Covid-19 Update
We are offering telephone appointments to all clients and robust measures are now in place to ensure that what clients will experience is ‘business as usual’. For existing clients, preferred contact is by email directly to the solicitor handling your file.
International Parental Child Abduction
The Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) issued a reminder of the ongoing issue of international parental child abduction and the support than can be available to those affected. International child abduction is when one parent takes or keeps their child outside the country in which the child usually lives, without the permission of the other […]
St Andrews is Home to Scotland’s Most Expensive Street
Scotland’s most expensive street is once again to be found in St Andrews, research has revealed. According to Bank of Scotland, Golf Place, which is a short walk from the famous Old Course, has an average house price of £2,179,000. However, Edinburgh still has the highest number of expensive streets in Scotland. Aberdeen now only […]
Australia Sees First Same-Sex Marriages and Divorce
Australia has become the most recent country to allow same sex marriage, after its Senate and then House of Representatives passed the enabling legislation, reports the Daily Mail. Interestingly, however, in addition to allowing thousands of same sex couples to start planning their weddings, the new legislation also means that one couple who were already […]
Mortgage Activity Increases in Scotland
New data from UK Finance has given an interesting insight into mortgage activity in Scotland. The data shows that in the third quarter of 2017 in Scotland: The data also shows that the average mortgage loan for first-time buyers amounted to £101,000 (£139,500 in the UK overall), down from the average of £101,599 in the […]
High Court Sets Prenuptial Agreement Aside
A recent decision by the High Court in Australia has cast doubt over the future of prenuptial agreements in that country, reports news.com.au. The case involved a couple, given the pseudonyms Mr Kennedy and Ms Thorne, who met online and subsequently married. At the time, Mr Kennedy was 67-years-old and a successful property developer in […]
Calls for Greater Support for Buyers of New-Build Homes
A report from the Scottish Parliament’s Local Government and Communities Committee has called for homebuyers, and new build homebuyers in particular, to be given greater support when building defects are detected or homes are found to be of a poor build quality. The Committee has set out in the report a number of improvements that […]
Parents Prepared to Pay a School Catchment Premium
New research by Santander Mortgages has revealed that families are prepared to spend an extra 12% for their chosen school catchment address, which amounts to an additional £26,800 on top of the average UK property price. The research also found that 24% of parents with school age children have either bought or rented a new […]
Key Family Law Protections Put at Risk by Brexit
The UK’s decision to leave the EU could put at risk many of the legal protections currently available to children involved in international family law disputes, a new report has warned. According to the report by Together (Scottish Alliance for Children’s Rights), legal protections around child custody, child abduction and child maintenance could be put […]
Shared Custody Arrangements Prove Less Stressful for Children
A new study has found that shared custody arrangements between separated parents can be much less stressful for children than living full-time with one parent. It highlighted that shared custody in this case means the sharing of physical custody, where the child lives for a roughly equal time with each parent in their separate households. […]