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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...

For British holidaymakers who are injured overseas, obtaining justice can prove a significant challenge. However, as the case of a woman who suffered a life-changing accident on her Spanish honeymoon showed, specialist personal injury lawyers are nothing if...

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...

Tax avoidance schemes are not always effective and can have serious unforeseen consequences. In a telling case on point, a man was required to pay the entirety of the Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) due on a seven-figure property transaction, a bill that he would...

In many road accident cases, assessing where responsibility lies is anything but a straightforward exercise. However, this difficulty was successfully tackled in a seven-figure settlement of a catastrophically injured pedestrian's claim. The middle-aged...

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...

Children who suffer sexual abuse are entitled both to see their tormentors punished by the criminal law and to damages. In a case on point, a young woman who was violently preyed upon by a charity employee received a six-figure award. When in her mid-teens,...

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...

CCTV cameras are nowadays ubiquitous in public places and can greatly ease the task of accident reconstruction experts. As a case involving a young man who was struck by a train showed, however, imperfectly positioned cameras or gaps in footage can still...

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...

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...

It is often impossible to discern with absolute certainty the cause of road accidents that occur in the twinkling of an eye. As a case concerning a couple who were injured in the back of a taxi showed, however, judges are well versed at seeing where the...

Even acts of generosity can lead to litigation if the basis for them is not professionally documented. That was sadly so in the case of a businessman who stepped forward to rescue close family friends from the threat of homelessness. A couple with five...

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...

Dangerous drivers leave chaos in their wake, but it can be hard to identify them, let alone hold them legally responsible for the accidents they cause. However, in one striking case, personal injury lawyers surmounted that challenge and achieved a good...

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...

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 ...

If you are unlawfully arrested or detained by the police, the law will see to it that you are compensated fairly. In a case on point, a window cleaner who was arrested and held in custody after a financial dispute with a customer reached boiling point was...

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...

No two personal injury cases are the same and assessing the appropriate amount of damages always requires expert professional judgment. That was certainly so in the case of a young man who sustained a catastrophic brain injury when he was struck by a car in...

Those who seek the protection of the law with metaphorical dirty hands are likely to receive short shrift. An Employment Tribunal (ET) powerfully made that point in the case of a religious leader who had engaged in tax evasion. The man launched...

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...

The vast majority of personal injury claims are entirely genuine. However, as a High Court ruling showed, there are very sadly a dishonest few who, in pursuit of large sums in compensation, present exaggerated or fabricated cases. The case concerned an...

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...

The belief that you cease to be a UK resident for tax purposes simply by staying out of the country for a certain number of days is a common fallacy. As a TV personality, entrepreneur and property investor found out to his cost, the legal test is very much...

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...

Promising young lives are sadly ruined every day by road traffic accidents. Nothing can make up for such tragedies but, as a High Court case showed, compensation can at least soften the blow and give hope for the future. The case concerned a teenager who...

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...

Those who invite visitors onto their property are obliged to take steps to keep them reasonably safe. As the case of a troubled woman who fell from a hostel window showed, even charities are not exempt from that fundamental duty. The middle-aged woman led a...

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...

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...

It is notoriously difficult for victims of crime to successfully sue the police on the basis that they failed to match up to their duty of care. However, as the case of a woman who was repeatedly stabbed outside her home showed, it is not impossible. The...

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 ...

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...

The word 'accident' is, in common parlance, often used quite loosely. However, as a case concerning a passenger who slipped on board a Ryanair jet showed, it has a very specific meaning in the context of commercial air travel. Wintry conditions afflicted a...

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 speed with which road accidents occur can make it extremely difficult to discern with absolute certainty where fault lies. However, as a case concerning a severely injured motorcycle pillion passenger showed, judges are adept at sifting detailed evidence...

Many people who have little understanding of the tax system sensibly seek help from those with greater expertise. However, a case that exposed an apparent loophole in HM Revenue and Customs' (HMRC's) systems showed how important it is to choose your advisers...

Employers must compensate victims of misdeeds committed by their employees in the course of their work. That is a true statement, so far as it goes, but a Supreme Court ruling in a case concerning a Jehovah's Witness who was sexually assaulted by an elder in...

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...

If you suffer loss or injury as a result of an accident that you believe was someone else's fault, you should contact a solicitor immediately. The potential consequences of delay in doing so were underlined by a case concerning a security contractor's death...

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...

With widely differing degrees of success, many enthusiastic investors buy and sell shares on their own account in the hope of boosting their incomes – but can such activities be viewed as a 'trade' for tax purposes? The First-tier Tribunal (FTT)...

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...

Accidents that happen abroad often present particular difficulties for personal injury lawyers. However, as the case of a young boy who almost died when an open-top tour bus was driven into an overhanging tree branch showed, there are few challenges that...

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...