UK Fixed Term Parliaments

The Fixed term Parliaments Act of 2011 specified a 5 year term unless:

(a) there is a vote of no confidence
(b) 2/3 of total membership (including any vacant seats) vote to call an election sooner.

Ministers also increased the amount parties and candidates can spend by 23% (!!!!!), against Electoral Commission advice.

Various sources

Foot Care

The skin on feet can suffer from fungal infections, which thrive in warm, moist, airless environments; so many people are affected in winter, as they keep their feet cosy in warm socks.

• Fungal nail infections don't usually cause pain or other symptoms, but your toenails become thick and discoloured. They often start with on nail and spread to others. They can be hard to clear up as they require regular treatment and a cure can take up to six months with a medicated lacquer or tablets.
• If the skin between your toes is scaly, you may have athlete's foot. This can lead to cracking and soreness. Antifungal cream and/or powders usually work well.
•  If you have a fungal foot infection, keep a towel to yourself and don't walk barefoot, even in the bedroom or bathroom (and especially in communal changing rooms.
• Keep your feet cool and dry in votton socks and leather shoes. Dry really carefully between the toes to cut the chance of infections recurring.

Good Housekeeping, January 2015

Ten-minute Money Moves

Smart and speedy 10-minute tactics to help you take hold of your finances.

• Register for online banking. Make payments quickly, check you balance more regularly and stay on top of things. Simpley apply on your bank's website and fill in a few personal details.
• Change bank accounts. Switching current accounts takes up to seven days but it only takes 5 to 10 minutes to apply. Grab your address details, information on salary and other income sources, and current banking details. After that, thanks to simple switching rules, the banks will do the legwork for you.
• Check your council tax band. These were set in 1991 based on house values at the time (2003 in Wales), so there is room for error. Check what band you are in through the Valuation Office Agency in England and Wales, or the Scottish Assessors Association in Scotland, and then ask a neighbour in a similar property if they are in the same band. If their band is lower, you may be able to make a claim. Go to goodhousekeeping.co.uk/how-to-claim-council-tax
• Shred some paperwork. Ditch any bank statements and financial paperwork that is more than a year old. Shred or rip it up if it contains your name or any financial details. If you are self-employed, the tax man recommends that you keep records for five years, but this need not be hard copy. Back up the info digitally, then shred.
• Get into the eBay habit. Got bags of unwanted possessions still around that you want to sell on eBay? Pick the one item most likely to sell, and post it online. It's very easy - take some snaps, then use the (free) app on your smartphone or tablet to start selling.
• Money Dashboard app. Free to download from the Apple and iPlay stores, it synchs to your bank accounts so you can check you balance. The graphs showing spending types and trends are useful - if a little alarming if you've been on a spending spree.
• Tip N Split app. A simple, free tip calculator for iPhone and Android. You could use a calculator but this app is faster at working out amounts per person, and the total and per person tip. Great when abroad too - for example in the US, where tax is charged on the meal as well as service.
• Go through your purse. Have a rifle for credit and store cards you no longer use. It's a useful prompt to contact creditors of cards you want to close.
• Tot up your loyalty points. Around 24% of us lose these benefits because we let them expire. Check your points value online at boots.com, nectar.com and tesco.com/clubcard/ or ask in store next time you are in the shop.
• Write your will. Some 56% of UK adults do not have a will. Use the Law Society's online tool (solicitors.lawsociety.org.uk) to find a solicitor in your area or call 020 7320 5650. It only takes 10 minutes to get started.

Feature in Good Housekeeping October 2014

Wills, Inheritance and Last Wishes

Worst case scenarios

• Your partner dies suddenly, and you're faced with complex paperwork and rocketing legal costs.
• Despite being a long-term stepmum to your stepchildren, you are unable to make decisions about their care and have no legal say in their welfare.
• Your parents or an elderly relative lose the ability - either mentally or physiclly - to manage their money and you're left to unravel their finances.
• Your recent marriage fails and someone you knew for just a few years is entitled to half your assets.
• Your children don't inherit anything - the tax man takes it all instead.

True: Pre-nups are not legally binding agreements. While a pre-nup will be taken into account, a court has the discretion to go against it if it believes it to be unjust or in conflict with the current benchmark for deciding what is unfair in the division of marital assets. (Section 25 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973)
False: My partner will automatically inherit my estate when I die. Intestacy rules are the legal rules that apply if someone dies without a will. They divide up an estate without taking into account need or anything other than blood or legal relationships, such as being married. If you are not married, your partner won't automatically receive anything other than assets you already hold as joint beneficial owners.
False: I am liable for my parents' tax if I take on power of attorney. Fortunately, the attorney is not personally liable if the donor cannot pay. However, the person with power of attorney could be responsible for paying debts and taxes on behalf of the donor - but only from the donor's own funds.
True: I can't make any decisions about my stepchildren without my partner's permission. In the case of a separated couple, where Mum moves in with someone else who the kids treat to as a father figure. If anything happened to Mum, the biological dad could simply remove the children, regardless of their best interests or Mum's final wishes. Stepdad would need to go to court to prevent this hapening. This applies to married and unmarried couples.
False: Common law rights apply to unmarried couples after a certain period of time. There is no such thing as a 'common law wife'. An unmarried partner living in property soley owned by the other partner would have no automatic claim over it.

Make a Will. Whether married or unmarried, there are important reasons to make a will. (a) Those you leave behind face large legal bills and lengthy court procedures. (b) The State allocates your estate to your next of kin - an unmarried surviving partner would lose out, and potentially, estranged family members could have a claim to part of your estate. (c) Writing a will ensures than children are provided for, plus bequests to charities, friends and others, and you can also record details such as funeral arrangements. (d) As well as large financial decisions, include your last wishes - such as where you would like your ashes scattered and who receives which keepsake. (e) Don't forget to update your will if your circumstances change. Existing wills are revoked (made void) automatically when you remarry, so updating wills is essential.

Taking on Step-parental responsibility. You need this to have a legal (though not automatic) right to look after your partner's children. A solicitor will prepare forms for about £200. Everybody with parental responsibility (mothers and fathers named on birth certificate) has to give written consent, witnessed by a magistrate or justice of the peace. All parties need to sign the document.

Organising Your Parents' Affairs. To fully manage their financial affairs, you need to be named in a legal document called a lasting power of attorney (LPA). There are two types of LPA: financial & property and health & welfare. You cannot do this - your parents must apply while they still have the proven mental capacity to do so. Without a LPA, every time a decision is needed on their finances or welfare, you as next of kin would have to apply through a court of protection to be apppointed their deputy (£400 per application plus cost of potential legal advice).

Feature in Good Housekeeping November 2014

Windows Slow Loading

Windows runs great on a brand new PC, but over time, it gets slower and slower until it reaches the point where you might have to wait for a few minutes for it to load in the first place. Part of this delay is down to the accumulation of unwanted files and a defragmented hard disk, and Windows' Disk Cleanup and Disk Defragmenter utilities are there to help you with those problems.If you’ve tried those and still have to twiddle your thumbs while Windows loads, here are two more things you can try to speed things up.

1. Hard Drive
Part of the problem with slow PC start-up times is the hard drive. Hard drive technology is inherently slow, but you can remedy this by replacing it with a solid-state drive, or SSD.
Since they have no moving parts and store data on chips much like a USB flash drive, SSDs are extremely fast and can give a new lease of life to an old PC that’s running slowly. It doesn’t make much sense to fit one to a PC that’s more than a few years old, though, since the processor and other components are also likely to be contributing to the general snail’s pace of the machine.
The only catch is that SSDs are much more expensive than hard drives of a similar size, but prices are coming down all the time.

2. Unwanted Applications
A new PC should run super smoothly fresh from the box, but some manufacturers have the unfortunate tendency to preinstall so many unwanted applications that using Windows can still feel like wading through treacle. The solution is a free application called PC Decrapifier.
Download and install PC Decrapifier from www.pcdecrapifier.com - there’s nothing to catch you out during the installation. Run it and click the big blue Analyze button to see what it finds on your PC. You can then choose from a list of recommended programs to remove, but look through the list carefully to check that there’s nothing there you actually want to keep.

From BT News on Email Login Page, 21 March 2015