MDDC Blog/ News
STAFF AT MDDC TAKE PART IN CHARITY MOONWALK
Staff from Murray Donald Drummond Cook have taken part in a national breast cancer fundraising walk in Edinburgh.
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Partner, Lynn Melville said: "Our MoonWalkers did an excellent job and it was a real team effort. When the going got tough we helped each other through and tried to keep smiling.
"The finish times ranged from seven and a half to ten hours and, despite our rigorous training regime, it was a testing challenge for us all, especially walking such a distance in the middle of the night.
"We were lucky with the weather too, as good as it gets pounding the streets of Edinburgh at 3am.
"Remarkably, everyone managed into work the next day - albeit exhausted and with some blisters on their feet.
"I'm proud to add that, collectively, we hope to have raised over £2,500 for breast cancer charities."
Staff participating were Lynn Melville (partner), Sally Kinnear (partner), Ruth Thomson (secretary), Margaret Gowans (secretary), Morven Anderson (property sales negotiator), Faith Nicholson (conveyancing paralegal), Sheila Simpson (executry and trusts law accountant), Sophie Napier (trainee solicitor), Jennifer Duncan (secretary), Andrew Bruce (trainee solicitor), Katherine Midgley (executry paralegal) and Richard Wilson (trainee solicitor).
May 2009
MDDC AND THE LONDON AND NORTH EASTERN RAILWAY
What has MDDC got in common with the LNER? The LNER was very conscious of the value of PR and marketing and in the late 1920's, the company appointed a new PR director who was responsible for commissioning many leading artists of the day to design a range of posters many of which are still familiar today. The famous Artist and Sculptor Eric Gill was commissioned to design a new typeface for the railway and he came up with a design which was named Gill Sans. This typeface was used all across the LNER network on all stationery, timetables and so on. That this typeface has been chosen by MDDC is a tribute to the modernity and longevity of the original design produced 80 years ago.
May 2009
The MDDC Edinburgh Moonwalk 2009 team - imaginatively called MDDC (can you do better than that??) is moving forward with team preparations for the 13/26 miles on June 20. Lunchtime walks are happening out of Kinburn on Mondays and Fridays together with the option of an early morning walk on West Sands on a Thursday. Lynn is currently busy with the all-important bra design. Practice walks are in full swing, and the team were let loose round Tentsmuir on Sunday 26 April. The moon walk is in favour of a group of breast cancer charities (hence the requisite bra design) and anyone wanting to support us can do so through the firm's Kinburn Castle offices.
April 2009
Septic Tank Registration
SEPA (Scottish Enviromental protection Agency) in an attempt to hasten the registration of septic tanks has offered an incentive from the former fee of £74 per registration. Registration will be free, by form, or £1 on-line (http://www.sepa.org.uk/) from 7th April 2009 to 31 May 2009. So there has never been a better time to register your septic tank.
January 2009
Home Reports
From December 1, 2008, houses for sale will have to be marketed with a Home Report.
This is a pack of three documents: a Single Survey, an Energy Report and a Property Questionnaire. The Home Report will be made available on request to prospective buyers of the home. The Law Society recommends that purchasers should not rely on a home report over 12 weeks old.
The Single Survey contains an assessment by a surveyor of the condition of the home, a valuation and an accessibility audit for people with particular needs.
The Energy Report contains an assessment by a surveyor of the energy efficiency of the home and its environmental impact. It also recommends ways to improve its energy efficiency.
The Property Questionnaire is completed by the seller of the home. It contains additional information about the home, such as Council Tax banding and factoring costs that will be useful to buyers.
For more information about Home Reports, please ask the Property Department for advice.
November 2008
AWARD WINNING OFFICES
Local architect firm Walker and Pride have won the prestigious Creative Fife award for architectural services for their design of our new Bell Street property offices. The judges were impressed by the sympathetic modern environment contained within a listed building, and thought the visual aspect from the street was particularly impressive. A presentation was made at The Rothes Halls in Glenrothes.
SOLAS AWARD CEREMONY
Wendy Talbot and Sheila Simpson at the SOLAS Diploma awards ceremony.
Pre-Budget Report- Highlights
- There will be a temporary reduction in the standard rate of VAT from 17.5% to 15%- applicable from 1 December 2008 to 1 January 2010
- Income Tax personal allowances will rise in 2009/10, but will reduce from 2010/11. From 2011/12 higher rate taxpayers will pay income tax at 45% on income other than dividends, which will be taxed at 37.5% for these taxpayers.
- From 2011/12 most trusts will be subject to a tax rate of 45% on general income and 37.5% on dividends
October 2008
In the magazine Firm MDDC solicitor Sue Arrowsmith was asked:
If you could abolish one thing in Scots law what would it be?
Answer: Bonds of Caution where a solicitor is acting for the Executors
Over half of Scots die intestate. For an intestate death, it is necessary to appoint an Executor Dative through the courts, and to obtain a Bond of Caution (an insurance policy that guarantees that the estate will be distributed in accordance with the Scottish laws of Succession) before Confirmation can be granted.
My one change to the law would be to waive the necessity for a bond of caution, where the application for Confirmation is prepared and submitted to the court by a law firm recognised by the Law Society of Scotland, and where all funds are to be paid to the firm prior to distribution.
At present, the only exception to obtaining a Bond of Caution is when the surviving spouse or civil partner inherits the entire estate (Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Scotland) Act 1980 s5).
The cost of a Bond of Caution starts from £150, for estates of under £20,000, rising to £200 for estates of up to £25,000. For larger estates, the bond is between 0.25% and 0.35% of the value of the estate (Zurich Insurance, 2008), so for an estate of £300,000, this will range from £750 to £1,050. The factors depend on the individual circumstances of each case. This cost is obviously far greater than the cost of the average simple Will. The bond can take 3-8 weeks to be issued.
There would be practical considerations that would need further debate. The financial institutions would need to know that they were to pay out to the firm and not to the Executor dative as an individual- perhaps by an annotation to the Confrimation? The courts would need to know if the Executor later dismissed the firm, prior to the completion of the administration- perhaps the Executor would have to apply to the court with his or her new firm of solicitors, to have the confirmation reissued with a new annotation?
However, I believe that this idea in principle would have a positive practical effect on many members of the public in Scotland, which would be worth the debate.
September 2008
Sue Arrowsmith promotion to Associate
We are delighted to announce the promotion of Sue Arrowsmith to associate, Sue joined us in 2005 from a prominent Edinburgh firm and has specialised in private client work since her arrival and has established herself as a key member of our private client team. Sue is based in the firms' Kinburn Castle St Andrews office.
September 2008
A great friend and colleague of all at MDDC, Shirras Cantlay passed away today (Thu 18/09/2008). Our thoughts are with Rosemary, Gregor and Jan and the rest of the family. We all have happy memories of Shirras, he had a love of sport generally but golf and football in particular, a passion about all things relating to or from Aberdeen and a great sense of humour. He also had a very easy and comfortable way with people and had a very large loyal client following. He will be sorely missed.
August 2008
Boness Hill Climb Revival Ltd
Boness Hill Climb was first run in 1934 and carried on until 1966. From 1947, the event formed a round of the British Hill Climb Championship and many of the great Motor racing drivers of the post war years competed there including Jim Clark, Stirling Moss and Jackie Stewart. In 2007 a group of like minded enthusiasts got together with the intention of restaging a competitive event at Boness and a static event was held to gauge the interest that a revival meeting would generate. It soon became evident that there was great enthusiasm and the Boness Hill Climb Revival Club was formed.
A good friend and client of mine invited me to get involved and after considerable efforts West Lothian Council agreed to allow a revival meeting to go ahead earlier this month.
The event (for pre 1972 cars) duly took place in Monsoon conditons over the weekend of 9/10 August and was a great success. It is now hoped that the event will be restaged annually and plans are already being formed for next summer. The course runs through what was Kinneil estate and bisects a number of historic buildings not to mention the Antonine wall!
April 2008
FIFE PROVOST GETS KEY TO THE DOOR OF NEW PROPERTY CENTRE
Estate agents can wax lyrical about the stress of moving but a Fife law firm can now speak with experience.
Despite only moving a few feet away, staff at Murray Donald Drummond Cook have described the St Andrews move to adjacent premises as a significant undertaking but one which will generate countless benefits to clients throughout North East Fife.
The new property shop was officially opened by Fife Provost Frances Melville last week who praised the firm for being one of St Andrews' long-standing 'local institutions' and for its worthwhile involvement with various local charities and public bodies.
With its roots dating back to the 19th century, Murray Donald Drummond Cook was the first law firm to open a dedicated property sales office in St Andrews, in 1981. Having outgrown the premises, the firm, which employs nearly 100 local staff, has now created an integrated one-stop-shop for its growing team of over 20 based at 17-21 Bell Street. In doing so, staff believe they will further reduce the stress of moving house, becoming a landlord or approaching daunting legal matters.
Property sales forms the focus of the new site at 19-21 Bell Street, with larger display areas and state-of-the-art technology to showcase properties for sale throughout the whole of North East Fife. The property shop also benefits from larger, modernised office and interviewing space to accommodate property sales, management and letting. The team, including two solicitors, also provide independent and specialist financial advice on the vast array of mortgages and insurances available.
Meanwhile, the adjoining refurbished premises at no. 17 provide a full legal service on everything from matrimonial issues to wills and, of course, property.
As Partner Douglas Kinnear explained, offering integrated premises will make a huge difference to current and prospective clients, as well as providing an improved working environment for staff.
Clients can now do all of their business in town, without moving between our different premises. Someone can walk in, arrange to buy or sell a property, seek advice on financing their investment, arrange a rental valuation or discuss a personal legal matter. All of this can be done without going back onto Bell Street. Despite our emphasis on traditional values, we also believe that our new, more prominent premises, will make us more approachable to potential new clients who just want to pop in to see what we can offer. Legal offices can be intimidating due to the life-changing nature of what they offer, but we strive to ensure that clients are put at ease by our personal and friendly approach.
One of the key services on offer is property management and letting. The firm is well-known for managing the letting of both modern and traditional properties throughout St Andrews but deals with properties over the whole of North East Fife.
Mr Kinnear continued, We can help landlords find tenants, draw up their legal documentation and inspect and manage the properties.
The property shop at 19-21 Bell Street, St Andrews telephone 01334 474200 (Sales) or 474455 (Letting) is open Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm, Saturday 10am-3pm and Sunday, 2-4pm.