One would expect that employers should, from a moral perspective, firstly look after employees in the event of insolvency as employees are usually wholly financially dependent on their employers. That is not the case. Bankruptcy and company legislation do give preferential status to certain employee claims in the distribution of the assets of the insolvent company or the bankrupt. However, as preferential creditors, specified employee debts are only given priority in the distribution of assets after the payment of secured creditors (usually banks) and the costs and expenses of the liquidation/bankruptcy. While this gives employees a certain level of protection, it only does so in circumstances where the insolvent company/employer has sufficient assets to discharge the monies owing after payment of secured debts and the liquidator’s costs and expenses. In the current climate, it is generally the case that there are insufficient assets to pay the preferential debts in full and so the employee’s claims will be reduced proportionately. In any event, an employee’s claim for arrears of wages is limited to €3,174.00 under the legislation. Ultimately, an employee might only receive part of their pay related entitlements from an insolvent employer.

Do you ever wonder how a Judge reaches a decision on the appropriate sentence to impose when dealing with an accused person who has pleaded guilty or has been found guilty of an offence or a number of offences?

As another year draws to a close, it may be an opportune time to reconsider those resolutions and promises that you made at the beginning of 2011. One resolution that often features on a person’s list is to make a Will or if they have already made a Will to review an existing one. It can however frequently be the case that this is the one resolution that is put on the long finger and usually tends to be overlooked. If you are one of those people who made this resolution this year and have yet to fulfil it then perhaps before the end of this year you may try to implement this resolution.

We are currently in an era where it would appear that report after report is being generated to deal with the myriad of problems we are encountering both at an economic and social level in this country. The most recent of these reports is the Inter Departmental Mortgage Arrears Working Group otherwise known as the Keane Report. As the title suggests, it is a work in progress in terms of dealing with mortgage arrears in this country. The brief for the Keane group was to focus on home owner mortgages as opposed to buy to let mortgages. Therefore this would not cover the category of people who would have taken out mortgages for the purpose of purchasing an investment property. The challenge is to keep people in their homes where appropriate, to reduce the burden on home owners facing debt servicing difficulties and to minimise the cost to the State.

Dramatic and radical changes in Irish Family Law were introduced by the (clumsily named) Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010 which took effect from the 1st of January 2011.  There has been much publicity in the media of the fact that for the first time in Ireland, same sex couples, whose relationships had not previously been given legal recognition by the State, can now formalise their status by registering a legal Civil Partnership.  Such registration confers an extensive range of rights, obligations and protections similar to, but not quite the same as, marriage and, since July 2011, similar tax provisions previously available only to married couples.

Now that the liability date , the 30th of September, for the payment of Inheritance and Gift Tax has passed, and, I hope, you have all discharged your liabilities, I think it might be helpful to look at a way whereby you yourself can assist your own beneficiaries in paying the tax. This can be done by means of taking out a special insurance policy referred to as a Section 72 policy.

As more and more companies succumb to insolvency, many business suppliers are receiving invitations to creditors’ meetings. When an insolvent company decides to wind up voluntarily, a notice will be sent to all creditors together with a general/special proxy form to commence the liquidation process. The notice will also be advertised in local newspapers. The proxy form allows you to appoint somebody to attend and vote at the creditors’ meeting (including the Chairman) so you do not have to attend personally to vote. The notice and forms are formal documents and can be daunting to a person unfamiliar with liquidations.

If so, you need to proceed with caution. There are many rules governing the liquidation process. Firstly, you should first speak with fellow directors and seek professional advice. Resignation may be an option but your primary responsibility is to protect the company creditors. You may remain personally liable even if you were to resign.

In general, on the appointment of a liquidator, the powers of a director cease. You should be aware that a company is technically insolvent when it cannot pay it's debts as they fall due. It is possible to incur personal liability as a director where you continue to let the company trade even though you know it is not in a position to pay it's debts as they fall due.

The writer, GK Chesterton, said “your next door neighbour is not a man; he is an environment; he is the barking of a dog; he is the noise of a piano; he is a dispute about a party wall; he is drains that are worse than yours, or roses that are better than yours”. Whatever about pianos and dogs, disputes between adjoining neighbours about party walls and structures, especially maintaining or repairing them, have frequently, in the past, led to bad feelings, bitter disputes and expensive litigation.  Prior to December 2009, the legal issues concerned were complex and involved.  Now, however, since the introduction (on the 1st of December 2009) of the Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act 2009 - the most dramatic reform of Irish Land Law since the 19th century – this difficult and sensitive area of Law has been greatly clarified.