The Gazette 1985

GAZETTE

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1985

Practice Notes

Employment Legislation — Reduction of Hourly Qualification

The attention of practitioners is drawn to the fact that the weekly hourly limit for qualification under the following Acts has been reduced as follows:— 1. From 21 to 18 Hours under the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977 2. From 21 to 18 hours under the Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Act 1973 3. From 20 hours to 18 hours under the Redundancy Payments Acts 1967 to 1979. The changes were introduced by the Protection of Employees (Employers Insolvency) Act 1984 which came into force on the 30th November 1984. • Proof of Family Home Act Consent in Separation Agreements The Joint Law Society / Building Societies Committee has been asked for its opinion on the practice of a Purchaser's/Mortgagee's Solicitor insisting on a Vendor/Mortgagor's Separation Agreement being exhibited in their Family Home Protection Act 1976 Declaration. The Committee feels that it is not proper practice for an entire Separation Agreement to be exhibited as such agreements usually contain very personal and private information which would not be appropriate in a document that will remain part of the title for many years. The Committee recommends that a Purchaser/ Mortgagee's Solicitor should seek a Statutory Declara- tion from the disinterested spouse confirming that the property being sold/mortgaged is not a Family Home; in the event that this declaration is not available the Committee strongly recommends that as prima facie evidence that a property is not a 'Family Home' by virtue of the fact that one spouse has not resided therein that a purchaser/mortgagee's Solicitor should accept either: 1. A corroborative declaration from the Vendor/ Mortgagor's Solicitor that he/she has read the Separation Agreement and quoting any relevant paragraph therein or appropriate extracts therefrom; or 2. A declaration from a party to the Separation Agreement exhibiting a Solicitor's certified copy of the relevant extracts or extract therefrom. Where there is any doubt as to whether the property Where there is any doubt as to whether the property being sold/mortgaged is or is not a 'Family Home' within the meaning of the Act the purchaser/mortgagee's solicitor should seek the consent of the Vendor/ Mortgagor's spouse or a Court Order dispensing with such consent pursuant to Section 4 of the Family Home Protection Act 1976. 11

Solicitors' Accounts Regulations (No. 2) S.I. No. 304 of 1984 Price: £1.25, (postage 35p) from Government Stationery Office or from the Law Society. Members are advised that new Solicitors' Accounts Regulations are now in operation with effect from 1st January 1985. The main purpose of the new regulations is to abolish the old Certificate A and to elaborate on the contents of the old Certificate B by the inclusion of details of clients' funds held. At the same time the opportunity has been taken to set out the duties of the reporting accountants employed by each Solicitor in line with the best modern practice. The Institute of Chartered Accountants has been most helpful through their Technical Committee in contributing to the preparation of these regulations. It is the Society's view that the most important protection of the Compensation Fund is proper applica- tion and enforcement of the Solicitors' Accounts Regulations. For Solicitors whose accounting year ends between 1st January and 30th June 1985 there are transitional arrangements whereby Regulations 10 (3) and 19 (2) need not be complied with. For all other Solicitors it is now a requirement that a detailed review of the position on the Client Account be prepared every six months whereby three sets of figures must be reconciled to each other:— (a) Liabilities to clients as shown by the clients' ledger accounts (b) Liability to clients as per the clients' ledger control account (c) The reconciled Bank balances. A Solicitor must deliver a Bill of Costs or other written intimation of the amount of the costs prepared (including an interim bill) before costs may be transferred from client account to office account; round sum withdrawals on account of costs should not be made. Under Regulation 32, each partner in a firm of solicitors is equally responsible for ensuring that the firm complies with the Regulations. The definition of approved banks has been amended and a listing of these are given in the First schedule. The Society has the power to add other banks to this listing from time to time. In the case of solicitors with two or more places of business or who are partners in associate firms each place of business shall have the same accounting date and the same reporting Accountant. Regulation 22 sets out certain minimum work required of the accountant examining the solicitors' books and records for the purposes of the Regulations. The objective of such examination is to ascertain whether or not the solicitor has complied with the accounting and related record keeping requirements applicable to transactions involving client accounts and trust bank accounts. •