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In law, adopted children are regarded as having been born to their adoptive parents. The Family Division of the High Court recently considered whether that fact precluded a parental order being granted under the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008...
When building owners carry out works on their property, are they liable for damage to adjoining properties that results from pre-existing structural issues? The Court of Appeal recently provided welcome clarification on that question . The owner of a...
The best way to ensure your assets will be distributed as you wish is to have your will professionally drafted by a qualified solicitor. In a recent case, a challenge to the validity of an elderly man's will was dismissed by the High Court. The man had...
Custodial sentences very rarely come into play in the family courts. Where there have been repeated breaches of court orders, however, judges may have little choice but to clamp down. This was illustrated in the High Court during committal proceedings that...
The issue of bigamy and its potential impact on a person's ability to seek financial remedies in a divorce came under the legal spotlight recently . A husband made an application to strike out his wife's financial remedies claim on the basis that she had...
Influencers on social media, and anyone involved in advertising and promoting products, would be well advised to make sure they are aware of their legal responsibilities. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published guidance on financial promotions...
Cross-jurisdictional disputes surrounding child custody can be complex but, in cutting through the complexities, the courts will always focus on the welfare of the children involved, as was evidenced in a High Court case centred on a child abduction . A...
A case recently decided by the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) serves as a reminder to tenants to check the terms of their leases and to monitor the service charges they are asked to pay. The tenant of a ground-floor flat sought a determination of liability to...
A High Court challenge brought by Marks & Spencer (M&S) has resulted in victory for the retailer. M&S contested a decision by the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to turn down planning permission for the...
Unfortunately, will disputes can sometimes be drawn out long after the passing of the person who bequeathed their assets. This was so in a contentious probate battle which progressed to the Court of Appeal after a High Court judgment was challenged. The...
The division of matrimonial assets is often the cause of protracted legal proceedings, where parties differ on what is due to whom. In a recent Family Court case , the question of whether or not a £2 million diamond formed part of such assets was the...
Failing to comply with court orders to bring children back to the UK, in instances where one parent has taken them abroad without the permission of the other, can come at a heavy cost. This point was underlined in a recent contempt hearing at the High Court...
The concept of unlawful eviction may bring to mind a picture of a malign landlord changing the locks and throwing a vulnerable tenant onto the street. However, a case in which a serving prisoner's protected tenancy was wrongfully terminated during his...
Divorce proceedings are rarely cut and dry, especially where the passage of time adds complexity to matters. This was certainly so in a recent case that required a Family Court judge to rule on the validity of a decree nisi . The case centred on the...
A legal amendment that was made during the COVID-19 pandemic allowing the witnessing of wills to take place via videoconferencing has officially expired. As of 31 January 2024, the Wills Act 1837 (Electronic Communications) (Amendment) (Coronavirus) Order...
Wherever possible, the courts will do what they can to support contact between parents and children but, in some instances, that contact comes with conditions attached. The nature of such conditions was the cause of contention in recent appeal proceedings...
Every householder should understand the dire risks involved in opening their doors to those promising to carry out cut-price building work. A Court of Appeal decision provided distressing examples of almost the worst that can happen . A householder...
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has launched a consultation on the storage and retention of original will documents by HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS). The consultation is intended as a means to challenge the current system of will storage and look at...
The Courts and Tribunals Judiciary has announced the extension of a groundbreaking Family Court reporting pilot. The Transparency Implementation Group Reporting Pilot is being extended to 16 more courts across the country, after an initial run at the family...
One of the positive effects of the green revolution is that biodiversity is now a vital factor in many planning decisions. As a High Court case showed , however, it is perfectly possible for an otherwise inappropriate commercial or industrial development to...
Many grieving families have sadly been torn apart by a loved one's failure to make a professionally drafted will. Exactly that happened in a High Court case concerning two brothers who fell out bitterly over which of them should take charge of...
Loving parents often allow their adult children to remain living in the family home for as long as they wish, in the expectation that they will, in due course, fly the nest. In a case that will ring a bell with thousands of families, the High Court...
Parents have a right to name their children and, in modern Britain, the options open to them are almost limitless. However, as a High Court ruling showed , there are rare occasions when a parental choice of forename may conflict with a child's welfare. The...
Fire is an ever-present threat to occupiers of commercial property and, all too often, they only discover after the ash has settled that they are under-insured. In one such case, however, the High Court came to the aid of a gifts retailer which lost...
Where one person unlawfully kills another, the killer usually forfeits their right to inherit any part of the victim's property. As a High Court ruling in an exceptionally sad case showed , however, that general rule may be tempered by compassion in cases...
Having your will drafted by a professional involves only modest expense and has the great advantage of reducing the risk of your bequests being successfully challenged after you are gone. In a case on point, the High Court gave full legal effect to a...
Any proposal to make business use of a purpose-built residential property is likely to draw objections. However, as a case concerning the planned utilisation of an urban dwelling as a privately run home for children in care showed , neighbours' concerns,...
In the realm of social housing, there are few more controversial issues than a child's entitlement to succeed to the secure tenancy of a parent on the latter's death. As a Court of Appeal ruling showed , however, succession rights may quite easily be...
Making a will when your death is imminent is almost never a good idea and is often a positive invitation to dispute between your loved ones after you are gone. In a case on point, the first salvo in a tragic inheritance dispute was fired even before the...
Commercial property owners are often concerned that residential developments may prejudice their longstanding use of their premises. In a High Court case on point , a football club argued that planning consent was granted for thousands of new homes without...
For every headline-grabbing 'big money' divorce case there are hundreds of others where a former couple's assets are simply insufficient to meet their reasonable needs. As a High Court ruling showed, judges take a gender-neutral approach to such cases,...
To state that location is the only important factor when it comes to valuing a home is a cliché and something of a generalisation. However, as an Upper Tribunal (UT) ruling showed , if public infrastructure works render the location of your property...
Couples who run businesses together are often tempted to dispense with paperwork and rely solely on trust. As a High Court ruling showed, however, any relationship may come to an end, leaving both sides wishing they had taken a more formal approach at the...
If you have not been reasonably provided for in a loved one's will, the law may come to your aid. However, as a High Court ruling made plain , your ability to seek legal redress cannot itself be inherited and will expire on your death. Following the deaths...
How does one decide whether a commercial tenant 'ought not' to be granted a new tenancy under Part II of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 ? The Court of Appeal addressed that and other important issues in a guideline case. The tenant of two newsagents'...
Fathers who are denied access to their children are frequently heard to complain that judges do not do enough to support them. In coming down hard on a defiant mother who refused to countenance her child having contact with her father , however, a family...
Law firms focused on ensuring their clients' peace of mind generally provide secure storage facilities for their important documents. A High Court inheritance dispute triggered by a landowner's missing will underlined the risks of keeping such documents at...
Some industrial processes simply cannot be carried on without producing noise and dust. As a High Court ruling showed , however, commercial property owners may be required to pay a high price if their activities enter the realms of nuisance. When a couple...
Where a transaction appears to be very one-sided or manifestly more advantageous to one side or the other, judicial eyebrows are likely to be raised. However, as a High Court ruling showed, such an imbalance does not necessarily mean that a bargain should be...
Most divorcees would, wherever possible, prefer to achieve a clean financial break so that they can regain their independence and move on with their lives. A High Court ruling provided a powerful illustration of why that is a sensible choice. The case...
The tale of a devoted son labouring for years on a family farm only to be cut out of his father's will is so often told as to be almost a cliché. However, as a High Court ruling showed , such stories are often reflected in the sad and recurring...
When retail premises are compulsorily purchased by public authorities and forced to relocate, to what extent should compensation be paid for any resulting permanent loss of profit? The Upper Tribunal (UT) considered that issue in a guideline case . ...
The ability of modern medical technology to keep patients' hearts beating and their lungs ventilating has led to a blurring of the boundary between life and death. As a High Court ruling showed , it sometimes falls to family judges to make the desperately...
In coming to the aid of a frail and elderly householder, the High Court has ruled in a landmark case that she was on the receiving end of a fraudulent misrepresentation when a would-be purchaser of her home was falsely described to her as a cash buyer. A...
Parents may be worthy of praise and deeply love their children, but it sadly does not always follow that they are able to provide them with a stable home. The High Court made that point in sanctioning a little boy's placement for adoption . Due to concerns...
Making a will without the benefit of professional legal advice is an excellent recipe for strife between your loved ones after you are gone. That was sadly so in the case of a cancer sufferer who had no understanding that, when she signed her will, she was...
Landowners intent on developing their properties can find it intensely annoying when neighbours resist their plans. However, as a High Court ruling made plain, the right to object to planning applications is one of the benefits of living in a democratic...
To what extent should landlords who have breached fire safety rules be entitled to recover the costs of remedying such breaches from tenants by way of service charges? The Upper Tribunal (UT) considered that important issue in a case concerning a former...
Those who attempt to lie their way to a favourable result in divorce proceedings are more than likely to be found out and hit hard in the pocket. That was certainly so in the case of an elderly entrepreneur who treated his ex-wife's financial claims as if...
People may be blinkered, difficult and downright ruthless but that does not mean that they are incapable of making a rational will. The High Court made that point in the case of a highly successful businessman who all but disinherited his children. By his...
Restrictions on the use to which properties can be put are often to be found in their title deeds and, in some cases, can have a dramatic impact on their value. A High Court case on point concerned the future of a further education college that was already...
Many families whose loved ones are in hospital on life support understandably cling to the hope that they will in time recover. As a High Court ruling showed, however, where such hopes run contrary to the weight of expert medical evidence, judges have the...
Many householders are familiar with the often traumatic experience of falling out with builders. However, as a High Court case showed , if their work is not up to scratch or left unfinished, lawyers will bend every sinew to ensure that fair compensation is...
Judges frequently impress on divorcing couples that it is in their own best interests to put conflict behind them and focus on achieving a sensible resolution. However, as a case in which a couple spent £8.4 million fighting over money and their...
Light pollution generated by hi-tech digital advertising displays can be a source of bitter complaint. However, such concerns were insufficient to persuade the High Court to overturn permission granted for the inclusion of one such display in a proposed...
There is a big difference between moral and legal obligations. The High Court made that point in finding that mirror wills signed by a married couple did not impose on either of them a binding obligation not to change their bequests in future, save by...
Residential landlords who neglect their legal obligations to the point of criminality can be hit with banning orders that are likely to put them out of business. In a case of importance to property professionals, the Upper Tribunal (UT) for the first time...
No amount of internet research can ever replace professional legal advice. A man found that out when his reliance on flawed web content very nearly cost him the opportunity to complete his family by adopting his stepson. The man applied for an adoption...
It is quite common for people to get married in the knowledge that they only have a short while to live. However, as a High Court ruling underlined , such a step is often fraught with legal difficulty in terms of inheritance and should never be taken...
The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted the restructuring of numerous businesses and that can mean commercial landlords having to take severe financial haircuts. That was certainly so in the case of a once successful chain of gyms whose business was devastated...
A woman's financial claims against her ex-husband following their overseas divorce did not survive his death. In reaching that conclusion, the Supreme Court noted that the case had exposed a defect in the law that can only be remedied by Parliament. After...
Even if you do not hold legal title to a plot of land, you may well be entitled to have it transferred into your name if you have been in adverse possession of it for over 10 years and you have reasonably believed throughout that it belongs to you. That is ...
A commercial landlord may, for any number of reasons, be keen to see the back of a tenant. However, as one case showed, the question of whether a business tenancy should be renewed can in the end come down to an exercise of judicial discretion. A company's...
Couples who enter into pre- or post-marital agreements with their eyes open and with the benefit of legal advice can expect to be bound by them. The High Court made that point in a so-called 'big money' divorce case in which an extremely wealthy woman's...
Making a valid will requires an exercise of independent decision-making, free from the undue influence of others. The High Court powerfully made that point in finding that a daughter coerced her ailing mother into bequeathing everything to her. The mother...
When a property is registered as an asset of community value (ACV) under the Localism Act 2011 the result can be a major headache for would-be developers. However, as a case concerning the future of a much-loved former golf course showed , overturning...
One good reason why professional conveyancing is always required is that lurking in the title deeds of a great many properties are clauses that may heavily restrict their development or any future use to which they can be put. One such clause came under...
When a person goes missing without trace, the fact that their assets are left in limbo often adds to the agony suffered by their loved ones. However, as a High Court ruling in a very sad case showed , such impasses can if necessary be broken by a judicial...
Judges are not expected to sit placidly on the bench, silently listening to barristers' arguments. However, as a Court of Appeal ruling in a case of critical importance to the future of two children showed , there comes a point where excessive judicial...
Included in most people's wills is a clause that has the effect of revoking all their previous wills. Such straightforward provisions are usually uncontentious but, as a guideline Court of Appeal ruling showed, they can give rise to difficulties where a...
Homeless applicants for public housing have a right to expect more than unthinking and mechanistic responses from local authorities. In powerfully making that point , a judge described aspects of a council's handling of a young family's case as nothing...
Any residential landlord who lets out a property without a required licence commits a criminal offence and can expect to be hit hard in the pocket. The law is not a blunt instrument, however, and the Upper Tribunal (UT) emphasised in a guideline case that...
It is every parent's worst nightmare to be accused of injuring their child. However, as a Family Court ruling showed , such allegations are subject to intense judicial scrutiny, which in some cases results in complete exoneration. An autistic toddler was...
When making your will, the general rule is that you are free to leave your assets to whomsoever you wish. However, as a High Court case concerning ownership of a thriving family business showed , such testamentary freedom may be restricted by agreements...
Tenants have a right peacefully to enjoy their homes, free from harassment by their landlords. A judge succinctly made that point in awarding substantial compensation to a couple whose landlord was anxious to see the back of them so he could refurbish and...
Couples who move in together commonly believe that their shares in the property will reflect their respective financial contributions to the purchase price or mortgage. As a High Court ruling made plain, however, such assumptions are often mistaken in that...
Property vendors are nowadays routinely required to fill in lengthy information forms, giving answers to a multitude of questions that may be important to a purchaser. That task may seem mundane but, as a High Court ruling showed , it is vital to perform it...
When married British couples separate whilst living overseas, it is quite common for competing divorce petitions to be issued both in England and abroad. A High Court ruling provided a useful illustration of the judicial approach to jurisdictional issues ...
When making your will, you may, for one reason or another, choose to distribute your estate unevenly between your loved ones. However, as a High Court ruling showed , you are under an overriding duty to make reasonable provision for members of your family...
Pre-nuptial agreements (PNAs) which are not entered into freely or which have unfair results will generally not be worth the paper they are written on. However, as a High Court case showed, judges are far more likely to treat them as valid if they are signed...
Many neighbours' disputes may, at least to an outsider, appear trifling. However, as a High Court ruling showed , they matter very much to those involved and, in the absence of amicable negotiation, they can very easily become ruinously expensive. A...
Development potential is often a critical factor when it comes to calculating amounts of compensation payable to landowners whose property is compulsorily acquired to make way for public infrastructure projects. As an Upper Tribunal (UT) ruling made plain ,...
Making reasonable provision in your will for those who depend upon you financially is a duty, not a choice. A judge made that point in coming to the aid of two sisters who were left in acute need when their father bequeathed them nothing. In a will made...
Many adopted people feel driven to embark on long and demanding quests to find their birth parents. In one case, decades of painstaking research paid off when a woman in her late 70s was granted a court order that completed her sense of identity . The...
In an era of easy, internet-based mass communication, reputations can, without a shred of justification, be destroyed at the click of a button. As a High Court case showed, however, victims of such behaviour can, with expert legal assistance, achieve both...
There are all sorts of good reasons why you should instruct a solicitor to draft your will whilst you are still hale and hearty. As a High Court case showed , waiting until you are old and vulnerable before performing that vital task is to positively invite...
Many commercial property occupiers whose businesses were interrupted during the COVID-19 pandemic remain in dispute with their insurers regarding to what extent, if any, they were covered against such losses. In an important ruling, the High Court found...
A newly purchased house may require a great deal of renovation and repair work to render it habitable – but does that mean it is unsuitable for use as a dwelling for the purposes of Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT)? A tribunal considered that issue in a...
Disputes between separated couples as to how their children should be provided for can, in the absence of compromise, sadly reach epic proportions. That was certainly so in one extraordinary case in which a couple spent over £5 million between them ...
Many nationally important infrastructure projects would simply not get off the drawing board were public authorities not equipped with the power to compulsorily purchase private land for the public benefit. When it comes to paying compensation, however, what...
It is legally possible for couples to make mutual wills by which each binds the other not to alter their bequests at any point in the future, save by mutual agreement. As a High Court ruling showed , however, the inherent inflexibility of such arrangements...
One of the social effects of the COVID-19 pandemic was the creation of a fashion for householders to operate businesses from outhouses in their gardens. However, an important tribunal ruling underlined the legal hazards of such a course . In response to...
The nation's high streets are changing and moves are afoot to demolish many once thriving department stores and replace them with new homes. As a High Court ruling showed , however, such developments are often highly controversial. A developer wished to...
Only those with the mental capacity to make important decisions for themselves can consent to marriage – or divorce. However, as a High Court ruling made plain , it is in no one's best interests for the law to maintain a marriage that has become no...
Almost everyone has returned from a holiday feeling deeply disappointed, but a right to compensation by no means necessarily follows. However, in one case, a couple whose £20,000 polar cruise fell sadly short of their expectations successfully took a...
Tensions simmer within many families and, when making your will, you may wish to keep its contents secret from your loved ones so as to avoid feeding the fire. As a High Court case showed , however, that makes it all the more vital to engage a solicitor to...
In cases where even a succession of stiff prison sentences has failed to bring about compliance with court orders, what is a judge to do? A family judge faced exactly that quandary in the case of a father who defiantly refused to cooperate in arranging the...
Commercial property occupiers who are dissatisfied with the valuation put on their premises for business rates purposes can do a great deal more than just grin and bear it. In a case on point, the tenant of a waste transfer station succeeded in slashing its...
Failing to make reasonable provision for your dependants in your will is to positively invite discord between your loved ones after you are gone. That was certainly so in the case of a man who bequeathed not a penny to his elderly widow . The man wanted...
Landowners should sit up and take notice of the Court of Appeal's ground-breaking decision to award thousands of pounds in compensation to a property investor, the value of whose land was blighted by notoriously invasive Japanese knotweed. The case...
Any proposal for a child to have gender surgery is likely to be subject to close judicial scrutiny. In opening the way for a teenager to undergo a double mastectomy abroad, however, the High Court reminded local authorities that they must always treat the...
