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A woman whose health was significantly affected by damp and mould in her home has obtained damages. Her local authority landlord failed to keep the property in good repair, and as a result she was exposed to damp and mould for a number of years. The...
The courts are alert to the risk of divorcing couples being less than honest about their assets and liabilities in financial remedy proceedings. Recently, the Family Court rejected a husband's assertion that he owed £1.6 million to a company owned by...
Under Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 , landlords may evict tenants who have an assured shorthold tenancy which is a periodic tenancy or a fixed-term tenancy that has expired by giving at least two months' notice. However, a Section 21 notice cannot be...
A pensioner who suffered a traumatic brain injury after being hit by a car has received substantial compensation. She was out walking her dog when the car suddenly mounted the pavement and hit her. Her dog was killed and she was left unconscious. She...
A woman who was subjected to defamatory posts on Facebook has succeeded in having them removed after taking legal advice. The woman and her husband had started to feed and look after a cat that had been coming into her garden. The cat subsequently...
A retired personal assistant who was seriously injured while attending an eye examination has obtained compensation. As she got up from the bench after the initial tests had been completed, she caught her foot on a table leg. She hit her head on the wall...
The Family Court recently granted a local authority permission to withdraw an application for a care order in respect of a two-year-old girl, after the local authority concluded that, in the light of the medical evidence, it would not be able to meet the...
People have a great level of freedom to leave their estates as they choose and disappointed relatives must overcome a high hurdle to successfully challenge a will. Recently, the daughter of a woman who made a will leaving her entire estate to one of her sons...
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has published its annual statistics on ill health and injuries in the workplace for the year 2024/25. The number of employees who reported suffering from work-related ill health was 1.9 million. This is an increase from...
The First-tier Tribunal (FTT) has found that a repayment of Income Tax due to a taxpayer who had died during the relevant tax year formed part of her estate for Inheritance Tax (IHT) purposes. The taxpayer had died on 18 December 2020. Her son, who was...
A guide to issues relating to property boundaries is available on the government's website. The guide notes that, in England and Wales, there is usually no record of the exact boundary between two properties or the ownership of boundary features between...
A manufacturing company has been fined after an apprentice suffered serious injuries in a workplace accident. The 18-year-old apprentice had been working for the company for less than a year and was still learning how to operate machinery. His shirt became...
The Family Court has rejected a husband's application to set aside a financial remedy order made in his absence after he ceased to participate in the final hearing. The husband and wife had separated in 2022 after 15 years of marriage. On the first day of...
A compensation settlement has been agreed for a woman whose leg had to be amputated after she was involved in a head-on collision. Her car was hit by another vehicle which was trying to overtake traffic. She was airlifted to hospital and spent more than two...
The best way to minimise the risk of a successful challenge to your will is to have it drawn up by a qualified solicitor. Recently, a woman's challenge to her elderly father's final will was rejected by the High Court . The man had made the will in March...
Damages have been obtained for a shop assistant who tripped over some shopping bags in the department store where she worked. The 23-year-old shop assistant was working behind the tills when she tripped over the bags, which had been left on the floor, and...
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has outlined plans to reform the mortgage market, which could make it easier for first-time buyers and self-employed people to purchase properties. The reforms also aim to help homeowners access housing wealth in later...
When patients lack capacity to decide whether to undergo medical treatment, the Court of Protection is often called upon to decide what is in their best interests. Recently, the Court ruled that it was in the best interests of a young man to undergo surgery...
Compensation has been obtained for a cyclist who was injured when his bicycle hit a pothole. After going for a ride with his cycling club, he was cycling home when he ran into a deep pothole and came off his bicycle, suffering injuries to his hip and...
The High Court has refused a mother's application for her five-year-old daughter's return to Dubai , instead granting an application by the girl's father for her to remain in England. The mother and father had married in 2019 and moved to Dubai, where the...
A woman has been awarded compensation after contracting salmonella poisoning during a cruise. She began to feel ill within two days after the cruise began, suffering from symptoms including vomiting and abdominal cramps. She was diagnosed with salmonella...
The Upper Tribunal (UT) has granted a landowner's application to modify a restrictive covenant to allow a small bungalow to be constructed in place of a workshop. The landowner had sold land near his house to a local developer in 1999. The developer built...
A man who was injured in a chemical explosion at his place of work has received a settlement from his employer. He had been told that the chemical compound he was mixing was completely safe. However, when he returned to his workstation after overseeing...
The manager of a care home has been sentenced to five and a half years in prison for forging the will of an elderly woman who lived in the home. The woman had moved into the home in 2020 after becoming ill. She was described by the judge as 'particularly...
Compensation has been obtained for a motorcyclist who was seriously injured in a road traffic accident involving two separate vehicles. After a van turned into his path, he was unable to avoid a collision and was knocked from his motorbike. The traffic came...
A taxpayer has successfully argued before the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) that a company's purchase of shares he owned in it was wholly or mainly for the purpose of benefiting its trade under Section 1033 of the Corporation Tax Act 2010 . The consideration...
Under Schedule 1 of the Children Act 1989 , an unmarried parent can apply for financial provision for their child from the other parent. The Family Court recently granted a mother's application for interim relief in Schedule 1 proceedings, ordering the...
The Upper Tribunal (UT) has allowed a landowner's appeal against the rejection of his application to be registered as the proprietor of a parcel of land on the basis of adverse possession. The landowner and the owner of adjoining land both carried on...
The High Court has rejected a son's claim that he was entitled to inherit his father's farm based on promises his father had made during his lifetime. The son's claim that his father's last two wills were invalid was also rejected. The father had died in...
A holidaymaker has obtained five-figure damages for injuries she suffered in a fall on a flight of stairs in her hotel during a package holiday. She was on her way to the hotel's restaurant when the accident happened. The lighting in one of the flights of...
When deciding what is in the best interests of a patient who lacks capacity to make decisions about their care, the courts will take into account any wishes and feelings the patient has previously expressed, as well as the medical evidence. Recently, the ...
A man who had to have a finger on his left hand amputated following a workplace accident has obtained a compensation settlement. The 65-year-old man, who worked as a manufacturing technical manager, was investigating a problem with a packaging machine when...
From 1 December 2025, the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) deposit protection limit is increasing from £85,000 to £120,000. If you hold deposits or savings with a UK-authorised bank, building society or credit union and it goes out...
Damages have been obtained for a former nurse who suffered a broken ankle when she stepped into a pothole. She had gone out for a walk and was crossing the road when she walked through what she thought was a puddle but was actually a deep pothole filled...
From January this year, new reporting provisions were introduced in family courts in England and Wales, following a successful pilot scheme. The government has published guidance on the new regime for parents and family members involved in family court...
A man who suffered permanent disability after he was involved in a collision while riding his motorbike has secured substantial compensation. He sustained a spinal cord injury in the collision and was left with no motor or sensory function below his chest....
A homeowner has succeeded in his application for a boundary determination after his neighbours extended their driveway and built a fence in front of his window. The homeowner had bought his house in 2021. A few months later, the neighbours had dug up part...
The High Court has upheld the validity of a codicil to a woman's will which left the family farm to her two daughters and dismissed claims by her grandsons that she had promised the farm to them. The woman had passed away in 2020 at the age of 96. A will...
An elderly woman who slipped on a wet floor in a supermarket has obtained compensation for the injuries she sustained. She was walking past the fresh flower stand when she slipped on water and petals that had fallen onto the floor. The accident left her...
Taxpayers who are unsure how to deal with any correspondence they receive from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) would be well advised to seek professional assistance, as was demonstrated by a recent case in which the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) refused a...
The Court of Appeal has granted a wife leave to pursue an application for financial relief in England against her former husband, more than a decade after their Russian divorce. The couple were both Russian nationals and had lived in Russia throughout...
A manufacturer of glass bottles has been fined £600,000 following an incident in which a worker was burnt by molten glass and hot water. The worker had been using a shovel loader to clear waste molten glass and hot water from the floor. There was no...
A man who was severely injured when he became trapped by his car at a car wash has obtained a six-figure compensation settlement from the Motor Insurers' Bureau (MIB). While the man was waiting for his car to be cleaned, an employee of the car wash moved it...
A man whose home suffered damage because of problems with its foundations has been awarded provisional damages of more than £423,000 from the housebuilder from which he bought the property. The four-bedroom detached house, which the man had...
The High Court has refused to make a Deprivation of Liberty order sought by a local authority in respect of a 17-year-old boy. The boy was estranged from his parents and had been accommodated by the local authority since shortly after his 16th birthday....
Although Multiple Dwellings Relief (MDR) from Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) was abolished with effect from 1 June 2024, cases dealing with its availability are still working their way through the courts. Recently, two purchasers of a house with an attached...
Compensation has been secured for a woman who was injured when the flight she was on encountered strong turbulence. She had stood up to go to the toilet when the pilot announced that there was a risk of turbulence, but before she could return to her seat,...
The Family Court has ruled that four children should continue to live with their father , in what it described as a very long-running dispute between him and the children's mother. The children, aged between eight and 13, had lived with their mother after...
A young man has obtained a substantial compensation settlement after a car he was travelling in was hit by a lorry, leaving him with life-changing injuries. He and four friends were on their way back to university from a sports tournament when the accident...
A will purported to have been made by an elderly woman during lockdown has been declared invalid because she had not signed it in the presence of two or more witnesses, as required by Section 9 of the Wills Act 1837 . The will was dated 25 April 2020,...
