Choosing to meet with a family lawyer is a tough decision and often comes at a stressful and upsetting time.

Family solicitors are often consulted to settle divorce disputes, when a relationship has broken down and reconciliation appears unlikely, or to resolve disputed arrangements regarding children.

Why is the first meeting so important?

Family law disputes can often be extremely highly charged situations and it can be difficult to control your emotions when meeting with your solicitor for the first time.

In order to get the best possible outcome from your case, it is vital that you remain calm and have a well defined strategy for moving forward.

The best way to develop an effective strategy is to have a mutual understanding with your solicitor, them keeping you well informed of the latest developments, and you giving them all the relevant information they need to provide expert advice.

Having a few questions in mind before meeting a potential solicitor for the first time is a great way to stay focussed, not let emotions dictate your decisions, and get a feeling for whether you would work well together.

5 Top Tips for meeting a family solicitor

Here are 10 of the most important things to consider when preparing for your initial consultation with your family solicitor:

1. How much will it cost?

There is no point wasting your time meeting with a solicitor whose fees are well outside of your budget.

Many family solicitors will even charge for an initial consultation so make sure that the first thing you find out is how much a meeting will cost as well as the charging rate of their services thereafter.

2. What will their approach be?

Family law disputes can be resolved in many different ways and different solicitors may favour one approach over another.

Some family law firms specialise in litigation whilst others prefer mediation or a more collaborative solution.

Given the cost of going to court, and the stress that can be put on you and your family by doing so, it is normally preferable to seek an out of court agreement in family cases but if a relationship has completely broken down this may be the only way to achieve what you are looking for.

You should always make sure that the expertise and preferred approach of your solicitor is compatible with the needs and requirements of your specific case.

3. What evidence could be useful?

The more information that your solicitor has about the details surrounding your case the better they will be able to understand the situation and develop an effective strategy.

Social media posts, text messages, a diary of key events, and details of previous behaviour are all examples of some of the information that can be crucial in family law cases that your solicitor may be able to use.

4. Take care with confidential information

You may think that you will be helping your chances by looking through your ex-partners documents for information but giving such documentation to your solicitor will do much more harm than good.

No matter the contents, there is a reasonable expectation of privacy concerning confidential documentation and if revealed to a solicitor they may no longer be able to represent you as they have been privy to information that should have remained private.

At the very least they are obligated to tell the other side what they have which could compromise your chances.

It is best to rely only on your own recollections of events and correspondence that you have received directly when talking to a family solicitor.

5. What are the realistic outcomes?

Family solicitors will have handled hundreds of cases just like yours and once they have seen all the evidence connected to the case, they will be able to give you a pretty good idea of the most likely outcomes.

It is important to understand exactly what the best possible outcome of your case is and what the result will most likely be to avoid disappointment.

For this reason, you should discuss this with your solicitor at an early stage so that you are both on the same page and working towards the same goals.

Why choose Oracle Law?

oraclelaw.com offers customers across Scotland top quality family solicitor services at a highly competitive price.

We are a relatively new law firm but have freed ourselves from the rigidness of established firms who operate from large offices with a legacy infrastructure, adopting modern working practices to offer industry leading responsive legal services at a fraction of the cost of our competitors.

Oracle Law pride ourselves on having a close relationship with all our clients, working hard to understand their requirements and always being on hand if we are needed.

To learn more about our family law services or to arrange a consultation call us today at 0141 332 0915 or fill out the contact form today.

Holidays are a fantastic and exciting time – but leaving your home empty and unprotected can be incredibly worrying. Many people understand thieves tend to target homes during the holiday season, looking out for unprotected properties.

In this article we’ll detail some of the best ways to protect a property while you are on holiday.

Having a Security System Installed

The best way to protect your home is having a comprehensive security system installed. Alarms or CCTV have a visible presence and are often enough to keep would-be intruders at bay. CCTV furthermore can, in a worst-case scenario help police to track down and prosecute the criminals responsible. These systems can also help significantly with insurance claims (and insurance providers will often expect you to have an alarm or security system installed).

Locks and other physical barriers

Alongside Alarms and CCTV, actual physical barriers are going to be necessary to stop a determined thief. Modern double or triple glazed windows tend to have proper locks while also being resistant to tamper attempts, while tall hedges can also help to prevent people from entering your garden.

Servicing and Checking Your Security System

Despite having a security system, many people do not regularly make use of it and do not fully know how to use it either. To say the least, this is a serious problem, but it also means that there may be faults the user isn’t aware of. This means that when you do go on holiday and set the alarm, you may not have set it properly – leaving your home effectively unprotected. Therefore, it is vital to check the system and learn how it functions, so you are properly aware of any faults and can report these quickly. Any faults should be reported ASAP so they can be repaired or fixed.

There’s other problems as well; a faulty alarm system is liable to constantly go off. In these cases, nothing can be done while you are away, as unless the manufacturer or installer has permission to access your house, they can do nothing to fix the alarm system. Failure to regularly have your alarm serviced means this can happen at any time, but it’s terrible to have your neighbours being constantly disturbed by a faulty alarm system.

To ensure your alarm system is functioning properly, ensure you have servicing done regularly. Servicing cannot guarantee an alarm system will be 100% free of faults but it will identify problems early on. This means the chances of an issue developing while you’re away reduced significantly.

 Many insurance companies will expect you to have an alarm or security system serviced on a regular basis. Failure to do this can see insurance claims denied, as you have failed to meet the obligations of the insurance property.

Timed Lighting and Lamps

While leaving lights on over the course of your entire holiday is an impractical and expensive demand, timed lighting systems are a fantastic way to maintain the appearance of activity on your property and are often enough to scare off potential burglars or thieves.

Lock up and ensure someone is checking your home regularly

You will want to make sure every door is properly locked before you leave. Thieves and intruders are likely to try every door or entrance they can find – so it’s important to make sure your home is properly secured. This includes windows as well. It is a good idea to ask a neighbour to check up after you’ve left that your home is properly secured. Double check before you leave as well. This can provide you with a significant peace of mind.

It is also good to ask a neighbour, friend, or family member to keep an eye on your home while you are away. This is one of the best ways to keep your home safe while you are on holiday.

Cancel any Deliveries

Whether its milk, newspapers, or anything else, the appearance of items piling up outside your door or old newspapers in your letterbox are a tell-tale sign to thieves that you are not inside your home and that the house is empty and is likely not being monitored. It is important as a result that you cancel any deliveries. If this isn’t possible, having a neighbour or friend pick them up on your behalf is also a good approach.

Getting neighbours to park in your drive

One of the things that many thieves and intruders will look out for when they are searching for targets are houses without cars outside or in their drives. This is usually because a lack of car is a tell-tale sign someone is out of the house, and therefore it is more vulnerable. An easy way to resolve this is to have a neighbour park their car in your drive.

In 2017, the awful events of the Grenfell Tower Fire, highlighted just how devastating fires can be in high-rise residential buildings.

With the aim of preventing such a tragedy from ever happening again, we have put together this guide for residents, building management, and landlords to fire safety in tower blocks.

Key Fire Safety Tips

Here are 7 of the key fire safety measures that should be implemented in residential tower blocks:

1. Ensure a fire risk assessment has been conducted

A fire risk assessment is a review of a building which assesses the fire risks and makes recommendations for dealing with them.

Every single block of flats is legally required to appoint a ‘Responsible Person’, whose job it is to carry out this assessment and is responsible for fire safety.

This will normally be either the landlord or building manager.

2. Make residents aware of policies

As a building manager, having a risk assessment and carefully considered fire safety policy in place is all very good but means little if residents are not aware of them.

The ‘responsible person’, in charge of fire safety should communicate fire safety policies widely to make sure that if an emergency does occur, everyone in the building knows how to respond in the most appropriate manner.

This should be done through individual letters and emails to residents as well as ‘Fire Action Notices’ being placed in common areas.

3. Install suitable fire doors

Fire doors are an essential containment measure, preventing the rapid spread of fire and reducing the damage that is done before the fire service can arrive.

Fire doors should be of an appropriate standard, maintained properly, and kept closed at all times.

They should also be marked as ‘Fire door, keep shut’ signs to remind residents.

4. Fit smoke detectors

Smoke detectors should be fitted in each and every apartment in a high-rise building, with one in the kitchen, hallway, and outside each bedroom.

Smoke and fire detectors should also be installed in all communal areas

5. Maintain Dry Risers

Dry risers are empty pipes that are fitted in many high-rise buildings, used by the fire service to pump water between multiple levels in the event of a fire.

Failing to maintain dry risers could seriously impact the ability of the fire service to deal with a fire effectively and have devastating consequences as a result.

6. Fire Doors

As a high-rise building resident, you are responsible for ensuring that your front door meets the current standard for fire doors.

If you live in an older block, it may be that the door was fitted when fire safety regulations were less stringent and may require an upgrade.

All apartment doors must be fitted with an automatic door closer that ensures the door will close no matter what angle it is released at.

Fire doors should fully close against door stops, and there should be no gaps around the edge of the unit.

If your door lacks any of the features mentioned above, it is time for an upgrade to help maximise your home’s fire safety.

7. Evacuation

If a fire does break out in your building, it is vital that escape routes are clear and safe for use by residents.

For this reason, action should be taken to ensure that:

• No objects are left lying around in communal areas that may prove an obstruction during evacuation.
• Fire doors are closed at all times.
• Bicycles, scooters, and prams are not stored in a communal area without the approval of building management.
• All rubbish is put in the relevant bin, and bags are not left lying around.
• Your own front door is fitted with a working self-closing device.

Waking Watch

V360 offers Waking Watch services in residential high-rise buildings which have been identified as having significant fire safety issues.

Our team of expert fire wardens will patrol your site 24 hours a day using their highly trained eyes to spot any signs of a fire, or potential fire hazard, and raising the alarm if required.

If an emergency situation does occur, our waking watch officers will alert all residents to the situation, oversee the safe evacuation of the property, and liaise with the emergency services once they arrive.

Our waking watch services are tailored specifically to the needs of each client, and we conduct regular ongoing training to ensure that we remain industry leaders in this field.

With an industry leading common fire alarm system at our disposal as well, which can easily convert into a standard fire alarm once building regulations have been met, we are the perfect choice for short-, mid-, and long-term fire safety in high-rise properties.

Security is a major problem in the construction industry, with over £1m lost every week in form of stolen equipment alone.

It is easy to see why construction sites are extremely attractive targets for thieves and vandals and there is a huge amount of equipment, tools, and valuable materials on site at any one time.

It is impossible for all these assets to be locked away or removed from the site at the end of every working day, so they often have to be left lying on the premises overnight and many criminals see this as too good a chance to miss.

Trying to reduce the amount of goods stolen from their sites is a major headache for project managers as the cost of crime can often compromise the profitability of the entire project, not to mention putting staff at risk.

Luckily, all is not lost.

To help save you time, money, and help protect your workers it is essential to have a strong security system in place and there are a few simple steps that can massively reduce the chances of your site being targeted by criminals.

Here are our top 5 tips on how to keep your construction site secured against criminals:

1. Install lighting

Being discreet is the main goal of any thief and the more visibility on your site, the less likely it is they will be able to get in and out without detection.

If there are spotlights illuminating your site at night, it will make it much easier for passers-by and night security guards to spot intruders.

This precaution might also make potential intruders believe think that there are still workers on site and they will be deterred from making a move due to the higher perceived risk of being disturbed.

If it is not practical to illuminate the entire site every night, you could also install motion detector lights near entry points which will be activated if someone gets too close.

Being suddenly lit up in a bright light for all around to see if a sure fire way of making an intruder think twice about going any further onto your site.

2. Install Cameras

CCTV is a crucial part of any modern security system.

By having 24/7 video surveillance on your site, even if someone does manage to get in and out without detection they will be caught in the act on tape.

This will make it a lot easier for the police to track them down and hopefully recover your stolen items.

The sight of a CCTV camera is also a deterrent in itself and simply the idea of potentially being caught will be enough to convince the vast majority of potential intruders that your site is not worth the effort or risk.

3. Install Alarms

Installing an alarm system is another great way to keep your construction site secure.

A loud audio warning will be activated should an intruder activate the sensors connected to your alarm scaring off intruders in the majority of cases and alerting those nearby to the incident.

Via a mobile app connected to your alarm you will also be notified if your alarm has been triggered from anywhere in the world.

If you wish, you could even have a monitored alarm fitted by a professional security firm who will alert the emergency services or send a team of security officers to your site should an alarm activation be detected.

Another option is a silent alarm that doesn’t alert the intruder that they have triggered it and instead allows the police to catch them in the act.

If you are considering a silent alarm, it is worth noting that by removing the deterrent aspect of your alarm system the damage may already be done to your property by the time the police are on site.

4. Shipping Containers

It may not be possible to remove all valuables from a construction site overnight but that doesn’t mean that some can’t be locked away.

Shipping containers are a great way to store valuable tools and materials overnight well out of sight from criminals.

Most burglars are opportunists and if they cannot see evidence of valuable items on a property they will usually move on elsewhere.

Shipping containers are also extremely tough, built to withstand overseas voyages, so even if an intruder does attempt to break in, it is unlikely they will have much luck.

5. Install a fence

A step as simple as installing a fence around your property can often be enough to deter criminals from targeting your site.

For maximum protection, you could install a fence equipped with an electric shock or topped with spikes but even a standard fence can be hugely effective as in the time it takes for an intruder to scale it, they will likely have been detected by a security guard or CCTV.

By following these 5 simple steps you could significantly increase your construction site security and save yourself from losing thousands of pounds every year in stolen goods.

Electric heating is becoming more and more popular in Scotland, as homeowners take advantage of superb energy efficiency, easy installation, and ultimate customisation.

We’ve put together this list of the top 10 reasons that electric radiators are such a great heating solution for so many people and may be worth considering for your home.

10 Advantages of Electric Radiators

1. Efficiency

One of the main attractions of modern electric heating Glasgow over a more traditional gas central heating system is the impressive energy efficiency level that electric radiators are able to achieve.

For every 1 unit of electricity consumed by an electric radiator, they will produce 1 unit of usable heat energy.

This means that electric radiators can be considered 100% efficient, outperforming even the most modern new gas combi boiler which will achieve around 90%.

2. Temperature Control

Modern electric radiators, such as the industry leading German designed ones we provide to our customers, all come with their own in-build temperature control, which is very precise at measuring the temperature around them.

This consistency means that you can keep each room in your home at the perfect temperature at all times, with no need to constantly change the temperature to achieve comfort.

3. Simple Installation

Unlike gas central heating, electric radiators require no invasive pipework to be installed, and really are as simple as plug in and go.

Many people even decide to install their own electric radiators making the process completely free.

Easy installation means that if installing an effective heating system is time sensitive, because you have a guest coming to stay for example, electric radiators offer unrivalled convenience.

If you do choose to have your radiators installed by a professional company, they will have your entire system up and running in a matter of hours, a much quicker process than installing an entire gas system which can take several weeks and may even require planning permission.

4. Maintenance

Electric radiators require almost no ongoing maintenance and switching from gas means you can do away with annual callouts and system checks completely, saving yourself a fortune over the system’s lifetime.

5. Customisation

Electric radiators come in a huge range of different shapes, colours, and sizes, offering you unrivalled choice over the look you want in your home.

This can be a lifesaver if you have carefully designed the look you want for your home and traditional radiators just don’t fit in.

This flexibility is also very helpful in smaller spaces where space saving designs are required as electric radiators can be installed both vertically and horizontally without having any impact on performance.

6. Mobile Control

Being able to control your home appliances from your phone has become a normal part of modern living, and with electric radiators, you will have full control of your home heating at your fingertips at all times.

The temperature of each radiator, the times you want your system active are all fully controllable via mobile app, so you never again need to worry about forgetting to turn the heating off when you leave your property or returning to an unheated home after a long day at work.

7. Smart Technology

Besides being controllable via mobile app, there are a range of other smart features of modern electric radiators.

These include anti-frost, automatically turning on the system when the temperature drops below a certain level to avoid freezing, and 24/7 programming allowing you to fully customise the temperature in each room of your home.

8. Lower Risk

The low safety risk posed by electric radiators is another feature that makes them such a popular option compared to other heating systems.

Unlike gas heating which relies on the burning of fuel inside your home, there is no risk of carbon monoxide leaks or explosions from electric radiators.

9. Heating Zones

As each electric radiator has its own in-built thermostat you will be able to create heating zones in your home with an electric heating system.

During the day you may only need your office heated to a comfortable temperature, whilst in the evening heat is required more in your living room and bedroom.

By customising your system to only come on in certain zones at certain times, you can save money and increase the energy efficiency of your home as heat will never be produced unless completely necessary.

10. Environmentally Friendly

Electric heat is much more environmentally friendly than gas, with over 40% of the electricity produced in the UK now coming from renewable sources.

Home heating is a major contributing factor to carbon emissions across the UK, and installing electric radiators is a great way to significantly reduce your carbon footprint and do your bit to help tackle the current climate crisis.

Get In Touch

Greener Energy Group is a leading provider of bespoke German radiators to customers in the West of Scotland and across the UK.

For a free quote or for more information on any of our products, contact us today by phone on 03335 77 66 99, or by email at info@greenerenergygroup.co.uk.