Carpenter & Co raises £480 in St. Raphael’s Hospice’s “Make your Will Fortnight”
We have participated once again in the St. Raphael’s Hospice “Make your Will Fortnight”. Under the terms of this scheme, for a period of two weeks, our Wills & Probate team prepared wills free of charge for a number of local people who each made a donation to the hospice.
We have been pleased to support a local charity and the sum raised this year was £480.
Carpenters have supported this scheme previously and we hope to take part in the Make your Will Fortnight again next year.
Free seminar for first-time home buyers
If you’re a first-time buyer, this event is for you.
A panel of friendly experts (including our own Rebecca Mabert) will give presentations. They also will be glad to answer all of your questions about getting on the property ladder – there is no such thing as a silly question.
- Place: The Ginger Frog, 53 Woodcote Road, Wallington SM6 0PH
- Time: Thursday 4th April, from 6:30pm to 8:30pm
- Booking: If you’d like to attend, email reserve@ftb-uk.com for your free e-ticket.
But hurry! There are only 50 seats available.
See the image below for further details.
Residential Conveyancing
Residential conveyancing is the legal process of purchasing or selling a house. Residential conveyancing can involve buying/selling Leasehold and Freehold properties or Shared Ownership.
Residential conveyancing plays a huge part it people’s lives. Whether it is buying your first home or selling and moving to a new one. It is most people’s dream to one day own their own home and there are options and ways to assist them in achieving their goals and getting onto the property ladder, such as a reduction in Stamp duty payable for first time buyers up to £300,000 or Help to Buy Schemes brought in by the government.
At Carpenter & Co we have an experienced team of Property Solicitors and Licensed Conveyancers. Our aim is to take away some of the stress and make your transaction as easy as we can for you, and to give you an efficient service for all your property needs.
Once we are instructed we aim to make things as simple as possible for you.
We also provide you with an easy to read written process of how a sale and purchase transaction works.
To help you manage the costs of conveyancing, we will provide you with a full written quotation at the start of the transaction. This quote will include a comprehensive breakdown of the costs and expenses you can expect to incur with no hidden costs.
We are happy to provide an oral and written quotation upon request – please contact Paul Verlander at paulv@carpenterssolicitors.co.uk or telephone us on 020 8669 5145.
Read MoreCharity Summer BBQ
For anyone who doesn’t have plans for Friday evening, please note that the Mayor of Sutton is holding a summer barbecue at 7:30pm at the Woodcote Flying Club.
- Tickets are £12.
- Live music with Dan Davison.
- Proceeds to be given to Homestart Sutton and The Kidney Fund.
Details are shown below:
Sounds like a fun event for a good cause.
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Alzheimer’s Society Cupcake Day
There’s nothing we love more than getting behind a worthy cause. Amy Ellis and Chloe Preston who are Dementia Friends have decided to run a Cupcake sale. We will be busy baking cakes to raise money for the Alzheimer’s Society and selling them outside our offices on Tuesday, 12th June between 11.00am and 3.00pm.
Funds raised on the day are aimed to raise awareness for the fight against dementia. 850,000 people in the UK have dementia, and this is set to rise to over 1 million by 2025. We are proud to be taking part in Cupcake Day which is a brilliant and easy way to support the work of the UK’s leading dementia charity.
There will be bunting pages for kids to colour in and a selection of cakes to buy for a donation upwards of 50p.
Come along and treat yourself to a tasty little morsel in aid of an excellent charity!
Health & Wellbeing Event
The Health & Wellbeing Event of the Wallington Community Wellbeing Group took place on 27 April at the Trinity Centre in Maldon Road, Wallington, SM6 8BL.
We were proud to sponsor it.
The view from our stall
New information if you have a Lasting Power of Attorney!
Following a recent review of their fee charging regime, the Office of the Public Guardian will now be refunding people who registered a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) with them between 2013 and 2017. The refunds due are as follows:
When you paid the fee Refund for each power of attorney
April to September 2013 £54
October 2013 to March 2014 £34
April 2014 to March 2015 £37
April 2015 to March 2016 £38
April 2016 to March 2017 £45
The refund due is per LPA, so if you registered both a Property & Financial Affairs LPA and a Health & Welfare LPA, you will be due two refunds. You can apply for your refund directly from the Office of the Public Guardian; information is available online here https://www.gov.uk/power-of-attorney-refund. You can also call the Office of the Public Guardian for further advice an information on 0300 456 0300 (choose option 6).
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It’s beginning to look like Christmas! Or is it!
For some married couples this is a joyous time with their children. For others it is time of fear, depression and/or uncertainty. The questions of concern ‘I don’t think I can do this anymore she/he is no longer the person I married’ or ‘he/she keeps telling me I am not entitled to anything if I leave’.
If you are already tried Relate (counselling) and this is no longer an option then seek legal advice as to the way forward if you strongly believe the marriage has come to an end.
You planned to get into marriage so why not get some advice so that you can plan to get out, if possible, on an amicable basis.
There are various paths you can receive assistance as set out below:
Divorce Coach
If you are thinking I cannot cope or don’t know which way to turn. Then you might wish to speak with a divorce coach who will be able to assist and guide you throughout the process.
Mediation
If the parties are amicable or you are of the opinion you are in a position to discuss matters relating to who should start the divorce; with whom should the children reside or should there be shared residence and lastly what is going to happen to our finances. Then this is a sensible option. If the parties are able to set out proposals to settle you will be directed to your appointed solicitor to incorporate the proposals into an agreed format for lodging with the court together with other documentation.
Divorce
If you decide that the marriage is at an end you should speak with a solicitor who will be in a position to provide advice on the process. Some people are of the opinion they can divorce based on the irreconcilable differences. Unfortunately, this is not sufficient. Divorce must be based on the irretrievable breakdown of the marriage based on one of five facts: adultery, two years separation with the consent of the other party; unreasonable behaviour, desertion (with two years separation) and lastly five years separation.
Matrimonial Finance
This is usually the major bugbear when parties separate! Parties will be concerned about ‘I need sufficient money to re-house the children and myself’ or ‘I am going to be stitched up and have nowhere to live even though there is sufficient equity in the home’.
Go along and speak to a solicitor for an initial interview to find out your position. You may be directed to attend mediation if they see a glimmer of hope the parties are able to sit down and discuss matters sensibly. Alternative, your solicitor will arm you with sufficient information in order for you to work out the next step.
Before you can enter into any form of negotiation the parties will need to provide full and frank disclosure of their assets, income and liabilities to ensure there is no skulduggery. The parties and solicitor will enter into negotiations and if an agreement is successfully reached will be drawn up into the required format for the judge to review. If the parties are unable to reach an agreement the parties will be forced to go through the court system. Do not see this as a daunting prospect as the parties are still able to negotiate right up to the steps of the court or throughout.
Therefore your first step is to consider whether you marriage has truly run its course and, if so, come along and speak with a solicitor who will guide you on the next stage of your journey.
For advice please contact us on 02086695145.
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