Richard Twyford joins Emmersons Solicitors

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Emmersons Solicitors has welcomed a new recruit to its property law department, further strengthening the depth and breadth of its services, as North East Times reports.

Richard Twyford has recently been appointed at Emmersons Solicitors, and brings a wealth of experience in both Residential and Commercial property law to his new role.

Having originally practiced in the North East, before moving to the south of the country, Richard has returned to his roots and is thrilled to be joining Emmersons Newcastle and Sunderland offices.

He comments: “Emmersons was too good an opportunity to pass up and I am looking forward to it; I have a lot to get my teeth into and I want to make the most of it. The business has grown a lot over the last couple of years and it’s great to be coming in at this stage to try to take it on to the next level.”

As part of his training, Richard worked with his father, who is also a property lawyer and once worked for Linklaters, one of London’s most prestigious law firms. Since qualifying, Richard has dealt in all areas of Residential and Commercial property, such as the creation and renewal of leases for commercial property, planning law and the purchase and sale of businesses, ranging from pubs and shops to factories and niche companies – “all of which bring their own slightly unique challenges,” he says.

In addition, he has personal experience to draw upon when it comes to anticipating clients’ requirements as his wife owns her own business, which Richard helps out with.

He explains: “I understand what it takes to run a business from day to day so I can understand what our commercial clients need and what their priorities are.”

Speaking of her decision to appoint Richard, Jacqueline Emmerson, partner in Emmersons Solicitors, comments: “Richard has integrity, technical knowledge, extensive commercial property experience and the ability to communicate easily with clients.

“You don’t often get the breadth of Richard’s experience on the High Street. It means we can offer everything the bigger firms are offering but with a more personal service and at reasonable prices.”

 

This item first appeared in the November issue of ACCENT magazine

Will you make plans this Christmas?

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As the year draws to a close and another one beckons, now is the perfect time to start looking to the future and ensuring your financial affairs are in order. For help, advice and reassurance, look no further than the Wills and Probate team at Emmersons Solicitors.

No one likes to dwell too much on death, old age and incapacity, but it’s not something that can be ignored completely – and far better to make provisions while you’re still mentally and physically able than to discount what the future may hold and suffer the consequences later.

The Wills and Probate team at Emmersons Solicitors is perfectly placed to lend a helping hand when it comes to organising either your own affairs or those of loved ones who are not longer capable.

Jacqueline Emmerson heads up the team with Helen Taylor, who is also a member of Solicitors for the Elderly, a specialist organisation for lawyers who provide legal advice to older and vulnerable people, their families and carers.

As well as wills and probate, the department covers legal matters such as Lasting Powers of Attorney, Court of Protection, care home planning, challenging NHS decisions on funding, and conveyancing for people who are forced to move home as a result of their situation.

Aside from being able to offer clients her extensive knowledge and experience, Helen also provides a sympathetic service and is conscious that clients may feel out of the depth when dealing with such legal matters.

She explains: “We often deal with people who are starting to lose mental capacity, as well as their families, and we take a very sympathetic approach. Normally clients know what a will is and what it’s used for, but often they don’t understand exactly what they can do with it and how flexible it can be. Many people want some guidance, and to have things explained to them in a way they can understand.”

Jacqueline Emmerson adds: “People always assume that their will will be easy to draft. However, matters are often more complicated than they think.

“We keep detailed questionnaires and notes on file which we don’t throw out and on several occasions we’ve been able to prevent challenges to estates as a result.

“The value added to our service is that we don’t ever just do what clients ask if we’re able to suggest a better way.”

The team regularly undertakes training from some of the leading experts in the field and the firm deals with both individuals and commercial clients.

 

Betrayal of the family!

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 This was a recent Daily Mail headline in response to
the conclusions reached in the Family Justice Review.
There had been an indication earlier in the year
that the law may be changed in relation to contact
between children and their absent parents.
Groups representing such parents had hoped that
there would now be a presumption in favour of
shared care. However, the report concluded that
this was seen as unnecessary. Each case should be
dealt with on its own merits. Many specialist family
lawyers agree with this outcome. However, I am
not so sure. Time and time again I have witnessed
one parent assuming that they can control when the
other parent can see the children and under what
circumsatnces.
Clients often say, “I have asked and asked to have the
kids overnight but she/he won’t let me”. Or “I would
love to take the kids on holiday but he/she won’t
agree to it” Has anyone stopped to think what the
impact of all of this is upon the children? If there
was a presumption in favour of shared care, attitudes
such as these would surely have to change. It would
be for the resident parent to come up with valid
reasons as to why there shouldn’t be shared care. A
judge would still be able to make an order that was
suitable for the needs of the particular child.
This might get us away from situations like the
following:
Mr and Mrs Smith had a little girl aged 5. Mrs Smith
worked shifts and Mr Smith was able to drop Amy
off at school half of the week as he had organised
this with his employers. When neither parent was
available, Mr Smith’s mother would step in. She
and Amy loved their time together. Mr Smith was
a hands on father, he cooked, washed, ironed and he
took Amy to all of her swimming lessons.
However, Mrs Smith started to have an affair. She
told Mr Smith that he would have to leave their home
and that she had hired a child-minder to drop Amy
off at school. Mr Smith would now have to negotiate
with Mrs Smith as to when he could see Amy!
Whilst the judge made sure that Mr Smith would see
Amy for half of the Christmas and Easter holidays his
attitude towards daily contact made we wonder why
I do this job. He said, “Mr Smith will have to adhere to
the industry standard which is contact once a week
during the week for tea and every other weekend
from Friday to Sunday”. He then helpfully went on
to say that grandmother should not be involved in
the daily care of Amy as there was a perfectly good
child-minder available for this purpose.
There was no good reason for the judge to say this
other than a complete lack of imagination. How
insulting for Amy to be referred to as an industry
standard. A friend of mine whose parents were
divorced said that her journey to school with her
dad on a morning, even when she was fifteen, was
was one of the best bits of her day. It’s when they
did most of their chatting.
Fortunately for Mr Smith, the judge at the final
hearing was persuaded that Amy would benefit far
more from time spent with her Dad rather than the
child-minder!
If you are having difficulty seeing your child or
grandchild seek help from a solicitor. Your child has
a right to see you now!

Excellence Awards

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We were Highly Commended at the recent Law Society Excellence Awards 2011 for Marketing and Business Development. We are to receive our award on 9 December 2011 from the Vice President of The Law Society at our offices in Sunderland.

This is recognition of all the hard work we have done to promote our IPP campaign. Heavily involved in that has been Lorna Elliott who is a barrister and a consultant to the firm who specialises in prison law.

However the rest of the team work just as hard to promote our services to potential clients. Indeed tomorrow some of the Private Client team are at Rainton Meadows Arena near Newbottle, Houghton le Spring to promote our private client services at the Bridal Gathering.

We were at a similar event last week at St James's Park, the home of football in Newcastle upon Tyne.