Now more than ever, we should be asking the question: “are my affairs in order?”

In these uncertain times, it is prudent planning to consider putting a Will and Power of Attorney in place. A Will, of course, allows you to state what you wish to happen to your assets upon your death and provides your family with some comfort in knowing your affairs will be in order upon your death. A Power of Attorney, on the other hand, allows you to appoint someone to

All throughout my high school years I was asked what I wanted to do when I left, my answer was always “I’ll just go to college or university.” I left high school still undecided in what I was to do. Looking for work is always a daunting process, and I had no idea that modern apprenticeships even existed. After hours of internet research I came across the modern apprenticeship scheme. I signed up and instantly received notifications about potential interviews.

Transitioning from seeing my

You have studied hard, attained your law degree and you are finally ready to be a Trainee Solicitor. Now, all that is left to do is to find a traineeship! But, how exactly do you do that?

Importantly, the answer to this is not the same for everyone. For some, the answer is more straightforward than others. They may have always have dreamt of being a high-flying Commercial Solicitor and know that this is what they intend to pursue. For others, they may fancy themselves

When proprietors within a tenement instruct a repair by dint of a Scheme Decision made in terms of the Tenement Management Scheme (Schedule 1 to the Tenement (Scotland) Act 2004) any owner in such a tenement can, if they wish, arrange for the repair and then look to the other owners for a contribution to the cost.

In mixed tenure tenements where there are privately owned flats and units let in terms of affordable tenancies (social tenancies) a social landlord might find themselves in such

At TC Young, we offer modern apprentice opportunities in all of our offices. We have worked with school leavers for a number of years (before it was called a modern apprenticeship) and it is a recruitment method that we feel offers excellent training for school leavers. It is also a relationship that we continue to benefit from with individuals receiving training in different areas of the business.

A long time ago ?? we had a plan:

1. To recruit a legal secretary; however we struggled to

Trainee recruitment is a part of my job I really enjoy. I love meeting new people and trying to find someone that I think will bring an extra dimension, while assessing whether they will work well alongside the existing team.

Our latest search for a trainee produced nearly 100 applicants. But of that 100, how do we whittle them down?

First of all we decide what our key criteria will be. That will vary each year depending on the priorities we place on certain skills,

As TC Young starts looking for another trainee, I thought some candidates may welcome some tips for completing a trainee application form before pushing the send button ?

1. ?Your application form and covering email will create a first impression. ?As a wise man once said you don?t get a second chance to make a first impression?!
2. Read the application form carefully. Then read it again to ensure you understand the guidelines provided. An application form is not only an opportunity to provide your details, it

A limited liability company is a popular choice when considering business models. It has relatively small costs to set up and get going. However, the essential requirements can appear daunting.

This guide outlines the key elements below and gives sources that are available for support.

Articles of Association

These are the building blocks of your company. They state how important functions will operate e.g. Directors powers. Model Articles are available on the Government's website that cover all of the basic functions. However, they may not

Generally, a contract only gives rights and obligations to the people that are a party to it. However, there are circumstances where contracts can create third party rights. In Scotland, these third party rights were often criticised as the law around them was unclear and inflexible.

To change this the Contract (Third Party Rights) (Scotland) Act 2017 (the Act) came into force on 26 February 2018.

The Act makes a number of changes to how third party rights in Scotland work. This blog gives a

What is an Action Plan?

The Assessment of the Energy Performance of Non-Domestic Buildings (Scotland) Regulations 2016 created a somewhat advanced form of an Energy Performance Certificate, known as both a section 63 Assessment but more commonly known as an Action Plan.

When do you need an Action Plan?

Action Plans apply to non-domestic buildings or buildings with a floor area over 1000 square metres, which do not comply with the 2002 Scottish Building Standards. The trigger for requiring an Action Plan is upon the

In Scotland, if you have raised a court action against another person for recovery of a sum of money then you are known as the "Pursuer" and the person you have taken to court becomes known as the "Defender". What does the re-introduction of "Pursuers" offers in Scotland mean for settlements?

Defenders in court actions have been able to take advantage of formal offers of settlement for some time, offers known as "tenders". However, as of 3^rd April 2017, Pursuers are able to make

A retired senior judge in England issued a warning yesterday over the risks of granting a power of attorney via an article on the BBC news website and on BBC Radio 2.

Our advice to anyone holding a Power of Attorney in Scotland, or considering granting one. Don't panic!

The Scottish system of granting a Power of Attorney differs from England.

Most Powers of Attorney in Scotland are drafted by solicitors following specific instructions from their client, offering an additional level of protection. Solicitors

An article from The Telegraph details plans to revolutionise the "outdated" system for having a Will made and suggests allowing new ways to provide Will instructions for your death such as notes, voicemail's, emails and texts.

The current system

A valid Will is signed on all pages by the testator (the person who's Will it is) before an adult independent witness who signs on the last page only. Changes to a Will can be made by either doing a new will or something called a

It has now been over a year since the introduction of the Additional Dwelling Supplement which came into force on 1 April 2016.

The Additional Dwelling Supplement (ADS) is an additional amount of Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT). The current rate of ADS is 3% on the full purchase price and applies to purchases of:-

• Additional properties in Scotland, such as buy to let properties and second homes, with a value of £40,000 or more;
• Where, at the end of the effective date of

This week is dementia awareness week in Scotland, culminating on Friday with Alzheimer Scotland's flagship annual conference in Edinburgh, where T C Young will be in attendance. There has also been additional press coverage in the last few weeks from politicians as they gear up for the General Election. Rather than kissing babies, it is the older generation who are being thrust into the spotlight as the various parties deliver their strategies for dealing with an aging population.

We pride ourselves on having a number

Our earlier blog on Wills spoke of the need for getting professional advice and not relying on a DIY Will. There is a document, however, which we would actively encourage you to DIY and that is a Letter of Wishes. A Letter of Wishes is often stored alongside Wills, and can act as a guide to your executors and trustees as to how the instructions in your Will should be implemented.

They are unlikely to include legal jargon, and will convey the feelings of

We were approached by a housing association client who wanted to help a vulnerable adult to remain living in his deceased parent?s home. Otherwise there would be no option but for the adult to go into care, leaving the home he was comfortable in.

The housing association agreed to purchase a share, just under 50%, of the property in question and entered into an Occupancy Agreement with both the Trustees under the late mother's Will Trust and also with the representatives of the son. This

Registers of Scotland (RoS) recently released their Annual Market Review 2016 detailing activity in the Scottish residential property market for that year. So what's the latest news for the Scottish Property Market?

The key points highlighted in this report are: 

• The volume of sales increased by 3.3% on 2015
• The average price of a residential property fell by 1.9% compared with 2015
• The value of the residential market in Scotland was in excess of £16.5 billion, an increase of 1.3% on the previous year

Taking

Top Tips for selling your property in Edinburgh

1. This is a good time to sell as there is a lack of stock on the market at present and there is a strong demand for many types of properties.
2. From a selling point of view it is not worth holding off until Easter or better weather. In recent, previous years, partly due to lack of other stock and partly due to the year round nature of the market, many properties marketed in January and February have

Buying your first home is an exciting prospect. In the past few years less people have been able to realise their dream of getting on the property ladder due to lack of sufficient mortgage availability, job uncertainty and the rise in property prices in many areas, particularly in Edinburgh and Glasgow. However the market is now picking up again - what advice for first time buyers should you be looking for?

If you are thinking of purchasing a property one of the first things you

It's inevitable that we will attempt some form of DIY in our lives. In many circumstances there will be that temptation to 'give it a go' whilst thoughts of "what's the worst that can happen?" run through our head but this can often end in disaster. A wobbly shelf or badly painted wall is one thing; but not leaving your hard earned money and possessions to who you want to is another. While on the topic of DIY, we are often asked - can I

The Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 requires all public bodies (including RSLs) to publish a procurement strategy, where their expenditure on regulated procurements for the next financial year will be at least 5m. All eligible public bodies were required to publish their first strategy by 31 December 2016. Public bodies must also notify the Scottish Government of the publication of their strategies.

The Act provides for the matters which must be covered by a procurement strategy, which include:

• Setting out how the public body will

Under the Data Protection Act, employees can ask to see any personal data about them that their employers hold. These are?called a Subject Access Requests (SAR), and can create potential legal problems for employers. What are the risks around SARs? And how employers should handle them?

The Risks

A SAR will likely be time-consuming and costly to an employer. They may need to look through a lot of data in order to find all of the information required.

SAR?s can also be risky for employers

2016 has been a mixed year for property purchasers and sellers in Edinburgh and the Lothians. What are the current Edinburgh property market conditions? Some sellers have done very well in terms of attracting interest in their properties and achieving prices over their asking prices and home report values; but not everyone has benefited from what, generally speaking, was a positive year on the property market. The main problem for buyers and sellers is a lack of real choice on the market. Most people have

On 22 April 2016, further legislation augmenting and transforming rights and responsibilities governing land ownership in Scotland entered into force. Furthering the Scottish Government's aim of bringing an intended million acres of land into community ownership, the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016 makes further provisions designed to engage communities in decision making and facilitate community ownership. How can Scottish Land Fund help community ownership?

The Scottish Government have announced that the Scottish Land Fund will continue until 2020 and have trebled support to £10 million

In Scotland, prescription is the law that regulates the period in which parties can pursue claims. If I was raising a court action - how long have I got?

Most claims in law prescribe after five years, which means that a party wishing to make a claim after that five year period may be prohibited from successfully raising that claim.

There are certain other categories of claim to which specific periods apply, such as product liability, defamation and harassment.

The purpose of allowing this period

Following the recent signing of the CETA free trade deal between the EU and Canada, many are asking what the UK has in store in relation to trade and, specifically, public procurement rules, upon withdrawal from the EU.

The public procurement rules which apply in Scotland come from the EU Procurement Directive therefore, once the UK has left the EU, does this mean the end for public procurement law in this country?

The possible scenarios for the UK?s exit from the EU include:

• The Norway

There were three significant changes to Judicial Review procedures brought in to effect by the Courts Reform (Scotland) Act 2014. The 2014 Act made provision for wide-ranging reforms to the Scottish civil courts system in Scotland, as well as important reforms to the court procedure associated with judicial review in relation to time bar, permission to raise Judicial Review proceedings and the requirement to "front load" applications for Judicial Review.

Time bar

It is now a requirement that applications for judicial review are made

What do you need to know about the Uber Employment Tribunal Case and how will this affect employment rights?

In a landmark decision, an Employment Tribunal has held that Uber, popular smart-phone taxi app, must treat its drivers as 'workers' opposed to self-employed. This gives Uber drivers a range of employment rights whilst placing obligations on Uber to uphold these. However, this case is likely to have wide reaching implications. This blog will look at the key facts of the Uber case and tell

If you are considering making alterations to your property it is important to make sure that you have all necessary permissions before getting started.

Depending on what you are planning to do, you may need Planning Permission, a Building Warrant and/or Listed Building Consent from your local authority. Your architect can assist with this and with the completion of any necessary application forms.

Some alterations can be carried out as "permitted development" and therefore do not need permission but it is always best to check

A power of Attorney is something often associated with the elderly and young people may ask - why would I need a power of attorney? However this important legal document is something everyone should consider putting in place. Accidents or illness can, unfortunately, occur at any age and granting Power of Attorney can ensure that someone you trust is able to manage your affairs and make important decisions about your health and well being if something was to happen to you in the future. In

You may be aware of the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) updates that involved a request for all charities to report Notifiable Events. Whilst there is no legal requirement to report an event, OSCR are keen to encourage charities to report to them when there has been a significant event which may or may not have a negative impact on an individual charity or the wider charity sector.

Types of notifiable events can be as follows:-

• Fraud and theft
• Substantial financial loss
• Incidents

You may be aware of developments requiring all UK private companies, including companies limited by guarantee and UK LLPs, to keep a Person of Significant Control (PSC) Register.

This has been introduced by the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 to increase corporate transparency by creating a full picture of the ownership of businesses.

Registered Social Landlord (RSL) - Co-operative and Community Benefit Society

Most RSLs are societies registered under the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014 (formerly the Industrial and Provident Societies

Earlier this month a Scottish letting agent pled guilty to an offence under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008. What was perhaps surprising was that the ?offence? committed by the letting agents was the failure to lodge deposits with an approved tenancy deposit scheme on behalf one of their landlord clients.

In terms of the Tenancy Deposit Scheme (Scotland) Regulations 2011, a landlord has a duty to pay any deposit received from a tenant into an approved tenancy deposit scheme within 30 working

Notwithstanding the recent Brexit vote, the European Convention on Human Rights (EHCR) remains part of our law at least for now. It's impact on the social rented sector has been clear since the decision of the Supreme Court in Manchester City Council v Pinnock [2010] CSIH 78 (particularly Article 8: the right to respect to respect for private and family life). In short, in social rented eviction cases, the courts are required to balance the rights of the parties facing eviction and consider whether granting

In a year that has seen headlines dominated by strikes of junior doctors and Scotrail staff, the introduction of the Trade Union Act 2016, is likely to be of great interest to both employers and employees. The Trade Union Act 2016 (TUA), which is expected to come into force throughout the year, incorporates a number of changes for the Trade Union regime throughout the U.K.

The Key Changes

Balloting

Before industrial action can take place, a Trade Union must ballot its members. Members will cast

Trying to decide which career path to go down towards the end of my time at school was a difficult and somewhat daunting process, as is the case for a lot of school leavers. The decision lies between further education, such as college and university, or to go straight into the big bad world and get a job. I know first-hand how hard a choice this can be. I found the idea of further education very appealing however I wanted to be earning money. I

On Friday the 24^th June 2016 the country woke up to the news that the majority of voters in the United Kingdom had voted to leave the European Union. Whilst the implications of this referendum will be far reaching, the question on a number of people?s lips is how will Brexit affect employment law?

The UK will continue to remain a member of the EU until there is agreement on when we will leave. However, there are a number of employment issues that are

Solicitors, healthcare and social work professionals, and others need to be aware of the major changes in practice required to ensure compliance with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. They must apply these changes now, within the framework of existing legislation, pending upgrading of the UK's adult incapacity and mental capacity legislation. The UK ratified the Convention without reservation in 2009. The UK also ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention, allowing citizens who claim to be victims of breach of

In February of this year I began my Modern Apprenticeship with TC Young in Edinburgh. I am an Admin Assistant within the Property Department and the tasks I carry out as a modern apprentice can differ day to day. Some of the duties are:

• Collecting mail in the morning as well as alternate evenings
• Doing the filing for the solicitors
• Collecting and preparing banking and recorded deliveries
• Writing cheques
• Preparing meetings and clearing up once finished
• Arranging for delivery/collection from our offsite storage company
• Undertakings

People with intellectual disabilities are promised the same rights to control their own lives as everyone else by the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. They are also promised the support needed to make this a reality. Supported decision-making is one way of doing that. Co-decision-making is another. But how can these be arranged in practice?

Your abilities to assert and achieve what you want may already be limited, or may become less in future. How can you ensure that you

The Department for Business Innovation and Skill (BIS), together with the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), commissioned research exploring pregnancy and maternity related discrimination in the workplace. The research involved interviews with over 3,000 mothers and over 3,000 employers in Britain.

While you may not all have the time or inclination to read the full report, the information that stemmed from the research is worrying, considering rights in relation to maternity and pregnancy discrimination have been around for so long.

Some of the key

An area of employment law which is gaining more ground is the issue of managing employees working from home. In fact I have been asked by a number of clients about this issue given more employees are making flexible working requests to work from home. It is important that employers are aware of how to manage employees working from home and using their own devices.

Homeworking is a type of flexible working which, depending on the agreement between employer and employee, can be also used

Within the last few weeks, Scottish Ministers have advised stakeholders of their proposals for the training requirements for letting agents to go with the Code of Practice.

The training requirements will apply to the most senior person in a letting agency business (unless they have no input into the letting agency's day-to-day running) and all persons directly concerned with managing and supervising of a business letting agency work.

There must also be at least one person per office (where relevant letting agency work is carried

Most of the headlines for the Private Rented Sector (PRS) in Scotland have been grabbed by the Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Bill, which was passed after the stage 3 debate this month and set to become an Act. However, before we get an entirely new tenancy regime for the PRS, the sector will have to grapple with mandatory letting agent registration and code of conduct.

Part 4 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2014 makes provision for the registration, regulation and training requirements for letting agents

The Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Bill was passed by the Scottish Parliament on 17^th March 2016. The stated aim of the legislation is to create simpler tenancies, offer stability and security for private tenants and ensure predictability over rent increases. It also fundamentally changes the nature of the relationship between landlords and tenants from contractual to statutory. We will get a new tenancy type called a 'Private Rented Tenancy' which will replace the current Assured and Short Assured regime. The Scottish Government has yet

On 28 January the Scottish Government published the Land & Buildings Transaction Tax (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill. This follows the announcement by Scotland's Finance Secretary in the Scottish budget in December 2015 that Scotland would follow the steps announced by the UK chancellor in charging additional Land & Building Transaction Tax (LBTT) (Scotland's equivalent of stamp duty) on second homes and buy to let properties.

Land & Building Transaction Tax rates

It is intended that the additional land & building transaction tax rates will apply

The Stage 1 report into the Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Bill (the Bill) from the Infrastructure and Capital Investment Committee has been published along with their recommendations. Evidence has been taken from various stakeholders in the Private Rented Sector (PRS) and the report and its recommendations were debated in the Scottish Parliament earlier this month. How will this affect student letting in Scotland?

The report can be downloaded here.

The Report makes some significant recommendations regarding Student Tenancies. The policy objective behind the Bill

There have been a flurry of new developments in public procurement law in Scotland and we have provided a brief summary of these below. Please watch this space for further detail and more commentary on the changes!

1. Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015

The 2015 regulations were published on 22 December and are due to come into force on 18 April 2016. They will replace the existing 2012 regulations and are intended to transpose the new EU directive on public procurement into Scots law. These

With the introduction of bespoke software providers advertising the ability to execute residential leases electronically (digital signatures), we are regularly being asked -  can such services be used in Scotland?

The Requirements of Writing (Scotland) Act 1995 (RWA) does recognise electronic signatures as 'writing', and has done so since the commencement of the relevant parts of the Land Registration (Scotland) Act 2012.

I would point out that, in terms of the RWA, there is no requirement for leases of less than 12mths to be