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A construction company and its sole director have been prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after a mobile tower scaffold fell onto a busy high street, seriously injuring two members of the public. The scaffold had been put up during...
Imprecise drafting in a will is a recipe for litigation and dispute later on. A recent High Court decision on the interpretation of an ambiguous clause in a man's will illustrates the kinds of issues that can arise. The man had made a will in 2007 leaving...
Failures by a taxpayer's agent are generally treated as failures by the taxpayer for the purposes of whether there is a good reason for failing to bring an appeal in time. A recent case in which a taxpayer was refused permission to appeal more than three...
Under Section 58(5) of the Family Law Act 1986 , the courts cannot make a declaration that a marriage was void at its inception. That recently proved fatal to an application for a declaration as to marital status by a husband who had undergone a marriage...
A compensation settlement has been agreed in the case of a woman who was hit by a motorbike on a pedestrian crossing. She suffered fractures to her rib and pelvis and soft tissue injuries. She was unable to leave her bedroom for four months after the...
When applying for a boundary determination, it is crucial to gather as much evidence as you can in support of your application. Recently, a couple's application for a determination of part of the boundary between their home and neighbouring land was...
Compensation has been awarded to a five-year-old boy who injured his leg while on a package holiday abroad. The boy and his family were using the pool at their hotel when he slipped near the edge of the pool, catching his leg on the brickwork surrounding...
When deciding what is in the best interests of a patient who lacks capacity, the courts will take into account any wishes and feelings the patient has previously expressed but will consider them in the context of all the evidence. Recently, the Court of...
A farm worker who was seriously injured by falling bales of hay has obtained a substantial compensation settlement. He was stacking bales of hay when one of the towers of bales fell onto him. He was working alone when the accident occurred and was trapped...
The law affords people a high degree of testamentary freedom, and those seeking reasonable financial provision from an estate must satisfy the courts that it was unreasonable that adequate provision was not made for them. Recently, the High Court ruled that...
The High Court has ruled that a three-year-old girl was not habitually resident in England and Wales and it therefore did not have jurisdiction to determine her father's application for her return from the UAE. The girl's mother was a citizen of Pakistan...
Substantial compensation has been secured for a motorcyclist whose leg had to be amputated following a road traffic accident. He was riding his motorbike when a car travelling in the opposite direction swerved into his lane, causing a collision. He suffered...
The First-tier Tribunal (FTT) has upheld a taxpayer's appeal against a decision by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) that he was resident in the UK in the 2019/20 tax year, finding that 'transit days' and an extra day he spent in the UK after his flight was...
A substantial compensation settlement has been obtained for an electrical linesman who suffered life-changing injuries when he fell from a pylon. He had attached himself to the pylon using a harness and rope. The strut he was attached to came loose and he...
The High Court has ruled that a will made by an elderly woman with dementia, in which she disinherited one of her sons, was invalid due to lack of testamentary capacity and want of knowledge and approval. The woman's previous will, made in 2018, divided...
In certain circumstances, owners of leasehold flats have a legal right to buy the freehold of the building together with other leaseholders. This process is known as collective enfranchisement. For collective enfranchisement to be available, the building...
A fencing contractor has been prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after one of its employees suffered an electric shock while working on a construction site. The employee was using a breaker to dig into the ground as part of preparations to...
The government has published provisional statistics on injuries on public roads in Great Britain during 2025. In reported road collisions, there were an estimated: 1,556 fatalities, a decline of 3 per cent compared to 2024; 29,911 people killed...
The High Court has dismissed an ex-wife's appeal against a ruling that her former husband's share of the home they owned together was held by his trustees in bankruptcy. The couple had married and purchased the property in 2009. They had two children. In...
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) recently took part in a week of action, along with 16 other regulators internationally, to protect consumers from illegal 'finfluencers'. This included enforcement activity, consumer awareness campaigns, and educational...
Compensation has been obtained for a healthcare assistant who slipped on a path while visiting a patient at a care home. She had to leave the building during her visit. The door was locked when she returned, so she walked along a path at the side of the...
Figures from the High Court have shown that the number of disputed probate claims is continuing to rise. A total of 1,217 disputed probate cases were filed at the High Court in 2025, an increase of 12.7 per cent from the figure of 1,080 in 2024. There were...
A scrap metal worker who lost her arm in a workplace accident has obtained a substantial damages settlement. Her arm became caught in a machine that she was using to crush scrap metal. She was airlifted to hospital and underwent emergency surgery. Her arm...
The courts are often called upon to make difficult decisions about what is in the best interests of patients who cannot express their wishes for themselves. In a tragic case, the High Court recently ruled that it was not in the best interests of a young boy...
A woman who was seriously injured when she used a faulty Pilates machine at a gym has obtained substantial compensation. The support bar on the machine gave way while she was using it. She was thrown forward and briefly lost consciousness. She suffered a...
At the third time of asking, the Upper Tribunal (UT) has granted an application to modify a restrictive covenant to permit a second dwelling to be built on a plot of land. The land, on which a small partly thatched cottage had originally stood, had been...
A compensation settlement has been negotiated for a cyclist who was hit by a car while out with a cycling group. He was leading the group across a double roundabout when the accident happened. A car failed to give way at the second roundabout and collided...
The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal against an order of the High Court that a 14-year-old boy who had remained in England after visiting his father should return to live in South Africa. The boy's parents, both South African nationals, had married...
The First-tier Tribunal (FTT) has allowed a taxpayer's appeal against late filing penalties where he had not received a notice to file a tax return, after reviewing an earlier decision in which it had upheld most of the penalties. HM Revenue and Customs...
A claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 for reasonable financial provision from a deceased person's estate must be brought within six months of the grant of probate or letters of administration being issued, unless the...
A holidaymaker who injured his leg when he tripped and fell at the hotel where he was staying has obtained compensation from the travel company that provided his package holiday. The man was staying at a resort in Jamaica. He tripped on uneven wooden...
Disputes over ownership of land all too often become protracted and lead to costs out of proportion to the value of the land involved. Recently, the Upper Tribunal (UT) ruled on a dispute over a strip of land with an area of just 2.2 square metres. The...
Compensation has been obtained for a motorcyclist who suffered life-changing injuries when he was hit by a truck. The driver of the truck merged into his lane without warning and collided with his motorbike. He suffered multiple broken bones and had to...
A marriage is generally recognised in English law if it is valid under the law of the country in which it takes place, a legal principle known as lex loci celebrationis (the law of the place of the celebration). That principle was central to a recent...
A company that operates holiday camps for children has been prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after a three-year-old girl nearly drowned during a free-play session in a swimming pool. The girl became trapped under a float and was found...
When an injured person has ongoing medical or care needs as a result of an accident, interim payments can be secured to help meet those needs until their claim for damages is settled. Recently, a man who suffered life-changing injuries after he was run over...
When savers deposit money in a fixed-term account or an account that requires notice of withdrawals, they may well assume that, if they incur a penalty for early withdrawal, they will only have to pay tax on the net amount of interest received. However, such...
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has confirmed its compensation scheme for car buyers who were not given important information when taking out motor finance. The scheme covers motor finance loans taken out between 6 April 2007 and 1 November 2024....
Dependants who have not been adequately provided for in a deceased person's will may be able to make a claim for financial provision under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 . Recently, the High Court considered such a claim by...
A skier has obtained compensation for injuries he suffered when he was hit from behind by another skier. The man, a ski coach with decades of experience, was on holiday with his family. As he was skiing down a slope, the other skier lost control and came...
Where a mortgage lender claims possession of a property that has been let without the lender's permission, the Mortgage Repossessions (Protection of Tenants etc) Act 2010 gives tenants the right to apply to the courts to postpone the date for delivery of...
A substantial compensation settlement has been obtained for a maintenance worker who was severely injured when he was hit by a drunk driver while working at night. The driver drove around a safety barrier and hit the man, despite the area where he was...
In certain circumstances, the courts are able to grant permission for continued storage of gametes or embryos where the strict legislative requirements for consent to such storage have not been complied with. Recently, the High Court considered 15...
A woman who slipped and fell in a play area has obtained compensation from the local council. The play area would become boggy and slippery in wet weather. The woman slipped and fell, suffering a broken shoulder. She required shoulder replacement surgery. ...
The Income Tax rates and allowances for the 2026/27 tax year are largely unchanged from 2025/26. The Personal Allowance – the amount you can earn before you begin to pay Income Tax – remains at £12,570. It reduces by £1 for every...
From 1 May 2026, changes brought in by the Renters' Rights Act 2025 will provide more rights and better protection to tenants in the private rented sector. Changes introduced by the Act include: The abolition of assured shorthold tenancies. All...
Negotiations have led to a substantial settlement being obtained for a woman who developed fibromyalgia as a result of a road traffic accident. She was thrown back and forth when the car she was sitting in was hit by another car. She sprained her spine and...
A woman's family have succeeded in their challenge to a will purporting to leave her £500,000 estate to her partner after a judge ruled that the will was a forgery. The woman had made a will in 2022 leaving her estate in trust to her daughter. After...
The Family Court has ruled in financial remedy proceedings that a significant part of the value of a husband's pensions had accrued during the marriage, but rejected the argument that his pensions had become fully 'matrimonialised'. The husband and wife...
A man who suffered serious injuries in an assault in a pub has secured compensation. His injuries included a mild traumatic brain injury, a fracture to his eye socket, and nerve damage to his teeth which required ongoing dental treatment. He also...
