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Covid -19

Firstly, we hope you are all well and looking after yourselves. Be safe. Be careful.
Secondly, we are still here! Things are different for all of us just now, and there will be changes in the way we do things here at MFY. We are, however, continuing to work for you.
Office appointments and home visits are not possible at present. Contact and communication will continue by means of telephone appointments, emails, post and video calls.
We will continue to represent you in court proceedings.
Emails will be the most efficient line of communication. It would be helpful if initial contact / enquiry could be made by email – and we will call you back. Our phones will be answered though.
Whether it’s a Family Law matter, a will, power of attorney or Guardianship. Do not hesitate to get in touch.
We can be contacted on our individual emails or on our general email office@mfypartnership.co.uk.
Telephone number remains 01236 607180.

HOW TO GET DIVORCED in Scotland

To get divorced in Scotland you need to satisfy the court that your marriage has broken down irretrievably and that there is no prospect you and your spouse will reconcile. There are five ways to show your marriage has broken down irretrievably:
1. Your spouse has behaved in such a way that you feel you can no longer reasonably be expected to live with him or her. That is known as unreasonable behaviour.
2. Your spouse has committed adultery (that is, if he or she has had sex with someone else since the date of your marriage)
3. You and your spouse have lived apart for over two years
4. You and your spouse have lived apart for over one year and consents to divorce on this basis.
5. An interim gender recognition certificate has been issued to you or your spouse.
The court need evidence of one of these from you and one other source – usually a friend or family member can give a sworn supporting statement. We can advise you about that.
A divorce does not take long – around 6 weeks. However, divorce proceedings can be delayed if you are applying for legal aid or if there is disagreement about either:
– A child or children of the marriage. Divorce cannot be granted until the court is satisfied about arrangements for the children. Sometimes parents ask the court to make decisions about their children within their divorce.
– Any financial or property issues arising from the separation. The court can made decisions about these issues within the divorce proceedings if they cannot be agreed.
If you want to speak to us about getting divorced, or about any issues relating to children, financial or property matters, please let us know.

Photo by Hutomo Abrianto on Unsplash

POWER OF ATTORNEY

WHAT IS IT?

A Power of Attorney is a written document that gives someone else permission to make decisions about your money and property and/or your health and personal welfare. It usually sets out what you would want to happen in the future if you could no longer look after your own affairs.

A power of attorney which allows decisions to be taken about your money and property is known as a “continuing power of attorney”. A “welfare power of attorney” relates to your future health or personal welfare. It’s important to bear in mind that if you grant someone a power of attorney, they are basically allowed to make any decision for you that you could otherwise make yourself.

It’s a hugely important step to take, which is why you should seriously think about taking proper, experienced, legal advice.

WHO NEEDS ONE?

The simple answer is – everyone. With some people, their capacity to look after their affairs is impaired gradually, for instance – perhaps – as they grow older. But sudden accidents and illness can happen to anyone. And no-one has the right to act on your behalf – unless you have already given them your legal authority.

That means, in the absence of a power of attorney, you your family or friends may have to go to court to obtain a Guardianship Order to get permission to make decisions for you. (Applying for a Guardianship order can be a fairly lengthy process, and involves organising medical reports, and seeking the support of the local Social Work Department. We can of course deal with all such matters on your behalf).

WHO COULD BE YOUR ATTORNEY?

Your attorney should be someone you trust and someone who knows what your wishes and feelings are. You can appoint anyone as your attorney, such as a relative, friend, spouse/partner.

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?

Every power of attorney must be registered with The Office of the Public Guardian before it can be used. The current registration fee payable to the Office of the Public Guardian is £79.

Normally, our fees for meeting with you; identifying your particular circumstances; drafting the power of attorney, and attending to all the legal requirements for registering the paperwork start at £350 plus VAT.

During November 2019 The MFY Partnership is offering a discounted fee, for all powers of attorney, of £195 plus VAT and the £79 registration dues. This is a total of £313.

(We are happy to arrange home visits, but as you will appreciate, there may be an additional charge, depending on how far you are from our office in Airdrie town centre.)

Please call one of our team on 01236 607180 to arrange an appointment; or to have an informal chat with one of our experienced solicitors about Powers of Attorney, and Guardianship.

My Ex won’t let me see the kids – 5 things you can do

1. Try to speak to your ex. He or she is probably angry or hurting about your separation. Sometimes it’s difficult to speak to each other – maybe a friend of family member could be there to help make that easier, and make sure emotions don’t get too high?
2. Write to your ex. Putting things in writing can get your point across clearly without emotions getting in the way. Ask him or her to consider agreeing days and times you can each look after the children. Keep it polite – remember emails, texts, etc can’t be changed after they have been sent.
3. Speak to someone about how much you are hurting or how angry you feel. It can be good to speak to someone who is not a friend or family member – they always have opinions and loyalty and getting an objective point of view can be difficult. There are lots of counsellors or therapists who can help www.if.therapy.co.uk – or maybe someone at work, or someone else who has experienced a separation. Families Need Fathers www.fnfscotland.org.uk or Mothers Apart from their Children https://www.matchmothers.org There are lots of organisations who can help parents in your situation. Mediation can also be an alternative www.calmscotland.co.uk
4. Write to your children. It’s important to them that you keep in touch in some way – so they know you are there, and that you are thinking about them. Sometimes, a text will do, or maybe you can skype or facetime. Maybe your number will have been blocked. You can post a card or a note or a letter – maybe your children will not receive it but maybe they will. It will mean a lot that you took the time and care enough to try.
5. Speak to a solicitor – office@mfypartnership.co.uk. This is a common situation for us to be asked about. We know how to help you, how to write to your ex, or his/her solicitor. We know the law. We know the courts take the view it is best for your children to spend time with both parents. We know it is likely the court will grant you an order allowing you regular contact (access) with your children. It is their right to have regular time with you and your extended family. Call us on 01236-607180 – we can help.

The General Data Protection Regulation comes into effect on 25 May 2018. This will not have escaped your attention. It will not have escaped your attention because, like us, you will have been met with an email inbox crammed with spammy looking emails from Companies you know and some you cannot recall ever dealing with. Like us, you will have received a bonfires worth of snail mail relating to the same thing. Whether any of this is necessary, legal or in anyway worthwhile is a debate for another day.

The legal profession in Scotland has always had a strong and unwaivering commitment to client confidentiality and privacy. It’s the first thing any aspiring solicitor, paralegal, or secretary is taught when they walk into a legal practice for the first time. So we at The MFY Partnership have always taken such matters seriously. We will continue to do so. Here is our Privacy Policy. In due course we will have a proper link type thing added to the main pages of our website.

Data Protection – What we do with your data

Our Policy

The MFY Partnership is a law firm and provides legal advice and assistance to its clients. It is regulated by the Law Society of Scotland.

The MFY Partnership will be a controller of your information when we are acting in the delivery of our legal services to you. The personal data that we process to provide these services relates to its clients and other individuals as necessary, including staff and suppliers’ staff.

This policy sets out our commitment to ensuring that any personal data, including special category personal data, which we process, is carried out in compliance with data protection law. We are committed to ensuring that all the personal data that we process is done in accordance with data protection law and that good data protection practice is imbedded in the culture of our staff and our organisation.

This policy applies to all the personal data we process and is part of our approach to compliance with data protection law. All of our staff are expected to comply with this policy and failure to comply may lead to disciplinary action for misconduct, including dismissal.

Our data protection policies and procedures are:

· privacy notices (website, clients, employees)

· data subject rights procedure

· data retention policy

· data protection impact assessment process

· record of processing activities

· personal data breach reporting process and a breach register

We will ensure that all staff who handle personal data on our behalf are aware of their responsibilities under this policy and other relevant data protection and information security policies, and that they are adequately trained and supervised. Breaching this policy may result in disciplinary action for misconduct, including dismissal. Obtaining (including accessing) or disclosing personal data in breach of our data protection policies may also be a criminal offence.

The information you provide to us will be held on our computers in the UK and may be accessed by or given to our staff, our contractors, reporters and agents who act for us, for the purposes set out in this policy or for other purposes approved by you or as otherwise permitted by law. This may mean that your information is sent to computers out with the UK.

By submitting your information to us, you agree that it may be transferred outside the European Economic Area. Countries outside the European Economic Area do not always have strong data protection laws. However, wherever practicable we will take steps to ensure that your information is used by third parties in accordance with this policy.

We shall never sell or rent your personal information to third parties for their marketing purposes.

· The Principles of Data Protection

We comply with the data protection principles set out below. When processing personal data, we ensure that:
it is processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner in relation to the data subject (‘lawfulness, fairness and transparency’)
it is collected for specified, explicit and legitimate purposes and not further processed in a manner that is incompatible with those purposes (‘purpose limitation’)
it is all adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary in relation to the purposes for which they are processed (‘data minimisation’)
it is all accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date and that reasonable steps will be taken to ensure that personal data that are inaccurate, having regard to the purposes for which they are processed, are erased or rectified without delay as far as reasonably possible (‘accuracy’)
it is kept in a form which permits identification of data subjects for as long as is necessary for the purposes for which the personal data are processed (‘storage limitation’)
it is processed in a manner that ensures appropriate security of the personal data, including protection against unauthorised or unlawful processing and against accidental loss, destruction or damage, using appropriate technical or organisational measures (‘integrity and confidentiality’)
We will facilitate a request from a data subject who wishes to exercise their rights under data protection law as appropriate, always communicating in a concise, transparent, intelligible and easily accessible form and without undue delay.

· Our Processes and Procedures

We will:

o ensure that the legal basis for processing personal data is identified in advance and that all processing complies with the law

o not do anything with your data that you would not expect given the content of this policy and the fair processing or privacy notice

o ensure that appropriate privacy notices are in place advising staff and others how and why their data is being processed, and, in particular, advising data subjects of their rights

o only collect and process the personal data that it needs for purposes it has identified in advance

o ensure that, as far as possible, the personal data it holds is accurate, or a system is in place for ensuring that it is kept up to date as far as possible

o only hold onto your personal data for as long as it is needed, after which time will securely erase or delete the personal data.

o ensure that appropriate security measures are in place to ensure that personal data can only be accessed by those who need to access it and that it is held and transferred securely

‘Data Protection Law’ includes the General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679; the UK Data Protection Act 2018 and all relevant EU and UK data protection legislation.

· Your Rights as a Data Subject

Under data protection law you have rights in respect of the personal data about you that we hold and process. We have processes in place to ensure we can facilitate this.

· Choosing Not To Share Your Information

We need to process your personal information to meet our legal obligations – for our own legislative obligations – and in furtherance of the legal services which we provide on your behalf in terms of our contract. If you fail to provide the data when requested, it may delay or prevent us fulfilling our obligations. This may mean we are unable to represent you.

· How We Process and Retain Your Data

We collect, store and process different types of personal information in the necessary course of our contractual obligations and the provision of legal services to you. We do not sell or rent your personal information to anyone. We may require to disclose your personal information to third parties where required to do so by law or to comply with a regulatory obligation or to assist in any investigation into alleged illegal or criminal behaviour.

· Automated Decisions

We do not solely rely on automated decisions or processing of information for the purposes of fulfilling our legal obligations.

· Who is responsible – Our Data Protection Administrator

If you have any concerns or wish to exercise any of your rights under the GDPR, then you can contact our Data Protection Administrator as follows:

Name: Andrew Fitzpatrick
Address: The MFY Partnership, 25 Stirling Street, Airdrie
Email: andrew@mfypartnership.co.uk
Telephone: 01236 607180

At MFY we often offer work experience placements to school pupils and University students. The latest such placement was filled by Rebecca(14). Here are her reflections.

Jackie, one of the solicitors, asked me to write this blog talking about my work experience at The MFY Partnership. I am currently in the middle of my time here and I am learning a lot about working life and getting a great idea of what work will be like when I leave school.

I am only 14 years old and was very nervous about starting my work placement, but the staff made me feel at ease and were very welcoming. I got shown round every room to ensure I knew how to navigate the office and was given simple tasks to start off easily. Andrew, one of the solicitors, gave me the opportunity to go to court with him to see what it involves – as I am keen to become a lawyer when I am older. I went to court and was able to watch a trial, which was very exciting for me. When I returned to the office everyone was very friendly and I was shown how to do some more tasks – which was very useful as I will have these skills for later life.

I felt less anxious going to work the next day, as I knew everyone would be kind to me. When I went in I got more tasks to complete, which kept me busy. These tasks includedfiling, collecting mail, photocopying and going trips to the local post office. If I was unsure how to complete any task I just asked for help and someone was always happy to assist me. I got to go another trip to court on the Wednesday, which was great and gave me the chance to see what goes on in a court. I will need to know these things, as I am an aspiring lawyer!

I have nothing negative to say about my time at The MFY Partnership. I have been treated very well and have enjoyed the glimpse of working life. I find what they do to be very fascinating and I am looking forward to completing the rest of my work experience. I can’t wait to leave school and start working, as I have enjoyed working at The MFY Partnership, Airdrie. I felt more relaxed than being in a school environment