Martin House Make a Will during the month of May 2021

Leave your legacy to help us continue ours. If, like many other people you have been putting off writing your Will, this is your chance to put that right. Ware & Kay Solicitors has teamed up with Martin House to give you the opportunity to have your basic Will written for free Legacies are vitally important to Martin House. In fact, they make up more than a quarter of our entire voluntary income, meaning the cost of caring for one in four of our children is covered by gifts left in Wills. Over half of UK adults have not made a Will. It's not always easy to think about what might happen when we die. But making a Will is an important step to ensuring the people and things you care about are taken care of after you're gone. Your…

David Hyams features in the Yorkshire Post (Property People)

David Hyams is director of commercial property at Ware & Kay Solicitors, based in the York office. What are the prospects for the property sector in Yorkshire and Humber? In the mid to long term, I am positive about the prospects for the property sector as the region has so much to offer.  We are obviously facing challenging times at the moment, particularly in the hospitality sector, but once we have got through to the other side, I am confident that there will be a release of pent-up demand and we shall soon be back on our feet again. What is the best project you have been involved in? In recent times it was acting for a landlord on the grant of a lease of 15,000 sq ft office unit to a large regional accountancy practice.  It was a…

Andrew Little features in the Yorkshire Post (Property People)

Andrew Little, Commercial Property Solicitor at Pearsons & Ward in Malton features in the Yorkshire Post (Property People). What are the prospects for the property sector in Yorkshire and Humber? Transactions involving light industrial units continue to go from strength to strength. Difficulties remain for those who own or let high street premises, but there are signs of this sector improving and the recent rollout of the government’s new Use Classes should allow more freedom for high street premises to adapt to changing consumer habits, without requirement planning permission. What is the best project you have been involved in? I acted on the granting of approximately 200 mineral leases to the owners of the York Potash Mine, based near my hometown of Whitby. The mine has recently received the funding necessary to become a major long-term employer…

Commercial Property Team at Ware & Kay strengthened with new appointment

Yorkshire Law firm Ware & Kay has appointed Gemma Foster, an experienced Commercial Property Solicitor to its rapidly expanding Commercial Department.  Her appointment is a further addition to the firm’s expertise in this sector. Gemma will specialise in all aspects of commercial property matters.  This will include acting for clients who wish to buy and sell commercial properties and businesses, the preparation and negotiation of commercial leases and the sale and acquisition of unincorporated businesses. Originally from Driffield, Gemma arrives at Ware & Kay with over 10 years’ experience in Commercial Property Law.  She studied at the York College of Law before qualifying as a Solicitor in 2010 and starting her career in Hull. Gemma is a strong legal professional with a Law Degree from Lancaster University.  With a breadth of experience across the full…

Solicitor receives Worldwide Excellence Awards from Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners

Laura Schofield, Solicitor at Ware & Kay in Wetherby, has been awarded the STEP Diploma in Trusts and Estates and admitted to full membership of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (known as STEP for short), a global professional association for practitioners who specialise in family inheritance and succession planning.  The two years of studying for the STEP Diploma covered four modules: Administration of Estate, Administration of Trusts, Taxation of Trusts and Estates, and Accounting for Trusts and Estates.  Laura is now holding an internationally recognised qualification that demonstrates her practical and detailed understanding of the law and the procedures involved in trust and probate procedure, tax and accounting.  As well as being awarded a Distinction overall, Laura was awarded two STEP Worldwide Excellence Awards for achieving the highest marks across the country in two…

Jacqueline Barr featured in the Yorkshire Post (Property People)

What are the prospects for the property sector in Yorkshire and Humber? With the phasing out of Direct Payments by the Government and the phased introduction of a new system that rewards farmers for improvement of the environment, landscapes across the country are set to be enhanced through agricultural policy. The farming industry will be changing the way it farms and it is vital that farmers have time to adapt to the new land management requirements. What is the best project you have been involved in? Ware & Kay have a large and diverse client base and so I have been involved in many interesting projects from complex restructuring of farming businesses to the sale and purchase of large landholdings. No two property transactions are the same and each comes with its own quirks which keep…

Johanne Spittle featured in Yorkshire Post (Property People)

What are the prospects for the property sector in Yorkshire and Humber? There will inevitably be some readjustment in the property sector post Covid as individuals and businesses make permanent changes to the way they live and work. As the property sector adapts to these changes, I am optimistic that our region is ideally placed to take advantage of new opportunities that will emerge such as the growth in online shopping and the demand in the logistics sector. What is the best project you have been involved in? As a property litigator my projects tend to be based on things going wrong for other people, I think ‘best project’ might be a misdescription! I have been involved in some fascinating cases; one of the most rewarding was a dispute over the design of a landmark sustainable…

Meet the Boss Johanne Spittle – Head of Litigation & Dispute Resolution

Johanne Spittle is the Head of Dispute Resolution. She graduated in law from the University of Sheffield in 1983 and became a solicitor in 1986. She has lived in North Yorkshire since 1990 joining the firm in 2019. What job would you like to have other than your own? I am fascinated by the property related disputes that I deal with, particularly having to piece together what happened to land hundreds of years ago; it is a bit like having to solve a historical whodunit and so maybe in another life I would be a historical detective or a crime writer!   Greatest achievement? Combining being a partner in a law firm with three children and retaining a sense of humour was definitely an achievement. But most recently it was sitting and passing an exam in…

New appointment further strengthens Pearsons & Ward Solicitors Family Department

Pearsons & Ward Solicitors are delighted to announce the appointment of experienced Paralegal Rachel Newsome to their Family Department. Rachel is the latest appointment for Pearsons & Ward, now part of Ware & Kay Solicitors Ltd which also has offices in York & Wetherby.  Rachel will be based at the Malton office and serve clients across Ryedale and East Yorkshire. Rachel started her career in the legal profession in 1996 in West Yorkshire moving to Ryedale in 2009 before commencing work at Pearsons & Ward as a Paralegal in 2012, having completed the Central Law Training Specialist Paralegal Qualification in Family Law.  She then left in 2016 to gain experience with another local firm before starting a family and is now returning to work.  She advises and has in-depth experience of the Divorce process, in relation…

Diversification and Farm Business Tenancies

Farmers are having to diversify part of the farm in these current times to stay financially afloat. This will likely increase due to the decline in subsidies. So how do Tenant farmers go about trying to diversify and what does this mean for Landlords? If you are a tenant farmer and you wish to diversify the farm or part of it to a non-farming activity e.g. Glamping pods, B&B, Farm Shop etc. it is likely you will need to obtain your Landlord’s consent to do so. Agricultural tenancies usually permit the tenant to use the Holding for agricultural purposes only and may contain restrictions against taking out any part of the holding from agricultural use. Tenants may choose to ignore the tenancy agreement and pursue diversification in any event, but should be warned that the Landlord…