Legal News
- Father Who Disinherited Daughter Lacked Capacity to Make a Valid Will You are perfectly entitled to write your children or other close family members out of your will, but such a course can be an invitation to dispute after you are gone. That was certainly so in a High Court case concerning a man who left everything he owned...
- Lending Money to Friends? Don't Act Without Professional Advice The emotional element involved in lending money to friends and loved ones makes it all the more necessary to first seek independent professional advice. A case on point concerned a businessman who lent a small fortune to a close friend but had to launch...
- Property Dispute Looming? Now is the Moment to Seek Professional Advice A word out of place can lead to the sacrifice of valuable legal rights and that is why it is vital to seek professional advice the moment a potential dispute looms on the horizon. The point was made by the case of a couple who faced a challenge to their...
- Divorced Abroad? You Can Still Get a Fair Financial Deal in England It may come as a surprise but, even if you have been divorced abroad, there is a great deal that an English family lawyer can do to ensure you receive a fair financial deal. In one case, the High Court came to the aid of a woman whose marriage to an...
- What Does 'Survivor' Mean? High Court Resolves Inheritance Doubts Words are not numbers and even the most careful draftsperson cannot guarantee that the meaning of a will is always clear beyond doubt. As a High Court case showed , however, judges are adept at resolving ambiguities so that the true intentions of testators...
- Building Your Own Home? You Need Professional Tax Advice So-called DIY builders who 'construct' their own homes can reclaim VAT incurred in doing so. As one case showed, however, there is a very great difference between the ordinary English usage of that word and its meaning in VAT legislation. The case concerned...
- International Child Abduction - Children's Welfare is Always Paramount Where one parent moves abroad with his or her children, leaving the other behind, the result can be an international tug of war. As a High Court ruling showed , when called upon to play the part of referee in such contests, the paramount focus of family...
- Dying With Your Affairs in Disarray is a Poisoned Legacy for Your Loved Ones Not every life is profitable, at least in financial terms, and it is important to remember that your debts do not die with you. A High Court ruling showed the serious problems that dying insolvent, without putting your affairs in order, can create for your...
- Seeking Investment Advice? Only Authorised Practitioners Can Be Trusted When seeking investment advice, it is vital to only use the services of authorised practitioners who are highly qualified and regulated by law. As a High Court case showed , it is otherwise all too easy to fall into a fraudster's clutches. A woman was...
- Homeowner Mis-Sold Solar Panels Awarded Thousands in Compensation If you buy goods that fail to live up to a salesman's hyperbole, you may be entitled to compensation and should consult a solicitor immediately. In one case, a homeowner who had solar panels installed in the forlorn hope that they would pay for themselves...
- Family Judge Gives Girl in Foster Care a New Double-Barrelled Surname Surnames reflect family heritage and most people view them as an essential part of their identities as human beings. A family judge made that point in choosing a new double-barrelled surname for a little girl so that she would no longer bear a nominal...
- Judge Unravels Agatha Christie-Style Plot to Detect Will Forgery Agatha Christie would struggle to imagine the plots of some inheritance disputes that come before the courts. That was certainly so in one case in which a judge found that a son resorted to forgery in concocting a bogus will after his mother died. Prior...
- Neighbours Encroaching on Your Right of Way? Consult a Lawyer Today Many homes or businesses are only accessible via neighbours' land and that can prove fertile ground for dispute. However, as a High Court case showed , expert lawyers are adept at ensuring their clients' unhindered use of rights of way. A couple's home and...
- Record Amounts of Inheritance Tax Being Paid in UK A record amount of Inheritance Tax (IHT) is being recouped from UK taxpayers by the Treasury, according to recent data published by HM Revenue and Customs. The statistics, released in late August, show that £2.1 billion was collected by the government...
- Confidentiality of the Adoption Process Prevails in Parenthood Dispute The confidentiality of the process by which an adopted child becomes part of a new, permanent and inviolable family unit is, for very good reasons, sacrosanct. A judge made that point in refusing a man's application for his biological parenthood of an...
- Father's Failure to Make a Will Plunges His Widow Into Legal Difficulties One of the best things you can do for your loved ones is to sign a professionally drafted will. As a High Court case showed , failing to take that easy and cost-effective step is to risk plunging those closest to you into legal difficulties after you are...
- Negligent Education - Boy Let Down by Private School Wins Compensation Parents who send their children to private school are entitled to expect that they will receive a reasonable standard of education – and, at the very least, that the school concerned has lawful authority to teach them. In a rare case on point , a...
- Promoted to Partner in an LLP? Do You Understand the Tax Implications? Stepping up from the ranks to become a full partner in a limited liability partnership (LLP) involves a fundamental change in status from employment to self-employment. The tax consequences of that shift came under analysis in an important Upper Tribunal...
- Homeowner Pays Price for Unauthorised Subterranean Leisure Development Judges play a crucial enforcement role in the planning process and those who fail to comply with their orders can expect stern punishment. In one case, a homeowner who breached planning control when he built a huge subterranean leisure facility under his...
- Court Honours Woman's Intentions by Correcting Clerical Error in Her Will Even the most carefully drafted will can contain inadvertent clerical errors that leave room for doubt as to the document's true meaning. As a High Court ruling showed , however, judges happily have the power to correct such mistakes so as to ensure that...