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The majority of house moves have been put on hold during lockdown whilst the message in Scotland is still to ‘Stay At Home’. This has put increased pressure on those in the midst of moving, especially those who have ended up with two properties because one has not been able to be sold due to the current restrictions.  If you own two properties on the date of settlement and you are not replacing your main residence, a tax called Additional Dwelling Supplement (ADS) is payable. ADS, which is currently charged at 4% of the whole purchase price, applies to all transactions involving the purchase of an additional residential dwelling over £40,000, including buy to let investments and second homes.

Coinciding with the lockdown imposed across the UK on the 23rd March, all Courts across Scotland were closed to routine business. Hub Courts were assigned for each Sheriffdom - across the ten Courts of Tayside, Central and Fife, only two hub Courts were designated, and those two Courts are dealing only with designated "emergency" business, for example dealing with those arrested and held in custody, and applications for protective orders for either person or property, where the solicitor has been able to satisfy the Court that there is sufficient urgency.   What this has meant is that all routine business, in every Court across Scotland, has been paused, and either sisted (frozen) or has been continued until late summer.

As we start to see green shoots emerging and what the new normal will mean for business, it is understandable that many employees will be worried about the potential changes and significant threat to their future employment. Companies are going to have to adapt their practices and procedures to suit the current situation, but will also need to ensure the practicalities around this and their business continuity and viability. This could potentially mean a cut in workforce, at least for the short term whilst the world gets back to normal. 

Macnabs Managing Partner, Ruth Croman, has recently been accredited by FLAGS as a Family Law Arbitrator. A well-respected family lawyer, Ruth is a member of the Family Law Association, Consensus Collaboration Scotland and is accredited as a Specialist in both Family Law and Child Law. Macnabs boasts one of the most experienced and highly qualified teams of family law solicitors in Perthshire, Tayside & Stirlingshire. Arbitration is an alternative method of dispute resolution, where the parties involved choose to appoint an impartial family arbitrator to resolve their family problems, outside of the Courts. It is an ideal approach for people who want to resolve a family dispute without the delay and expense of the court process, especially in the current challenging climate where the Courts are currently effectively closed for all but urgent cases due to the COVID-19 pandemic.