This means that the first partnerships can be registered by March of this year.It also means that people who have been co-habiting may now have rights against the partners.This may give them a right of veto on the sale of the home or it may give them a right to be heard in a situation where re-possession proceedings have been brought against the owner of the property. This was not the case up until now. The rest of the Act has implications for multiple areas of law including maintenance, succession, inheritance and taxation.
A civil partner will now have the same rights as a spouse under Section 31 of the 1965 Succession Act. Again where there is no Will made the surviving civil partner will get defined shares in the other partners Estate. All these matters have implications for people making Wills and contemplating succession. Similarly the Domestic Violence Act has been amended to include civil partners.
Aside from the Civil Partnership Act the new Stamp Duty laws announced which although they do away with the First Time Buyer Relief reduce the rate of stamp duty to 1%. This means that on purchasing a property of €600,000.00 you would previously have paid €32,500.00 in stamp duty whereas now you pay €6,000.00. This is bound to stimulate the purchasing market and allow older people whose children have left home to trade down while allowing growing families who have outgrown their houses to trade up. At Irwin Solicitors we have seen an increase in activity already and the responses we have had from Estate Agents show that this increased activity is across the board although still at a very low level.
The budget brought in new limits for what you can inherit before you pay Capital Acquisitions Tax. These new limits lower the amount that children can take and it is advisable to review your Will in the light of these changes. While property values have reduced it may still be the situation that a legacy left to a certain person may exceed the amount allowed in the threshold and therefore cause them to have to pay tax.
New innovations in the area of family law have seen the immergence of Collaborative Law as a method of deciding the terms of Separation including children issues, financial issues and property issues without going to Court. This includes a series of 6 to 8 meetings where both parties sit around the table with their lawyers. The outcome of such meetings is generally more productive than going to Court and drawing battle lines between a couple. The results in terms of future happiness and benefits for the children have been proved to be enormous.nbsp; For more information on this method of resolving your Separation or Divorce please contact www.southdublincollaborativelawyers.ie.
If you would like information on any of the topics touched on above please do not hesitate to contact Katherine Irwin or Mark Hennelly at Irwin Solicitors at 42, Castle Street, Dalkey, Co. Dublin, telephone 01-2849034 www.irwinsolicitors.ie.
