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A taxpayer who had completed her tax return but had not taken the final step of submitting it has successfully appealed against late filing penalties totalling £1,600 after the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) ruled that she had a reasonable excuse for...

A woman who was badly injured when she was hit by a moped has obtained compensation from the driver's insurer. The woman was on her way to meet her sons for a Mother's Day dinner when the accident happened. She was knocked to the floor when the moped...

The Family Division of the High Court has refused a mother's application for an order that her three children should be returned from England to Lithuania . The mother and father were both Lithuanian nationals who had met and begun a relationship in the...

A woman who suffered severe injuries to her ankle while using a slide in a public park has secured compensation from the council responsible for the park. When she landed at the bottom of the slide, her feet became caught in a pit of mud that was not...

The Law Commission has published a report, Modernising Wills Law, containing its recommendations to reform the law governing wills. The recommendations are aimed at supporting testamentary freedom, protecting testators, and increasing clarity and certainty...

A North London council has paid out almost £600,000 in compensation over five years for pedestrian accidents. Most of claims brought against it related to injuries caused by potholes and defects in pavements. Figures obtained following a Freedom of...

The Upper Tribunal (UT) has ruled that a restrictive covenant which required the owners of land to obtain approval from the vendor before a house could be built on it was personal to the original vendor and did not benefit his successors in title. The land...

The High Court has ruled on a case in which a deceased man's son and daughter were unable to agree on the funeral arrangements that should be made for him. The man had been born in India but had lived in England for over 70 years. He passed away in...

In a divorce case involving a couple with assets of more than £260 million, the Family Court has ruled that the husband should buy out the wife's shares in three private companies . The couple had started their life together with few assets. They had...

Compensation has been secured for a tourist from Brazil who was seriously injured when a car hit his motorbike. The young man was thrown from his motorbike when the car pulled out of a side road and collided with him. He suffered serious injuries, including...

Making a will not only ensures your assets will pass to those you wish to benefit but also simplifies the administration of your estate. However, recent research from the Money and Pensions Service shows that more than half of people in the UK aged 50-64,...

Tenants who are unhappy with the service charges they are asked to pay can apply to the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) for a determination of their liability to pay service charges. Recently, a tenant who made such an application succeeded in achieving...

Compensation has been obtained for an HGV driver whose hand was crushed by a large metal bin while he was collecting household waste. The bin's wheels were stiff and the driver and his colleagues had to push it in order to move it towards his vehicle. As...

Taxpayers should always ensure that they keep up to date with their tax affairs and obtain any assistance they need in meeting their obligations. This point was demonstrated in a recent case in which the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) dismissed a taxpayer's...

A woman who was hit by a car while crossing a road has achieved damages after a settlement of her claim against the driver's insurer was reached. The woman suffered a number of injuries in the accident, including a fractured vertebra in her back, a...

The Family Court recently ruled on a divorced couple's cross-applications for enforcement and variation of a periodical payments order originally made in 2012. The husband had been ordered to pay the wife £2,000 per month on a joint lives basis,...

The courts have the power to order claimants to provide financial security to ensure that the defendants can recover their costs if the claim is unsuccessful. Recently, the sons of a deceased man sought security for costs from a woman from Thailand who...

A girl who was injured when she tripped outside her home has secured compensation from the local authority. The girl tripped on uneven paving, fracturing her forearm. She was in a plaster cast for six weeks and experienced pain in her arm for more than a...

The Court of Appeal has ruled that a 15-year-old child should be allowed to legally change their given name , overturning an earlier decision of the High Court. At the age of 12, the child had told their parents that they believed themselves to be...

A person who is in adverse possession of registered land may apply to the Land Registry to be registered as its owner on the basis of ten years' adverse possession of it, ending on the date of the application. If the application is opposed by the existing...

An army chef who claimed he had suffered injury on a cold weather survival course has obtained £5,000 in compensation for frostbite to his ear, although the High Court found that he had not sustained non-freezing cold injury (NFCI) on his hands. The...

The Income Tax rates and allowances for the 2025/26 tax year are largely unchanged from the 2024/25 year. The Personal Allowance – the amount you can earn before you begin to pay Income Tax – remains at £12,570. It reduces by £1 for...

A tenant whose health was adversely affected by damp and mould in his property has secured compensation from his housing provider. Over several years, the man had made a number of complaints about damp and mould. Mould growth was reported in multiple rooms...

A cyclist who was injured in a road accident has obtained compensation from the insurer of the driver responsible. The cyclist was riding along a country lane when a car approaching from the opposite direction moved into his path while overtaking a jogger....

The Family Court has granted a husband's application for a divorce he obtained in India to be recognised by the English courts . The husband and wife were both Indian nationals who now had British citizenship. They had married in India in 2010 and had...

An indoor skiing company has received a £100,000 fine following an accident in which a 12-year-old boy died. The boy was at a tobogganing party to celebrate a friend's birthday. He was descending the main ski slope on a toboggan when it ran into the...

A TV producer's partner who was left nothing in his will has commenced High Court proceedings seeking financial provision from his estate. The producer passed away in 2019, at the age of 58. He had been in a long-term relationship with his partner and had...

The Court of Protection recently granted an application by two NHS trusts for authorisation to carry out a planned caesarean in respect of a woman who was due to give birth. The 29-year-old woman had treatment resistant paranoid schizophrenia. She had...

A mother who tripped and fell while dropping her daughter off at school has obtained compensation for the injuries she suffered. She had taken her daughter to her classroom and was walking along a path when she tripped on a raised paving slab. She fell...

In a case in which a man was named as a girl's father on her birth certificate but was subsequently discovered not to be her biological father, the High Court has ruled that the effect of a declaration of non-parentage was to render his acquisition of...

Interim payments have been obtained for a young man who suffered life-changing injuries when he was hit by a drunk driver. The man, who was 24 when the accident happened, was waiting at a bus shelter when a driver lost control of her vehicle and crashed...

The Court of Appeal has reinstated an earlier ruling of the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) that a taxpayer was not resident in the UK for Income Tax purposes during the 2015/16 tax year due to exceptional circumstances that prevented her from leaving the country....

It is always advisable to check the service charges you are asked to pay rather than simply assuming they are correct. This point was illustrated by a recent case in which four leaseholders obtained refunds of service charges relating to electricity costs...

It is understandably common for family members and friends to take a more optimistic view of a patient's prospects of recovery than the medical professionals involved. A tragic case in which the High Court considered whether it would be lawful to...

A man who developed severe back pain while working as a mechanical maintenance engineer has achieved a settlement of his claim against his employer. The man's work involved lying underneath heavy machinery and twisting his body in order to carry out...

Many people put off making a will or have reservations about doing so, but having a professionally drafted will drawn up by a solicitor is the best way to avoid disputes arising after you are gone. This point was amply illustrated by an unusual High Court...

The courts are entitled to draw reasonable adverse inferences against a party who fails to engage in divorce proceedings. How this is approached in practice was illustrated by a recent Family Court ruling on a financial remedies application in which the...

Two farmers have been fined for failing to protect members of the public from their cattle following an incident in which a man was killed by a herd of cows while out running with his two dogs. The man, a father-of-three and former teacher, was crossing a...

Under Schedule 36 of the Finance Act 2008 , HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) may require a taxpayer to provide information or documents that are reasonably required for the purpose of checking the taxpayer's tax position. Recently, a taxpayer's appeal against...

A woman has achieved a substantial compensation settlement for serious brain injuries she sustained when she was hit by a car, as a result of which she will require care and rehabilitation for the rest of her life. After a claim was brought, the driver's...

Tenants who are unhappy with service charges they are asked to pay can apply to the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) for a determination of whether the charges are payable. Recently, the tenants of two flats were successful in persuading the FTT that the costs of...

A man who was left with ongoing complications after contracting Salmonella while on a package holiday has obtained substantial damages. The man was on holiday in the Dominican Republic when he fell ill, experiencing stomach cramps, vomiting and loss of...

If you wish to change to your will, it is always advisable to do so promptly rather than leaving it until later. This was amply demonstrated by a recent case in which the High Court was called upon to determine various issues in relation to a codicil a...

Under Section 42(7) of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 , an adoption order may not be made unless the court is satisfied that sufficient opportunities to see the child with the adoptive parents in the home environment have been given to the adoption...

A claimant who saw his costs budget significantly reduced at a costs management hearing was ordered by the High Court to pay the defendant's costs of that hearing. The man had sustained a significant injury to his right foot and ankle while working as a...

Consumers should always be sure that they fully understand any financial product they intend to use and that they only deal with reputable providers. A recent report on steps taken by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in 2024 against misleading financial...

Tenants who wish to challenge any deductions made from their deposits at the end of their tenancies should ensure they follow the dispute resolution procedures of the relevant tenancy deposit scheme. Recently, a tenant who instead applied to the First-tier...

A farming partnership has been fined following an accident at a dairy farm which led to the death of a worker. The 23-year-old man was helping to inflate a tractor tyre when it suddenly exploded. He was hit by the wheel rim, suffering traumatic head...

A woman who was left nothing in her father's will has succeeded in her claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 for reasonable financial provision from his estate. Her father had passed away in 2020, leaving an estate...

A man who was seriously injured when he tripped on a step in a restaurant has received a six-figure compensation settlement. The man, who had been dining with a friend, was going down to the restaurant's lower floor when the accident happened. He went...