Case Studies

A Will That Means Business

In short, terms and conditions agreement (T&C) set out the rights and responsibilities of the provider of a service and the beneficiary/user of that service. It effectively forms a legally binding contract between both parties and will often include details such as an explanation and definition of key terms, the legal limitations, duties, rights and responsibilities of all parties.

Standard terms and conditions agreements are often favoured by many new businesses – it does not involve instructing lawyers and is a quicker process, but do they cover you and your business needs adequately?

wills and probate e-signatures

What are terms & conditions (T&C), and why should your business have them?

In short, terms and conditions agreement (T&C) set out the rights and responsibilities of the provider of a service and the beneficiary/user of that service. It effectively forms a legally binding contract between both parties and will often include details such as an explanation and definition of key terms, the legal limitations, duties, rights and responsibilities of all parties.

Standard terms and conditions agreements are often favoured by many new businesses – it does not involve instructing lawyers and is a quicker process, but do they cover you and your business needs adequately?

Where There’s a Will…

A couple of weeks ago, our attention was drawn to a survey conducted by Exizent. The survey found that 23% of people die without a Will and most do not leave their affairs in order; 71% of solicitors said that at least half of their clients died without putting their affairs in order; and 95% of probate professionals rely either entirely or somewhat on information from their clients to verify assets and liabilities.

Communication is Key

In our latest article on debtors and how to deal with them, Else Solicitors’ Laura Charles looks into the importance of communication in the legal process. 

Director guarantees/personal guarantees

When you supply a limited company, do you ask one or all of the directors to sign a personal guarantee?

If you have a signed Personal Guarantee, then you can pursue the director personally. This will only really get you your money back if the director themselves have cash or assets so we would always advise ensuring you do your due diligence and familiarise yourself with the financial status of any director you wish to engage in this way.

Debtors And Their Details

We at Else Solicitors have pulled together some things to consider before starting a claim. In Part 3 of our series, we discuss Address Details. Where your debtor is an individual or sole trader and you are not 100% sure of the address details you have, it may be wise to consider instructing us to perform a trace. We do not offer this service ourselves but will request this from a third party tracing agent and the cost is reasonable with many agents offering a no trace no fee service.

Debtors, Trading Entities and Making a Claim

Do you know your client’s correct trading entity? Have you been invoicing your client correctly?  Tying in with the “Know your Debtor” series, making sure you are invoicing correctly plays an important part should the relationship with the customer take a turn for the worse and end up at the Court Proceedings stage.  We have had instances where clients have been invoicing their debtors as a limited company (when they are not) or not as a limited company (and they should be).  

Do you know your Debtor?

In the first article in a new debt recovery series from Else Solicitors, Laura Charles looks at the importance of Knowing your Debtor. 

Things to consider before starting a claim – Part 1 Name

Before commencing Court Proceedings, there are certain things to consider as even getting the basic information wrong can cause delays and further costs to you down the line. 

So, in this series of “Do you know your Debtor” – Part 1 is dealing with the name.

The Power of an Attorney

speak to a lot of people about Lasting Powers of Attorney and one response I often hear is that people think they are too young to put Powers of Attorney in place – there is a perception that Powers of Attorney are only for the very elderly, or that if you are married, your spouse will be able to deal with everything for you.