Cultural objects and treasures: do you have a Lewis chessman?
Conservation and preservation of national heritage objects for public benefit is a longstanding policy of successive governments. However, cultural objects and treasures can present owners and their successors with a...
New Bill amending the law relating to children
The Scottish Government has published the new Children (Scotland) Bill which attempts to place focus on further safeguarding the welfare of children in family cases.
Challenging a will in Scotland: capacity
In an increasingly litigious society, private client solicitors in Scotland are frequently faced with queries from clients regarding the possibility of challenging wills of family members. Challenging a will is...
Vehicular rights of way and parking
by Jamie McNish, Trainee Solicitor. Public rights of access are something which all landowners in Scotland should bear in mind when managing their property, especially where that property contains areas...
Tenant farming commissioner publishes guide to the transfer of agricultural tenancies
The Scottish tenant farming commissioner (TFC), Bob McIntosh, has published a guide which outlines the ways in which an agricultural tenancy can be passed on by a tenant to a...
Surrogacy: are the UK’s laws outdated?
The Law Commission of England and Wales and the Scottish Law Commission have recently published a joint consultation paper, Building Families through Surrogacy: a new law. The commissions label the...
The future of civil partnerships in Scotland
Mixed-sex couples in Scotland may soon be able to enter into civil partnerships under the Scottish Government’s proposal to bring equality to legally recognised relationships.
English court upholds seniority presumption in common calamity
In Scarle (Deceased) v Scarle (Deceased) [2019] EWHC 2224 (Ch), the England and Wales High Court has upheld a presumption, applicable in the event of a common calamity, whereby the...
Changes to the repairing standard: the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006 (Modification of Repairing Standard) Regulations 2019
Changes are being made to the types of property to which the repairing standard applies.
Relinquishment and assignation: limited partnership agricultural tenancies
A limited partnership agricultural tenancy (LPAT) was, historically, a common way of creating a fixed-term 1991 Act tenancy. The parties to the limited partnership were the general partner who was...
Reforming charity taxation and non-domestic rates
I will not seek to repeat in detail the background or current position in relation to non-domestic rates in Scotland, the statutory basis and how they are applied – that...