Gibson Kerr Solicitors Blog

We understand that the Scottish Government intends to introduce its Bill to allow same sex couples to get married within the next month. It will be an important step forward for the rights of same sex couples.

Gibson Kerr took part in last year’s Will Aid campaign, and would like to thank all the clients who helped us raise an impressive £310 to help Will Aid’s nine chosen charities, which include Christian Aid, Save the Children and the British Red Cross.

One of our partners, Fiona Rasmusen, has been recognised by the law society of Scotland as a specialist in Family law. At Gibson Kerr we believe that it is important that the solicitors who are dealing with clients cases have specialist and indepth knowledge of the particular area of law in which they are working. 

The new regulation on cross-border successions, proposed by the European Commission and formally adopted by EU Member States last month, has been published in the Official Journal and has now become law.

The firm says that the agreements are proving popular among couples who choose to get married later in life, people with longstanding private business interests, or for couples who have children from previous relationships and want to "ring fence" their inheritances from any divorce settlement.

And it adds that, as statistics show that one in three marriages in the UK ends in divorce, many couples view making a prenuptial agreement is a prudent, rather than depressing, option to consider in their pre-wedding plans. Fiona Rasmusen, partner at Gibson Kerr, said: "Pre-nuptial agreements have historically been viewed with a lot of caution and skepticism by some couples, as they were seen as an admission that you thought something was going to go wrong with your marriage.

Gibson Kerr says it has seen a noticeable decline in enquiries for divorce advice and matrimonial services over the August and September months, which is traditionally a busy time for solicitors and counsellors due to post-holiday tensions among married couples.

The Family Law (Scotland) Act came into force in 2006 - giving couples who cohabit rights to claim against their partner in the event of a split and also rights to claim against their partner's estate if their partner died. Previous to this law coming in, cohabiting couples had very limited rights to make a financial claim against the other person if they separated. If their partner died and did not leave a will then they had no right at all to claim on the partner's estate. 

Lots of people don’t like to think about wills. It reminds them that one day they’re going to die. Others think that it must be complicated or tricky and both reactions are perfectly understandable. But now, more than ever, people need to use – excuse the pun - will-power.