Record inheritance tax receipts highlight the importance of estate planning.

The total number of UK deaths which resulted in an inheritance tax charge has increased every year since 2009-2010. HM Revenue & Customs has revealed that £5.4 billion was raised from inheritance tax last year, despite recent changes to increase the inheritance tax threshold. This represents an increase of 3 per cent (£166 million) since 2017-2018.

Mixed-sex couples will be able to enter civil partnerships after Parliament passed required legislation on 5 November, meaning that the Civil Partnerships, Marriages and Deaths Act will now become law.

The secondary legislation was passed as one of the final acts before Parliament is dissolved ahead of the upcoming general election.

The Government has announced plans that would see employers forced to provide, as a minimum, a basic reference for employees, confirming that they worked for that employer and the dates of their employment.

Currently, there is no statutory obligation for an employer to provide a reference for employees, with individual employers given the choice as to whether to provide a reference or not.

The High Court has heard a party wall dispute case following damage to a £100,000 kitchen.

Reiko Stewart is seeking £100,000 in compensation, claiming that her neighbours caused a tilt in their kitchen floor, resulting in damage to handmade cabinets, which subsequently had to be replaced.

One of our solicitors, David Scott has recently spent the night sleeping on the streets in aid of homeless charity, Calderdale SmartMove.

Hethertons Employment specialist, David and his family took part in The Big Calderdale Sleepout to raise money and awareness for the charity, which aims to help people in Yorkshire affected by homelessness.

Average house prices in the UK grew by 0.9 per cent in October 2019 against figures from October 2018, according to the latest figures.

Halifax’s latest House Price Index indicated that the average price of a UK house is now £232,249, with figures also growing by 0.2 per cent from Q2 2019 to Q3 2019.