A new solicitor has been appointed to the busy Mental Health department at the Oswestry office of leading regional law firm, GHP Legal. 

Andy Howarth is the latest mental health lawyer to join a highly qualified team of specialists at the firm which is one of very few in the area that has the expertise to deal with the growing number of mental health referrals the country is currently seeing.

Q: I have just had my house valued and discovered it has risen considerably. I don’t have much cash but with the value of the house now exceeding £375,000 I am worried that it will mean my son having to pay Inheritance Tax when I die. I have considered signing the house over to him now, but at my age I am concerned I won’t live the required seven years after doing so for it to benefit him. What else can I do?

Q.  When my daughter was 9 months old I took her to hospital for tests as she was not gaining weight as expected and had delayed motor development. She was given a ‘sweat test’, which involved applying metal electrodes to her arm.

Q:  After I got out of an abusive marriage almost a year ago I was in a bad way mentally and the local authority took my sons away from me. At the time I could see there was no other option as their father was likely to abuse them like he had abused me and I couldn’t even look after myself let alone them. I have been allowed to see them under supervision once a month. Now I am in a much better place mentally but Children’s Services won’t increase access to my children. What can I do?

Q: Our daughter is at university and is keen to do a house share next academic year. We have heard that rooms in a house can be let in different ways and that we should ensure she gets somewhere under a Licence Agreement, not an Assured Shorthold Tenancy. Please can you explain the difference? 

A lawyer based on the Welsh borders says the fire that earlier this week severely damaged prominent north London music venue, Koko, highlights the importance of having comprehensive terms and conditions in place when working under contract.

Q:  My husband and I separated almost four years ago but didn’t bother to get divorced as everything was amicable, neither of us wanted another relationship and I moved into my son’s house because he was working abroad. Now my son is coming back and I need to think about getting a place of my own. I spoke to my husband about funding and he is suddenly defensive and says we should get divorced and sort things out ‘properly’. As it’s him who wants to formalise matters, is it him who will have to pay the costs?

A leading mental health lawyer, whose expertise and reputation as a respected authority on Mental Health and Care and Children Law has seen him invited to train and also to speak on TV and radio, has called for a change in the NHS mental health treatment criteria following the release of research data obtained by Pulse, a specialist publication for GPs.

Q:  I have been in partnership with a couple of friends for the past four years but we have now got to the point in the business where we are thinking that perhaps we should operate as a limited company. Certainly from everything I have read it would appear to be preferable from a financial point of view, since we are doing well and the future looks bright for us. What are the main things we need to consider?

Q:  My brother collapsed and died in a supermarket after calling in on his way home from hospital for milk. He had been sent to the hospital earlier that day after attending his local surgery with chest pains, but the hospital sent him home without any tests, saying it was probably indigestion. A post mortem showed he had a blocked artery.