THP Solicitors Podcasts

Von: Melissa Baxter
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  • Today, people demand more from their law firms: faster results, increased value, improved delivery. At THP Solicitors we work to not only meet, but also exceed, these expectations.
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  • The Financial Aspects of Divorce or Dissolution

    The Financial Aspects of Divorce or Dissolution
    Apr 26 2024
    Q: When in the divorce process or dissolution of a civil partnership should people start talking to an Independent Financial Adviser or Solicitor?Helen: For some people talking to an IFA right at the beginning can be useful. There will be a lot of financial information that will need to be gathered and submitted and having an idea about what will be required and how to find this information can be useful to know from the start. Others might involve an IFA if there is a question about income needs.For others, it may be towards the end when a pension share is being agreed or needs to be implemented or a financial plan for the future needs to be worked out.Richard: It’s as soon as possible really. People seldom come to me seeking a divorce per se.Normally it’s a case of the relationship having broken down, they are uncertain as to the future, and are seeking some certainty, security and assurance. The divorce becomes a means to that end. We’ve got to try and sort things out and reach an agreement over financial matters, and if we can reach an agreement, we can enshrine it in a Court Order as part of the divorce to ensure that it is binding, without anyone having to attend Court. Similarly, if a couple cannot agree a financial settlement, the divorce becomes the means to resolve things, by asking the Court to intervene and decide matters. But coming back to your question, it’s as soon as possible, because people need to start gathering information sooner rather than later, to assist them getting a handle on what the future holds and what the solution may looks like. Q: And so, what do people need to disclose in terms of their finances?Helen: So, both parties will need to be prepared to disclose everything. This includes property, bank accounts, investments, pensions and business assets. Your solicitor will talk to you about what needs to be disclosed. An IFA or your solicitor can give guidance about how to find the information that is needed.Richard: Basically, it’s about equipping people with the information they need so that they can make informed decisions about what is a fair settlement. So, we need to have evidence of all of the figures that go into the matrimonial balance sheet really. Everything from bank statements confirming paper trails on current bank balances to investments, pensions and property valuations. Once we collate all of that information, and sometimes that can raise as many questions as it does provide answers, then we can start to make an informed call as to what the solution is. Q: And as part of the divorce or dissolution part of the process people will need to work out what their current and future expenditure is. Do you have tips on how to do this? Helen: This can actually be quite a difficult part of the process even though it sounds easy as people often haven’t had to analyse their income and expenses in any depth before. There is a useful budgeting tool on the government MoneyHelper website that is free to use and can help you to remember everything that you spend your money on, day-to-day expenditure as well as one-off annual expenditure. This can be a good place to start. However, for some people taking a book out with them and writing down everything they spend money on can be just as helpful. If you have access to bank statements then these are always a good starting point, but do not forget expenses and bills that you don’t currently pay for, but you will need to once you are on your own. There may also be new costs such as life insurance or a mortgage that may be needed for the first time. An IFA can help you think through everything you may need to include in your expenditure.Richard: It is so often about what people need as the starting point really. So, as Helen says, you need to give it some careful consideration and use the tools that are out there to get a handle on what you need. What you need might not be what someone else needs, each family/couple/individual are different, and their needs are different . It’s important to ensure that any list of your needs is comprehensive but without it turning into a wish list, which can be counterproductive. Ultimately, we have to recognize that we will have two households now, funded by a pot, that used to fund one. So, to a certain extent, everyone is going to have to cut their cloth, but it is about making sure that as a starting point, we have a comprehensive and reasonable idea of what we need. Q: So how does someone doing through a divorce or dissolution work out if they can get a mortgage based on their income?Helen: Speaking to a mortgage adviser can help give you the facts and figures that you need, and a good mortgage adviser can also talk you through the different mortgage options that are available to you. At Orchard House (IFAs) Ltd we have a mortgage expert who can help you understand your mortgage capacity once you are on your own and can produce a report that can be...
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    14 Min.
  • Islamic marriage and divorce in the UK

    Islamic marriage and divorce in the UK
    Mar 11 2024
    Hello and welcome to the podcast from THP Solicitors. Our guest today is Ruby Tufail, a solicitor in our Family & Divorce department. Ruby specialises in all areas of divorce including advising Muslim couples on Islamic marriage and divorce in the UK, both regarding the Muslim ceremony and how to end a marriage under civil laws in England & Wales. So Ruby, let's start with talking about Nikah. Is Nikah recognised under English law?Thanks, Melissa, a really interesting conversation. Before I answer your question, I think it’s quite important to share with you the fact that over 3.9 million Muslims are living in the UK.Now firstly, let's go back, to what is a Nikah? A Nikah is a religious ceremony undertaken by a man and wife to bring them together in matrimonial harmony. There are some conditions to a Nikah:• there must be wilful consent from both parties• two adult witnesses to the ceremony• a legal representative or Wali, who is normally the father of the bride• and bridal gift to the bride from the groom, known as Mehr, which I will go into more detail about laterSo, is a Nikah recognised under English law? It depends on where the marriage took place. When you enter a Nikah ceremony in the UK, and providing you have met the full condition I have just outlined, your Nikah will be valid under Islamic law but unfortunately unless you have a civil legal ceremony you will not be legally married under English law and you would only be treated a ‘cohabitees’. By only undergoing a Nikah ceremony in the UK, couples are in effect denying themselves security and the other advantages that come from a civil marriage. So, my advice will always be, that when getting married, you should always have the civil ceremony first and then have the Islamic ceremony. I appreciate that most people would not wish to live together until the Islamic ceremony but by doing it this way you provide protection. Time and time again, I see clients who have had an Islamic ceremony and were promised a civil ceremony and it never happened.Now, this is where it becomes a bit complex. A Nikah will be recognised in the UK if you got married aboard in a country where Nikah is legal. I’ll give you an example. I was actually married in Pakistan, and I’ve only ever had a Nikah, but because I got married according to the law of the country where the ceremony took place, and it was registered. When my husband came to the UK, our marriage was recognised under UK law and we didn’t have to have a separate civil ceremony. Now in the event of a divorce where you have got married abroad, because your Nikah has been recognised under UK law not only would you have to have a divorce under Islamic law, you would also need to have a divorce under civil law as well which is obviously important.It sounds quite complex. Where you had your Nikah is really important and defines if you may need to have a civil marriage as well if you are living in the UK, as that determines if your marriage is legally recognised here. The key thing is, just to remember, if you got married abroad according to the law of the country, when you come to the UK your marriage will be recognised under civil law. If you got married in the UK under Islamic law, you need to have a civil ceremony to get the marriage rights that you would be entitled to.Moving onto methods of separation in Islam, there are a number of different ways that couples can get divorced depending on who instigates it.The two main methods are granting of the divorce by the husband, which is Talak. Talak is where the man unliterally gives a divorce to the woman with or without cause. However, he then has to pay the bridal gift, Mehr, as a financial settlement in full.I briefly touched on Mehr earlier. In Islam, when marriage vows are recited the husband gives his wife a gift which is known as Mehr as part of the marriage contract. Mehr is documented and in the event of divorce, Mehr is what would be paid as a ‘settlement’. Mehr is normally paid at the time of the marriage ceremony, sometimes it can be deferred. It can be nominal amounts or huge. Often people put in a small amount such as £10 or £100 as they are confident in a happy union and just want something nominal, and others have a large Mehr for protection in case things go wrong. There are normally lots of discussions about it before the ceremony. Now if the wife wants to get divorced in Islam it is called a Khula. Khula is where the wife can, without giving a reason, ask the husband for a divorce, however, the condition is that the wife is usually asked to repay the Mehr to the husband. There is no allegation of fault. In some instances, if they both agree, it can also be agreed that the wife does not need to repay her Mehr to the husband depending on the circumstances of the divorce.There are also two lesser-known ways of getting divorced. There is the Faskh-e-Nikah or Tafweedh-e-Talaq. Excuse my pronunciation!The ...
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    11 Min.
  • The conveyancing process when you buy or sell a property

    The conveyancing process when you buy or sell a property
    Aug 14 2023
    So, how does the conveyancing process begin? Once a buyer has found a property to purchase, or in the case of the seller has accepted an offer on a property, they contact a solicitor to instruct them to move the process to the next stage.Once the buyers and sellers have instructed solicitors, the estate agent will issue a sales memorandum to all parties involved, so that the conveyancing process can begin.One of the big concerns at the moment is money laundering, so solicitors have a responsibility to protect against fraud when they start the process with your clients, don’t they?Yes, to protect against fraud, one of the first things we need to do is obtain ID for each person that’s involved in the matter that we’re instructed on, so we can  verify their identity. For a buyer we must also obtain information with regards to their savings, their mortgage etc .and how the money is being obtained for their purchase.And that’s simply to check if, for example, if they are buying the property in cash or don’t have a mortgage, the money used to fund the purchase has not been obtained through criminal activities?Absolutely, and to check that the money is indeed their funds and that there is no third party involved, to ensure we are complying with the Anti Money Laundry Regulations.Right, so once that is done, I’m guessing you move on to the meatier paperwork?If we are acting for the seller, they need to complete what we call the protocol forms, such as a Property Information and Form and Fittings & Contents form. They then need to return them to us together with any relevant paperwork that relates to the property, so for example, Fensa certificates for windows, planning and building regulation documents etc. We normally ask for as much information as the client has, so we can it put together with the property information form.And that will save time, the more information you get upfront?Yes, the more information we get at the start, normally the fewer enquiries will be raised during the process later on, so we tend to ask our seller clients to provide us with everything they have, so that way we know from looking at the paperwork what is needed, and which documents are required.If a seller has a pack of information from when they purchased a property that’s always useful as it will have information from their previous sellers, and maybe more details of any works undertaken prior to their ownership.The seller has to be very careful when completing those forms, don’t they? There was recently a well-publicised case when a seller ticked ‘No’ to a question about whether Japanese Knotweed was present on their property, but it turns out there was, and it ended up costing the seller £200,000 to compensate the person who had purchased their property. So, when you fill in these forms it’s important to do it honestly and accurately.It is difficult, because some sellers don’t always know the answers to some of the questions but it’s very important that they are completed to the best of their knowledge/ ability because once it gets close to the exchange of contracts, the details and information provided in these forms are relied on by the buyers and their solicitors to be accurate and to be correct.So once that paperwork is complete and people have provided all of the supporting documentation required such as guarantees, building permissions, and have said if they are leaving anything behind that will be included in the sale, the next stage is presumably to move on to drafting of contracts?Yes, most properties today are registered at the Land Registry, so the Title documents are downloadable from their portal. Once we have these title documents, we can then prepare the contract, and send that together with the deeds and seller’s protocol forms and relevant information to the buyer’s solicitors.And then if you are acting for a buyer, you need to scrutinise this information?Yes, once we have received the draft contract papers from the seller’s solicitors, the first thing we tend to do is check the title plan and order the necessary searches that relate to it. So, it is always important to check the title plan to ensure that there is no missing land, because some properties may have two titles relating to that property, to make sure that when we apply for the searches, we are covering the full extent of the land.We try to do the searches quite quickly because some Local Authority searches can take a couple of weeks to come back. Whilst we wait for those, we will review the draft contract pack, look at the title, protocol forms and documents provided by the seller’s solicitors.When the searches come back, we will also review those and raise any necessary enquiries for information that we may need clarity on or if there are missing documents so that we can give a full picture to the buyer when we present our report to them.About searches – what exactly are they?There are three main searches...
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    12 Min.

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