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Photographers Rights And The Law In The UK
FROM
NufffRespect Photographers Rights And The Law In The UK - A brief guide
for street photographers. Know your rights when you're out with your
camera.
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Making a Will - Your Legacy will end up ... where?
Without a will, the State directs who inherits
your estate, so your friends, favourite charities and relatives may get nothing.
It is particularly important to make a will if you are not married or are not in
a registered civil partnership (a legal arrangement that gives same-sex partners
the same status as a married couple). This is because the law does not
automatically recognise cohabitants (partners who live together) as having the
same rights as husbands, wives and civil partners. As a result, even if you’ve
lived together for many years, your cohabitant may be left with nothing if you
have not made a will.
A will is also vital if you have children or dependants who may not be able to
care for themselves. Without a will there could be uncertainty about who will
look after or provide for them if you die.
Could one or more of these scenarios be relevant to your situation?
* several people could make a claim on your estate when you die because they
depend on you financially;
* you want to include a trust in your will (perhaps to provide for young
children or a disabled person, save tax,
* or simply protect your assets in some way after you die);
* your permanent home is not in the UK or you are not a British citizen;
* you live here but you have overseas property; or
* you own all or part of a business.
Once you have had a will drawn up, some changes to your circumstances, for
example, marriage, civil partnership, separation, divorce or if your civil
partnership is dissolved (legally ended), can make all or part of that will
invalid or inadequate. This means that you must review your will regularly, to
reflect any major life changes.
Who do you want to leave your assets to? How do you want to divide your property
between your loved ones, friends or charities? Are there any conditions you want
to attach to these gifts (for example, that young people must reach a particular
age before they are paid money you have left them)?
You need to consider the details of your family and status. Are you divorced or
has your civil partnership been dissolved? Have you remarried or entered into a
new civil partnership? Or are you living with someone without being married to
them or being their civil partner? Do you have any children or any other
dependants? Anyone who depends on you financially can ask a court to review your
will if they feel you have not provided properly for them.
If you have any children that may still be under 18 when you die, you may need
to name someone as their legal guardian.
Do you have any particular wishes for your funeral? Do you want to be buried or
cremated? Are there any other instructions? For example, if you want to be an
organ donor this can be included in your will. However, it is also a good idea
to record your wishes on the organ-donor register, or to carry an organ-donor
card.
You must also name the people you want to appoint as ‘executors’ of your will,
the people who carry out the administration of your will after your death. These
could be friends or family members, or a professional such as your solicitor. A
good combination may be a friend or family member and a professional. Ideally,
you should choose someone who is familiar with financial matters. Make sure you
ask your executors whether they are happy to take on this duty as there are
long-term responsibilities involved, particularly if you include a trust in your
will. Once the will has been drawn up it is not effective until it has been
signed. There are several rules affecting the signature process which, if not
followed correctly, will make your will invalid. For example, witnesses and
their husbands, wives or civil partners cannot benefit under the will.
It is important to keep your will in a safe place and tell your executors or a
close friend or relative where it is. People often ask their solicitor to store
their wills for them. Most solicitors will do this for free, but sometimes there
is a small fee.
You should review your will at least every five years and after any major life
change such as getting separated, married or divorced, having a child or moving
house. It is best to deal with any major changes by getting a new will drawn up.
But it is also possible to make minor changes (or ‘codicils’) to your existing
will.
For more information or to discuss anything in this article feel free to contact
Doug McLean
Advice Changes Lives... Without proper
advice you may lose the maximum compensation you are entitled to.
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Lawyers in Belsize Park
7 tips for forming a limited
company
Every startup needs to consider carefully what type of company formation
suits it best. James Cartwright guides you through setting up a limited
company.
By James Cartwright
1. Yourself vs. Formation Agent
If you set up the company yourself it can appear to be the cheapest option
in the short term and you can do this directly with Companies House.
However it can be difficult to work out which forms to fill in and can
take longer to process. Plus you will need to supply your own memorandum
and articles of association which can be time consuming and expensive to
obtain. Using an online formation agent is much easier as they will have
an online application that you have to fill in which they then use to form
your limited company. If you find the right formation agent they can
incorporate your company for around £25.
2. Company Name
Picking a name is an important part of setting up a new company, but don’t
let the excitement distract you from doing some research. Check that your
name is available before applying so that your application isn’t rejected.
Also make sure that the URL you will want after forming your company is
available and that someone else doesn’t have a trademark on the use of the
name. Otherwise you may have to change it later on. Finally check your
name against the sensitive words list on the Companies House website. If
you use a sensitive word, you may have to provide supporting documentation
or obtain approval from a Government department to use it.
3. Business Plan
Make sure you don’t start your company without putting in place a business
plan. Without one you do not have a “road map” helping you with what
direction you are going. In addition you may well have to provide a plan
to your bank when looking for funding.
4. Company Secretary
Carefully consider whether you should appoint a company secretary. Just
because it is no longer compulsory does not necessarily mean that you
should not appoint one. Their tasks include Companies House filing and
maintaining the Company Register which are important legal requirements.
Having an experienced person who can focus on these compliance matters
takes some of the burden away from the directors, allowing them to focus
on managing the company and growing revenue.. Alternatively you may wish
to use a professional firm to act as your company secretary if you are
worried about this.
5. Registered Office
Using your home address can result in privacy issues as it is made
publicly available. Always consider using a different registered office
address, even that of your accountant or solicitors. Please note that from
1st October 2009 directors can disclose a service address as opposed to
their residential address so their privacy can be maintained
6. “Off the shelf” Companies
It is usually not beneficial to buy an off the shelf company. By using one
you are buying a limited company that has already been registered at
Companies House, and in theory has never traded. However you do not
personally know the initial shareholders and officers and therefore it is
always advisable to incorporate a company yourself.
7. Limited Company vs. Sole Trader
You should make sure you seriously consider whether your business should
trade via a limited company or via you as an individual and sole trader.
There are good reasons to trade through a private limited company, but
they are not always beneficial for everyone. It is worth talking this
through with a Chartered Accountant before making the decision if you are
unsure.
James Cartwright
James is the managing director of Wisteria Formations, one of the UK’s
leading online company formation agents. wisteriaformations .co.uk
The first, and may be
the last trial for file sharing ended in acquittal this week.
Prosecutors were unable to establish
when downloading music breaks the law. They may never be able to, even
with proposed new legislation.
Alan Ellis, 26, ran Oink, one of the world’s largest music sharing
websites, but Teesside Crown Court cleared him of conspiracy to defraud.
Ellis received £11,000 a month in donations from people using the site.
Oink had almost 200,000 members and facilitated the download of 21m music
files between 2004 and 2007. Mr Ellis, a software engineer told the court
he had no intention to defraud copyright holders, and he had developed the
site to brush up on his computer skills. The prosecution was unable to
show that Mr Ellis knew he was infringing copyright.
Prosecuting individuals who have downloaded just a few music files is
costly and generates a lot of negative publicity for music companies. To
prosecute successfully people who run file-sharing sites is all but
impossible because there is no copyright violation; they do not hold any
of the music files themselves, just the software.
Under the Digital Economy bill, internet service providers could be
required to cut off web access from customers downloading large amounts of
material illegally in the unlikely event that they were able to prove
illegal downloading.
Judges at the European Court of
Human Rights on Tuesday found that the use of anti-terror laws to stop and
search people without grounds for suspicion was a breach of their human
rights.
The ruling was in response to case brought by two people who were searched
by police near an arms fair in London’s Docklands in 2003. Their case
challenged the police’s right to conduct searches under Section 44 of the
Terrorism Act 2000.
But police insisted they would ignore the ruling and that the use of
Section 44 would remain in force “in specified locations across London”
including major landmarks and “crowded places”.
And Home Secretary Alan Johnson said the government would appeal against
the ruling.
“The threat remains real and serious, and stop and search can deter and
disrupt terrorist activity and create a hostile environment for
terrorists. Protecting the public remains our priority.”
The Conservatives on Wednesday said they would seek to ban the
indiscriminate use of counter-terrorism laws by police.
In a unanimous ruling, seven judges said the searches could cause
“humiliation and embarrassment” and breached the complainants’ right to
respect for their private life under Article 8 of the European Convention
on Human Rights.
Journalist Pennie Quinton, 38, and protestor Kevin Gillan, 32, brought the
case to the European court after being stopped and searched by police in
September 2003 on their way to a demonstration near an arms fair held in
east London.
Quinton, who is a journalist, was ordered to stop filming in spite of the
fact that she showed her press card, and Gillan was wearing a rucksack and
riding a bicycle when he was stopped on his way to the demonstration.
Between 2004 and 2008 the number of searches recorded by the Ministry of
Justice went from around 33,000 to over 117,000, it said.
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