Sunday, 12 May 2013

Divorce With or Without a Lawyer?


In the United Kingdom, filing a divorce against your partner is possible even without the help of a lawyer. Lesser fees, lesser time and lesser stress with definite results is promised by a DIY divorce. However, what does a lawyer actually contribute to a divorce process? Here are a few things that divorcing with or without a lawyer gives you.

DIY Divorce
1.     Lesser Fees and Time
Filing a DIY divorce still means working with a law firm. However, they will only “springboard” your case to the proper avenues. Then, they will leave you a guide to follow for your DIY divorce. You usually pay 50% less without a lawyer present. The guide also ensures lesser fees and time.
2.     No Legal Support
The only problem with divorce cases is when complications and unexpected events arise. For example, an undefended divorce could escalate into a defended divorce at any time, especially if your spouse decides against the divorce. You will not have legal support in this case. Some terminologies in divorce forms might also appear confusing and without legal guidance, you might have trouble.

With-Lawyer Divorce

1.     Negotiations
A lawyer is a person who serves the interest of their client and negotiating with the lawyer of the spouse for the pension, properties, debts and other material-related aspects of the relationship is his or her specialty. If you cannot discuss the division of material aspects with your spouse properly, a legal representative could make it happen.

2.      Expensive
You could be paying higher fees due to the help of a legal expert. While you are guaranteed a flawless and protected passage with your divorce, you might pay an exorbitant fee for their miscellaneous services, particularly those that involve handling and processing special documents and other supplementary for your divorce.

Wednesday, 8 May 2013

Filing for A Court Appeal Without a Lawyer


It is possible to file a court appeal without a lawyer, but keep in mind that you should have appeared in court and received a proper court judgement. However, you cannot get assistance from any legal aid or court office if you make a court appeal without a lawyer. However, always keep these in mind.



1.     Dates
The stay of entry date is important and you could find this in your Notice of Entry of Judgement. Make sure that the date has not yet expired. If the date lands on a holiday or weekend, then its due date is postponed until the next business day. Determine if you’re to send mail forms or they are postmarked. Send mail forms require three days advance to get to their locations on time. Postmarked dates automatically deliver your form given that you submit them during the required date.

2.     Brief
Your case brief should be written with double-spaced type within one-inch margins on all sides and each page you must number. Courts prefer a brief with a Table of Contents to find the requirements, such as Affidavit of Good Faith and Affidavit of service easily, but they would also accept one without such items.

3.     Brief Cover
The brief’s cover must be white if you are a petitioner or an appellant. If you’re a respondent, the cover must be blue. All covers must be made of paper that is thicker than the one used in the brief. With your original copy, make three more copies of your Brief and its cover

4.     Fees
You will need to pay the filing fee and each petition has a separate cost. The Court of Appeals usually has specific costs for your appeal. You could ask for a waiver if you cannot afford the filing fee.

Monday, 6 May 2013

Identity Theft and What You Could Do to Prevent It


Identity theft is probably an adequately huge crime in the United Kingdom. Internet users who access their bank accounts or make payments with their credit cards online often get in trouble due to hackers trying to access their systems to hack into their financial accounts. You could end up being in debt if somebody tries to hack into your account. Here are a few things you should know about identity theft.



1.     Signs
If you see that your account have made unusual payments, debit withdrawals and your important mail from your online accounts missing, a hacker may have stolen your financial credentials.

If your inboxes and other areas of your mailbox appear tampered with, you could be in trouble. If there are new credit cards appearing on your credit record, someone else other than you is using your credit card.
2.     Protection
As much as possible, shred any receipt, billing statement or bank letter that contains your credit card bank number, signature, photo and other documents. Most hackers can randomly find your credentials and use it for their personal benefit if you don’t shred them.

Always transact with websites who offer a secure server. Most secure servers start with HTTPS:

3.     Legal Action
In case you have traced the hacker of your identity, authorities could file their actions as a violation of the Theft Act of 1968. The act indicates that any financial information, legal records or other personal identification owned by the victim and used by the suspect is considered stolen property, which is subject to legal action.

Friday, 3 May 2013

Tax Myths and Accounting


Accountants can do so many things for businesses, including basic bookkeeping to advanced tax adjustments and reductions. However, businesses have some misconceptions about how accountants actually do their work. Listed here are some of these myths I’ve encountered in my occupation.

1.     Accounting is All About Math
Accounting is based on math, but it is not completely about mathematics. Rather, accountants make use of math as an instrument to calculate the value of assets, liabilities, incomes, expenses and other business details. The pure soul of accounting is in its research and explanation. An accountant crunches up the numbers and analyses it to explain it quickly to a businessowner, a shareholder or a bank.

2.     Accountants Are Only Tax Preparers
Accountants are not tax preparers. Tax preparers are a separate employee who chains a business’ taxes. An accountant audits companies and this is not necessarily a tax audit. Accountants investigate the bookkeeping of companies and point out any inaccuracies in the accounting. They are also capable of detecting fraud.

3.     Accountants Can Instantly Lower Taxes
Again, like in the first myth, an accountant works with mathematics and uses analysis to help lower a business’s taxes. This means that when a business invests in new properties or branches, an accountant knows where to put the property so that it would incur less operating and property taxes thus saving the company money in owning and operating.