How all employers, company directors and HR executives can make good use of benefits in kind with our Wills service.

We were delighted for Chris Holme when he moved to Bishop & Sewell and told us how progressive and forward thinking a law firm they were. Having completed the sale of our business within 2 and a half weeks, we now appreciate what he meant. The whole team at Bishop & Sewell should also take pride in their contribution to the success of the deal in particular, Rashpal, Sophie and Chandresh. We are extremely pleased that we entrusted the disposal of our business to Chris and grateful for the care and attention that everyone at Bishop & Sewell took in the process. We shall (as always) be happy to recommend Chris and his team to others.

• All the personal chattels - such a furniture, jewellery, car, pictures etc
  
  
• A legacy of £200,000 and one half of the balance outright
  
  
• The remaining balance then passes to various relatives according to who has survived; first to the deceased’s parents but if not surviving then equally to surviving brothers and sisters.
  

• All the personal chattels
  
  
• A legacy of £125,000 and the income from one half of the balance
  
  
• The rest passes to the children when they reach 18

• If the matrimonial home is in the deceased spouse’s sole name it might need to be sold to satisfy the various family claims.
  
  
• Inheritance Tax may be due if the value of the estate passing to relatives other then the spouse is over the nil rate band of £312,000 (2008/9 limits).
  
  
• If there are two or more children they aren’t going to receive much unless the estate is worth at least some hundreds of thousand pounds.
  
  
• Children inherit their share at 18 – not necessarily the best age to give sums of capital.
  
  
• Where there aren’t any children, having a proportion left to an older generation or remoter relatives may not be just bad tax planning, it might be leaving money to relatives with which the deceased would otherwise have no connection, possibly intentionally.
  
  
• Beneficiaries will be the administrators of the estate – perhaps they aren’t suitable.

• The ban must be implemented in ‘enclosed’ or ‘substantially enclosed’ areas, and so partially enclosed areas in car parks etc would also be subject to the new law.
  
  
• Pool cars must also be non-smoking
  
  
• Employers are required to put up signs of specific size and content (including the correct non-smoking symbol!) at the entrances to doors of non-smoking buildings, and in non-smoking vehicles.
  
  
• There is no requirement to offer smoking breaks, but where smoking was previously permitted employers may wish to consider offering an option of shorter lunch breaks, to enable smokers to take scheduled smoking breaks. As with most issues, it is advisable to record the rules in writing, and ensure enforcement, to avoid future problems.
  
  
• Employers are required to enforce the smoking ban, and prevent smoking in areas covered by the ban, which are within their management control. Failure to comply with the law in enforcing the ban or in failing to display compliant signs may result in fines.
  

• Issues to consider when deciding whether TUPE applies include whether you will carry on the same activities as the previous company, whether you will acquire any goodwill, and what you will acquire in terms of assets of the old company. It will not apply to a simple share sale, where the employer remains the same company throughout.

• Before the transaction is completed, ensure that you have relevant information about how many employees there are, what they are paid, what the terms of employment are, and whether there are any potential claims from existing employees. If the previous employer failed to pay contractual bonus last year, the liability for payment could transfer to your company with the transaction!

• It is always wise to obtain an indemnity for such claims from the vendor, and have this inserted into the sale and purchase agreement. If possible, negotiate to hold back some of the purchase price until the limitation period for any obvious potential Employment Tribunal claims has passed (usually 6 months).

• Be careful about changing terms and conditions of employment – it would be wise to take legal advice, because changes could result in claims from the employees, and in any event could be void. If, for example, you changed the bonus structure, resulting in loss for the employees, you could be required to compensate, even if the employees appeared to consent to the variation. Such claims could come back to haunt the business even years into the future. There are ways in which terms can be changed, but this involves careful planning and consultation.

• The TUPE regulations automatically transfer the employees to the ‘incoming’ business – whether they are wanted or not! Dismissals are possible, but again this requires consultation and careful planning as to the reasons for the dismissals, in order to avoid costly unfair dismissal claims.

• Within the confines of this article we have only addressed the issues relating to business acquisitions, but TUPE can apply where there has been no transaction to purchase a business –where a service contract (for example, an office cleaning contract) changes hands the employees would automatically transfer to become the employees of the new contractor.