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UT Upholds Decision to Appoint Manager of Block of Flats

The Upper Tribunal (UT) has upheld a decision to appoint a manager of a block of student flats under Section 24 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 . The landlord of the block had let the flats to investment purchasers on long leases. A number of the...

Will Written on Separate Pieces of Cardboard Ruled Valid

In an unusual case, the High Court has ruled that a will a man had written on two pieces of cardboard should be admitted to probate. The will, which the man had made the day before his tragic death by suicide, left his house and most of its contents to a...

Use of Late Wife's Embryo in Surrogacy Treatment Lawful

The High Court has granted a man's application for a declaration that it was lawful for him to use an embryo created using his sperm and his late wife's eggs in treatment with a surrogate, despite his wife not having given written consent. The embryo had...

High Court Upholds Injunction in Property Wall Case

The courts can assist homeowners whose properties are at risk of damage because of activities on nearby land. Recently, the High Court upheld an injunction requiring the operators of a hotel to reduce a build-up of earth on their side of a wall between it...

Placement in England in Woman's Best Interests, Court Rules

In a decision it described as 'finely balanced', the Court of Protection recently ruled on whether it was in a woman's best interests to remain in her current placement in England or move to a new placement in Scotland, where she had previously lived and...

Court Declines to Order Girl's Return to USA

The Family Division of the High Court recently refused an application for a 13-year-old girl's summary return to the USA , in a decision in which the girl's own objections to returning were a key consideration. The girl's American mother and British father...

Reasonable Financial Provision Cannot Include Success Fees

Under Section 58A(6) of the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990 , a success fee payable as part of a contingent fee arrangement cannot be included in costs payable by the other party in litigation. The Supreme Court recently ruled on whether Section 58A(6)...

Tenants Who Did Not Pursue Case Must Pay Landlord's Costs

There is no general rule in First-tier Tribunal (FTT) proceedings that the unsuccessful party pays the successful party's costs. However, Rule 13(1)(b) of the Tribunal Procedure (First-tier Tribunal) (Property Chamber) Rules 2013 allows the FTT to make an...

FTT Did Not Have Jurisdiction to Determine Rents

Sections 13 and 14 of the Housing Act 1988 provide a statutory scheme for landlords to increase the rent payable under an assured periodic tenancy by serving notice of the proposed increase on the tenant, who may then refer the proposal to the First-tier...

Court Declines to Strike Out Set Aside Application

When couples are divorcing, mediation is strongly recommended in order to reduce the time and expense involved in court proceedings. This was amply illustrated in a recent case in which the Family Court refused a husband's application to strike out an...
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