Legal disputes during the grieving process are never ideal. The time is bad enough without further complications and everyone deserves that period to be as least stressful as possible. That is what inheritancelaw really understands. they are based in Manchester, Birmingham, and London.

Cross Border Inheritance

Recently, lawyers have cautioned that UK people with assets and belongings in Europe could, unbeknownst to them, leave them to the mercy of the English law after new rules have emerged, and cross border inheritance has come into effect.

I can’t tell you how mad this makes me. It’s another post Brexit thing and I’m sick of it.

The whole purpose of this change is to make it easier for EU residents by giving them the choice between either choosing the law of the country of their nationality or the last place they lived to have an effect on their inheritance.

Forced Heirship

And what’s more, the UK has elected not to follow the new rules but the changes will still affect the UK citizens with, as I said, assets and belongings in Europe. The biggest uproar from this is it allows people to be exempt from the ‘forced heirship’ rules that affect a large number of countries in the EU and dictate how assets are inherited throughout a family after death. The Society of Trust and Estate, as an example of how the rule will be used in action, has said a woman in the UK that owns a house in France would have had to have left it in her will to her husband and kids. This is due to the French Forced heirship rules.

However, because of the new rules implemented, she could choose to have the UK law affect her house, allowing her to leave it to a sibling if she chooses. It offers more freedom. Unfortunately, this also means that people not born in the UK could be affected by their laws without even noticing it.

This could be incredibly problematic and, as I have said, the grief period is a stressful and awful time anyway without this piling on top.

People that don’t want the English law to have an effect on their assets will need to alter their will to make this clear and people with assets across the EU are being urged to review their plans and wills.

If someone in your family or a close friend dies and you are an heir, as a basic rule, you can settle their inheritance with:

• A person authorized to perform legal actions of any EU country
• The courts where the recently deceased lived before their death.

Heirs Choosing the Court

So if there is an issue that needs to be resolved by a court, as an heir you will normally be required to go to the courts of the country in the EU where the deceased previously lived. On the other hand, if the deceased had, in fact, chosen that law of their nationality to apply to what they’re leaving behind, and that is also the nationality of an EU country, you and other heirs can present the issue to the EU courts of that country.

If you are an heir, you also need to prove your entitlement.  Usually, this comes from a national document certifying your status. You can also ask the powers that be to grant you a European Certificate of Succession. So overall, the benefit of this is that it means its effects are identical throughout the EU regardless of where it was given and it’s recognized without any additional procedure. It can be obtained from any EU court.

DUI laws refer to the criminalization of driving under the influence of intoxicating substances, this crime is something that should be taken very seriously as it puts so many people at risk for such an unnecessary reason. There is much variation in opinion when it comes to the current DUI laws, with many people arguing the penalty should be increased in order to further deter people from drink driving and consequently save lives. The current laws state that a person would be committing a DUI offense if he or she is found operating any kind of vehicle whilst under the influence of drugs or alcohol in a public space. The severity of a DUI penalty can totally depend on the circumstances of the incident and if anyone was hurt, however, we may be seeing a stricter penalty system in the future.

Current DUI Laws

The current DUI laws that are in place are highly influenced by the case-specific details of each offense, if someone was to commit this crime with minimal damages and without hurting anyone, the penalty is likely to be less severe than that of someone who injured another member of the public whilst behind the wheel. Many argue that this should not be the case as people who are prepared to drive their cars whilst intoxicated still show a lack of care for others’ safety and they shouldn’t be shown leniency just because they were lucky enough to not hurt someone.

A drunk driver is someone with an alcohol blood concentration of 0.08 percent or higher, readings are taken with a breathalyzer and the authorities may ask for a simple reaction test to be conducted as well. This process of gauging a person’s intoxication level has also seen much scrutinization in recent years, with general opinion being that anyone who has had a drink and is prepared to drive should face more severe consequences in the reflection of the sheer recklessness they have displayed. As previously mentioned there are further factors that can influence the severity of punishment such as DUI with a minor in the car, multiple DUI offenses, and DUI leading to serious injury or fatality. These factors would all increase the severity of the punishment as they reflect a lack of care for your safety as a driver and others around you.

There are also factors within DUI laws that could decrease the severity of the offense, intoxication by prescribed medications, having no previous driving offenses on your record and there is some discretion when it comes to readings close to 0.08 percent. These factors could result in a drunk driver being let off with a less drastic punishment but, not everyone agrees with this leniency and believe the punishment for a DUI offense should be taken seriously no matter the circumstances.

Legal Representation

When it comes to crimes of this nature, proper legal representation is a must due to the sheer amount of factors that come into consideration during prosecution. Boise DUI is a well known legal service particularly for cases of intoxicated driving, whether you are the offender or victim of such a crime the law currently requires a high level of factor consideration in order to determine the necessary punishment. Your legal representative should be well versed in DUI law so they can effectively represent your case and put forward any of the necessary factors that come into play around your situation. DUI law allows for some negotiation of your sentencing, so having a representative who ensures you are treated fairly and given the correct level of punishment severity would be the right way to go. Although you should not be allowed to get away with the offense by any means, you still have the right to be treated fairly in court and given the opportunity to plead your case with the proper legal representation to aid you.

How should they change in the future?

With some discrepancies around leniency factors within DUI law, many people are calling for a change when it comes to how people are prosecuted for getting behind the wheel under the influence. It is a common opinion that just because nobody was injured or killed during an incident, the driver still had the intention to disregard road safety so the punishment should still be severe. Rather than offering leniency factors, we may see a much more severe punishment for DUI in the future as a means to decrease the number of offenders. There seems to be a lot of evaluation involved within how people are prosecuted for driving under the influence, with many states having levels of one to five based on how serious the incident was. This is where leniency and aggravating factors come into place for a court of law to decide what the most suitable punishment would be. Currently, punishments range from a driving ban to a fine and short prison sentence, but we may see a drastic change in how DUI laws are conducted in the future.

Those who have fallen victim to reckless and drunk driving will understand how life-changing an incident of this nature could be, with the law currently having a rather slack attitude to this crime we could see a decrease in the amount of opportunity that is given to offenders to get a reduced punishment over the coming years.

Have you ever found yourself frustrated with your neighbor? Whether they have a habit of playing their music just a bit too loud in the middle of the night or their dog/child refuses to give you a moment’s peace, chances are we’ve all had to face a frustrating neighbor at some point in our lives. But if you think blasting music is an issue, imagine your disdain when you discover your neighbor is trying to sue you over a tree in the backyard. Well, that’s just what one couple had to go through. The couple, who shall remain nameless for legal reasons, had been living in their new home for around 6 months with no issue. They had finally found their own little section of paradise when a letter came through the door that would turn their perfect world upside down over the next few years. One lovely summer day, the couple had come home from work to discover a letter inside their door addressed to them.

In it, they found a letter addressed to ‘The Couple in # 47’* (*house number has been purposely changed). In the letter, it explained how their next-door neighbor was getting frustrated with the growth of #47’s tree. They went on to say that it has been an ongoing issue and if it wasn’t sorted within the next week, the neighbor would be forced to take matters into their own hands. The couple scoffed at the letter and set it on their table. They wound up forgetting about it and a week had passed. If you’re looking to avoid mimicking this issue, why not keep your trees and your relationship with your neighbor in order by checking out tree loppers Perth for all your Australian tree grooming needs.

The couple had heard nothing and even began to forget about the letter when early one morning, they were woken by a loud crash. They didn’t worry and continued with their day; it wasn’t until later that week that they received an official court summons. The neighbor claimed that they had forced him to take matters into his own hands, and after trying to deal with the tree, he had wound up causing damage to his shed out his backyard and was wanting to sue the couple for damages. What followed was a ridiculous back and forth that cost both sides millions of dollars.

So, What’s the Moral of the Story?

The moral of the story is that no matter what the issue is, communication and proper research is key to solving any problem that may come your way. You can find out how the Australian laws work in your own backyard and can know for yourself what you’re entitled to. Keep yourself covered by staying with these laws and be cautious when exploring some of the grey areas.

Keep yourself knowledgeable of what you can and can’t do and who knows, someday you might be saving yourself from splurging on millions of dollars on legal fees.