This guide is equally for both married couples and gay couples who have entered into civil partnerships, (for ease we have used the expression ‘divorce’ throughout. In the case of gay couples the expression is ‘dissolution’. There are many things to think about. It is likely to mean changes to whom you live with, maybe where you live, as well as changes to your finances. This can be further complicated where children are involved to care for and support. It is a huge change in your life and can be a very difficult and emotional time. One of…
Benefit and tax credit fraud costs Britain almost £2 billion each year Benefit cheats face increased jail terms of up to ten years under a crackdown More cases will be pursued and tougher sentences sought by sending suspects straight to Crown Court, in new guidelines for the Crown Prosecution Service. The enormous economic cost of benefit fraud will be a major consideration in whether charges are pursued. Middle-class and “professional” cheats will be targeted as the offence is brought into line with crimes such as money laundering and banking fraud. The CPS will also aim to ensure that those responsible…
The punishment for benefit fraud varies and is dependent on the seriousness of the offence, mitigating circumstances and other factors. Therefore, each case is different. A case could be dealt with in one of three ways. In the case of a first offence, it is sometimes possible to be given a caution if you admit to the offence. However, this only happens if the amount that has been over claimed is small. Naturally, this option appeals to most offenders. However, there are consequences to taking a caution for committing benefit fraud, especially if you re-offend. Therefore, accepting a caution is…
Whilst benefit fraud is a serious offence being found guilty does not automatically result in a prison sentence. If handled correctly many benefit fraud cases can be settled and dealt with outside the court system. In this situation, the case is settled with the repayment of all of or a substantial portion of the amount falsely claimed. There is also usually a fine to pay, and possibly of the suspension of the certain benefits for a period of time, but no prison sentence. Only the serious cases result in a prison sentence. Deliberately making a false statement to get benefits…
The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) is very clear about how surveillance can be used. The act restricts the use of invasive surveillance techniques to a small group of circumstances. The use of intrusive surveillance has to be authorised by a judge. Fixed cameras and bugs are by their very nature intrusive forms of surveillance, for which benefit fraud investigators are highly unlikely to get permission to use in the course of their investigation. However, that does not mean that they cannot legally use other investigative and surveillance techniques. It may not be possible for benefit fraud investigators to…
Solicitors and lawyers must demonstrate the value of a qualified family lawyer in divorce cases. We are used to buying practically everything on the internet. Accordingly, why should not we also be able to buy a divorce online? Or is that just too simple and one-dimensional? There are, however, many people who need clear, expert and independent advice about the consequences of separation and divorce, both for them and their children. At the same time, however, it is becoming more difficult for the public to obtain such advice, especially those of limited means. Legal aid, in divorce and family cases,…
The “systemic failings” of the family justice system violated an “irreproachable” father’s human rights by denying him contact with his daughter over a decade, senior judges have ruled. In a ground-breaking judgment the Court of Appeal judges said that they had never encountered a case in which the family justice system had “failed a family so completely”. The man, 60, had endured a dozen years of legal battles against his mentally unstable ex-partner who was “implacably hostile” to any contact between him and their daughter. His daughter now nearly 14, was aged 1 when her parents separated in 2001 and…
In Feltham v Bouskell [2013] solicitors were delayed in preparing held liable in negligence for failing to prepare a will, where there were doubts about the testamentary capacity of the client. Hazel Charlton (the testatrix) was a 90-year-old. She had made a number of wills and since 1990 the same firm had acted for her in relation to her wills and members of the firm were appointed executors. Her step-granddaughter, Lorraine Feltham, was not a beneficiary in any of these wills. The 1998 will left the residue, after some minor legacies to be divided three ways between: Mrs. Atkinson, an…
The simple answer is that yes, you can still leave the country if you are being investigated for benefit fraud. That said, if you have been specifically asked by the investigators not to leave the country, you must not do so. The vast majority of benefit fraud cases are small scale, so it is very unusual for people who are being investigated for defrauding the DWP to be asked not to leave the country. Those suspected of high-level benefit fraud are far more likely to be directed not to leave the country by the investigators. However, if you are being…
Before retirement The value of money-purchase pensions is only decided when you take an income from them. This means that when they are split before the person who has built up the pension has retired, they are rarely divided 50/50. Investment-linked pensions grow more the longer you leave them, so if your spouse is younger than you, their chunk will be worth more when they finally retire (provided you retire at the same age). This has to be factored in when splitting the pension. If it is a defined-benefit pension you are dividing, you will be asked to disclose your…
