumed death was simplified. The old process was extremely convoluted and was, in essence, a mixture of common law (judge-made law) and statute. It was often the case that a person could be declared dead in one court but not the other. The change in the law was very welcome. I regularly act for clients who are still coming to terms with the disappearance of a loved one and help guide them through the process, address unanswered questions and, ultimately, obtain the certificate, which allows them, for example, to deal with their loved one's financial affairs. I try to lessen the upset and pain during what is an unimaginably distressing time.
