When a road or pathway is regularly used by people and the owner takes no active steps to prevent this or assert control over the land concerned, an ‘easement by prescription’ can be created under which the right of access becomes lawful and the...
A businesswoman whose business fell victim to the recession has persuaded the family court that it would be appropriate for the settlement she had agreed to pay her ex-husband to be varied. The total settlement was £450,000, made up of: ...
A couple who defaulted on their £500,000 mortgage have failed to convince the High Court that the loan is unenforceable by reason of the lender’s failure to comply with the safeguards contained within the Consumer Credit Act 1974 . The Court...
Insolvent tenants can be a major headache for landlords. For example, when a corporate tenant goes into administration, the landlord needs to obtain the consent of the administrator, or of the court, to forfeit the lease. This is because administration is...
Many people fail to make a will, thus causing problems for surviving family members. However, difficulties can also arise when a person makes several wills, particularly if these contain drafting errors. A recent case concerned a woman who died having...
A businesswoman who was belittled as being ‘no more than a receptionist’ by her multi-millionaire husband has had her £2.7 million divorce settlement upheld after the Court of Appeal ruled that her ‘exceptional’ contribution...
When a businessman voiced his opinion on planning matters by joining a planning action group which opposed the construction of two biomass power plants, he did not expect his past business record to become the subject of debate. However, a bundle of papers...
When an elderly and ill woman was put under continual pressure by her brother-in-law to change her will in favour of his children, whom she rarely saw, her resolve finally cracked and in a bid to have a quiet life, she instructed her lawyers to draw up a new...
In the context of a dispute between parties to a building demolition contract, the High Court has ruled that an adjudicator was not entitled to change his mind after reaching a final decision and that, subject to further litigation or arbitration, the...
When a planning appeal to which the National Trust was a party came before the court and the judge due to hear it was a member of the Trust, he was automatically disqualified from hearing the appeal. The planning application was to build four wind...
Changes in the system for dealing with child maintenance claims will soon be fully implemented, with cases currently dealt with by the Child Support Agency being transferred to the Child Maintenance Service. As part of this arrangement, a new formula has...
For a will to be valid, one of the conditions imposed by the Wills Act 1837 is that two witnesses must attest the will by signing and acknowledging the signature of the person making it (the ‘testator’) and must do so ‘in each...
When a group of gypsies found that the housing benefit they received did not cover the full cost of their caravan pitches on a private caravan site, they claimed that it should and that the failure of the council to provide for this was discriminatory. Had...
When two plots of land changed hands in 1989, the vendor would not have expected that more than 20 years later an argument would arise over its right to convey the land in question. When the vendor, an Isle of Man company, had sold a parcel of land in 1984,...
Facing the possibility of a development on neighbouring land that will reduce your light is never welcome and the threat of such a development is not something you might care to have hanging over you. A recent case will provide some comfort for anyone who...
The Court of Appeal has overturned a decision of the lower court to hand out suspended prison sentences to two non-residents who failed to pay child maintenance as ordered by the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission (CMEC). One of the miscreant...
Many people will have read the recent reports of a 67-year-old lady, Marlene Howes, who was prosecuted for allegedly fraudulently claiming pension tax credits and for allegedly concealing that she had received a £50,000 legacy under her mother’s...
Six men who between them stole millions of pounds from a charity set up to assist asylum seekers were recently jailed for terms of up to four and a half years at Birmingham Crown Court. The six were found guilty of the theft of £1.8 million, but it is...
When demand for flats dried up for a property developer, it became unable to meet the required level of pre-sales on the development to secure continued financing for the project. It then suspended work on the commercial part of the development, which it had...
A recent High Court case shows the dangers of negotiating in a dispute without legal representation. It also illustrates that an agreement which disposes of an interest in land does not have to be in writing if the purpose of the agreement was something...
A mother who objected to her children being adopted by a gay couple has failed to convince the Court of Appeal to return them to her care . The Court ruled that there was no reason to doubt the prospective adopters’ ability to provide the...
When an elderly woman left a will that excluded one of her sons, who had been charged with (but not convicted of) several counts of fraud in relation to a business he ran with her other son, the disinherited son claimed that she had lacked the mental...
A right of way over land can only be exercised as a right for lawful purposes – it cannot legitimise conduct that would otherwise be unlawful. This rather obvious point was in fact central to a recent case that involved two neighbouring landowners ...
Most people know that when someone is injured in an accident caused by an uninsured driver, compensation is still available. However, when an insured person has given an uninsured person permission to use their vehicle, what is the position? The law states...
A landlord normally has a responsibility to a tenant for certain aspects of the safety of the let premises. Commonly, the terms of the lease specify that the landlord is responsible for the external and common areas of the building except for damage caused...
