| 
Welcome to the Spring issue of our Private Client newsletter, helping to keep you up-to-date with a quarterly round-up of news from the legal world.
Does Christmas now seem like an awfully long time ago? If like many you turned to the plastic to fund your festive season, then you may be interested in the latest study on credit card spending by the high street bank Abbey, which reports that the average person owes some £3,256 on their plastic and that only 36% of all card holders actually pay off their outstanding balance in full every month.
Despite this considerable average debt however, it turns out that 55% of people have never bothered to transfer their balance to a 0% interest deal which, according to Abbey’s Head of Credit Cards, could lead to substantial savings, some £443 a year on average in fact, a figure that could prove a welcome saving in today’s trying economic climate. It’s well worth looking into.
February’s approvals for house purchase, 38,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis, were nearly a fifth higher than in January and marked the first material improvement in approvals since mid-2008 according to figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders. For those who already have a mortgage, we have a useful article on our website that offers tips on managing it efficiently.
Staying on the subject of mortgages, we reported on our website in January that in a bid to provide some relief for borrowers, a new pre-action protocol has been created to cover possession claims based on mortgage arrears. Now, reasonable steps must be taken to discuss the reason for the arrears, the borrower’s financial circumstances and proposals for repayment of the arrears. The lender must now write to the borrower within ten days to provide reasons for rejecting any repayment proposals and consideration can be given to a postponement of the possession claim providing the borrower can show that they have taken steps to put the property on the market at an appropriate and reasonable price. If you have not already seen the article and the situation applies to you, it’s well worth a read.
Few drivers will embrace the recent proposal documented in a Department for Transport consultation paper which would allow the police to levy ‘on the spot’ penalties on drivers. Clear cut penalties such as driving whilst using a mobile phone can currently be dispensed without the need for a court appearance, but under the new proposals drivers could be given a three-point penalty based solely on the say-so of a police officer, even when the offence is not clear cut. Effectively this means a driver could be banned based on evidence that might not be sustainable if the alleged offence were brought to trial. Drivers would be well advised to keep a keen eye on the future development of these proposals and we will of course document any progress on our website.
On the ever popular subject of Inheritance Tax (IHT), we reported back in February that HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has issued guidance on the procedure for the claim of the balance of the IHT nil rate band on the death of a second spouse or civil partner, thus making the retention of certain documents such as the Death Certificate, the Marriage or Civil Partnership Certificate, a copy of the Grant of Representation, the Will if there was one and any Deed of Variation, of the first spouse or civil partner vital.
We hope you have found this newsletter interesting and informative. If you would like to discuss any of the issues raised, or need help with any other legal matter, please don't hesitate to get in touch.
This is a FREE service from Anderson Longmore & Higham, offering the latest news and advice on a range of subjects specifically for Private Clients.
Andrew Brooke
Probate Partner
Anderson Longmore & Higham www.alhlaw.co.uk | 
