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| Your Questions answered
Wed, 10 Mar, 2010 |
Your questions will be answered by one of our in-house specialists. More details about them are available from the link on the left. Please note that this page is Public, so if you want to give confidential information, then use the Contacts page from the menu on the left. |
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Q Feb, Sunday 14th by Viv -  |
| In Dec '09 the company I was employed with went into Administration however I held my position but the new company who are currently employing me have not issued me with a new contract of employment. Is it necessary for me to have one, what should I do? |
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| | R Feb, Monday 15th by Alan |
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From the information provided it could be that the company in administration was sold on under the Transfer of Undertaking (TUPE) regulations which means you will retain continuity of employment and it should be that your previous Contract of Employment terms still apply. If any changes are made or proposed to your Contract of Employment, these will be subject to consultation with you. If you are in any doubt you should speak to your Human Resources Dept, Union or Director/Manager in charge. You also have the option of seeking advice from your local Citizens Advice Bureau |
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| Q Feb, Tuesday 9th by Mrs J Parkin - |
| hi i writing to on behalf of my step daughter .her husband of five months walked out on her leaving her with all the depts to pay including three months rent and baillifts bill for council tax,hes refucing to pay her any money for these bills and there one year old son.the police were involed at the weekend has he was demanding to take anything of value from the poperty,she was adviced to cantact citezens advice in order to get information on any local solictors,she,s awaiting claims for income support ,can she get free legal advice? |
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| | R Feb, Monday 15th by Alan |
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Should your step-daughter wish to instigate divorce proceedins she will have to wait until the marriage has lasted one year. There is a leaflet on Advice Guide under Family called "Ending a Marriage" which your step-daughter may find useful. She can also seek help from her local CAB regarding help with sorting out the debts as her husband may well be jointly responsible for payments on some of the debts. www.communitylegaladvice.org.uk, Tel 0845-345-4-345 can help her find a solicitor and advise her if she is entitled to legal aid. Family Mediation can also provide legal help on decisions regarding children and/or property and finance. should your step-daughter decide to divorce her husband. |
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| Q Feb, Tuesday 2nd by Kathryn - |
| I am in the process of buying a house on the Darwin Estate, Lichfield. A problem has arisen during the major checks. The original builder still has outstanding debts owed to the council. The council are unsuccessful in obtaining the debt from the builder. The council have said to our solicitor that they will continue to pursue this, but if unsuccessful will get their money through other avenues. One potential avenue is through the home owners on the estate. (Houses built on the land that has money owing.) Our solicitor cannot get us insurance against this eventuality, but has been able to get insurance for our potential mortgage lender. The builder owes £19500, the house is 5 year old and we will be the second owner. We don’t know what to do, what to ask or who to ask. Thank you. K |
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| | R Feb, Monday 8th by Alan |
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Without having further information, it is difficult to advise you. It may be that the problem is to due indemnity between housebuilder and the local council, to do with the infrastructure (road, common paths, lighting etc). We will e-mail you separately on this issue. |
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| Q Jan, Wednesday 27th by Amanda - |
| we have a shared road that leads to 3 houses - i run a childminding business and sometimes the parents park to collect children temporarily blocking access to the other houses-one neighbour has threatened legal action because he had to wait 2 minutes to get to his house - where do we stand on this and other deliveries to our house that would also temporarily block access |
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| | R Feb, Monday 1st by Alan |
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There is no "as of right" to park on a road outisde a person's house and the local authority and police have a right to remove any illegally parked vehicle or issue a fixed penalty notice. However, in the case of a shared drive, there is a right of way for each occupier to use the shared drive, but not block it. Your neighbour therefore can consult a solicitor who will either send a letter to you or get an injunction to stop the obstruction. We suggest that you try and agree an amicable solution between your neighbours as it is likely that any one of you will at some time have lorries or vans making deliveries which will temporarily block the road or someone's driveway. You could also advise your clients that blocking other people's driveways is likely to cause difficulties and ask if they can park at the end of the road and collect their children or to be considerate to your neighbours and not block their driveways. |
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| Q Jan, Thursday 21st by Tracy Kirniczuk - |
| Hello. I rent a business property and the landlord refuses to install heating, replace the toilet as it is cracked, and maintain the surrounding business area. The lack of heating is causing mould to grow in the kitchen and bathroom, the toilet leaks onto a tiled floor. Please advise. |
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| | R Jan, Friday 22nd by Mary |
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Tracy, there are Health & Safety issues with the leaky toilet and if you have employees you have a responsibility to look after their health. So, you may want to look into this issue. Suggest you look on the net under Health & Safety Executive or your local council Environmental Health may be able to advise. |
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| | R Jan, Friday 22nd by Alan |
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Responsibility for repairs to the premises will be outlined in the lease or agreement your have with your landlord. The Business Tenancies Act sets out the procedures for obtaining compensations for improvements. You could initially write to your landlord setting out the repairs needed, obtain quotations from two sources and then negotiate with him and get his authorisation in writing that you will have the repairs carried out but he meets the costs, or alternatively you can try to enforce his responsibilities. But both these courses of action are fraught with difficulties so you may need the help of a solicitor. |
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| Q Dec, Monday 28th by Dave Williams - |
| I am divorced and have been for 6 years now, my partner and I want to get married and we need my decree absolute, the thing is I dont know where it is, or the solicitors involved, how can I get a copy of this ??? |
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| | R Dec, Monday 28th by Alan |
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If you know which court granted your divorce, you can contact them and ask for a copy, you may have to pay a fee. If you do not know the court then you can appy to The Principal Registrar of Family Division, Decree Absolute Research Services, First Avenue House, 42-49 High Holborn, London WC1V 6NP Tel 020 7947 6000. You need to complete form D440 (copy on-line from direct.gov.uk website) and pay a fee. Website direct.gov.uk provides link to HM Courts website for more information. |
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| Q Dec, Tuesday 22nd by Jason - |
| how long can the police keep you on bail without charging you for an offence? |
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| | R Dec, Wednesday 23rd by Alan |
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There is no specific time period, it depends on the crime and whether there is sufficient evidence to bring a prosecution and the time needed to prepare a case for the courts. We would have thought that you would have been provided with bail details by the police. |
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| Q Dec, Thursday 10th by Jonathan Fathers - |
| do i need to book an appointment to come see you or can i just come in and talk to yourselves any day |
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| | R Dec, Monday 14th by Alan |
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If you check "Opening Hours" on this website, you will see that we have drop in times on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. However, with the Christmas and New Year we have restricted opening hours, details of which are under "News and Updates". If you need an interview, then we make one for you once we have spoken to you and found out the prblem. |
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