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The psychological scars borne by road accident victims can be just as serious as their physical injuries and they are equally worthy of compensation. In a case on point, an aspiring ski instructor who has been left with a fear of mountain roads after a...

It may sound overcautious to say so, but it is always worth taking legal advice before entering into any significant arrangement, even when it is with a trusted member of the family. Failing to do so has proved to be an expensive lesson for a woman who has...

The health and safety obligations placed upon employers are onerous and failing to meet them in full can have grave consequences. The point was proved by a case in which a haulage company was found liable to pay very substantial damages to a lorry driver who...

The recent Budget contained an announcement that will be unwelcome news for some property owners. The sale of a person's principal private residence has always received favourable treatment for Capital Gains Tax (CGT) purposes. Normally such sales are...

Proposals to link the cost of being granted probate over an estate valued at more than £5,000 (currently fixed at £215 for those applying individually or £155 if applying through a solicitor) to the value of the estate were announced in...

The leasehold system in the UK has been crying out for reform for years, and the Government has decided to tackle the issues through the medium of a new consultation paper called 'Fixing our broken housing market'. The chief target for the Government has...

Modern litigation spans the globe and issues concerning cross-border service of documents and jurisdiction often raise difficulties that make specialist legal advice essential. That was certainly so in a High Court privacy case with a strong international...

You may be forgiven for thinking that the authorities always follow proper procedures, but that is not the case, and when they fail, their actions may not be legally valid. In a recent case, a series of errors put a taxpayer and HM Revenue and Customs...

It is commonplace for one spouse to control the family finances and, while relations are amicable, this usually causes few issues. However, if the relationship falls apart and separation or divorce is in train, this is often no longer the case. When a...

Freak accidents do happen but, where an accident is someone else's fault, it is all part of a specialist lawyer's work to ensure that victims are fairly compensated. In one case, a young man who was catastrophically injured when felled by a heavy metal gate...

When a man's first wife died, he inherited her share of the property they had owned jointly. At the time, he was living with his third wife, and the couple remained together for a further 28 years until his death in 1990. He died without making a will and...

It is a principle of law that no one should be compensated for the consequences of their own criminal acts. However, in a guideline decision, the High Court awarded substantial damages to the partner of a deceased motorist – despite finding that his...

A recent case may raise alarm bells for anyone thinking about adding a basement to a property which is divided. It involved a terraced house which was converted into two flats. The top two floors of the property were owned by the freeholder. The owner of...

Those who take part in contact sports necessarily accept some risk of injury. The High Court made that point in finding that a rugby union player bore no legal responsibility for injuries suffered by an opponent with whom he collided. The full-back on one...

When people need to go into care, the local councils that end up supporting the care costs are well known for their doggedness in attempting to ensure that the person being cared for supplies as much of the funding as possible. This will often involve a...

Legislation that will give families of people who go missing the ability to administer their affairs is to come into effect: but not until July 2019. The Bill received the Royal Assent as long ago as April 2017, but the need for secondary regulations and...

There has been a massive amount of disinformation put about over the years (and, apparently, recently promoted by the Russian security services) regarding the effects of various vaccinations on children. One result is that some parents are deeply wary of...

Although it is normally necessary to ensure that personal injury claims are brought soon after an injury occurs, there are some injuries which may manifest themselves only years after they have been caused. Exposure to noxious substances is a common cause of...

Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs) have many advantages over normal savings accounts – chiefly that the investment income earned on them is tax free and gains within them are not subject to Capital Gains Tax. They are, not surprisingly, widely regarded...

The widespread belief that 'an Englishman's home is his castle' can all too easily lead the unwary into breaching planning rules. That was certainly so in a case concerning a householder who found herself in serious trouble after splitting her home into...

Before the introduction of the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 , an organisation could only be convicted of manslaughter if a 'directing mind' – i.e. a senior manager or director – was also personally liable, but this did...

When an investment is made in a capital asset that subsequently becomes valueless, the loss can normally be used to reduce future liabilities to Capital Gains Tax when a capital asset is sold at a profit. There are also rules which permit trading expenses...

If parents engaged in child contact disputes take up entrenched positions, it is very nearly always the child that suffers most. Such disputes can often be defused by taking legal advice at an early stage in order to promote dialogue and an amicable...

Employers can be found vicariously liable for the actions of their staff when these occur in the course of their employment, which can include during an office function, but a recent case looked at the position when an employee suffered a severe brain injury...

Lending money to the public is, for obvious reasons, a heavily regulated activity and, as a case concerning timeshare properties showed , any involvement by those who are not authorised to carry out such activity can render credit agreements entirely...

Two recent cases illustrate that employers need to be vigilant in assessing tripping and slipping hazards in areas where workers perform their tasks. If they fail in this duty, those who are injured as a result may be able to claim compensation. In one...

A case heard by the Privy Council makes required reading for any employer who provides non-contractual benefits to their employees. In principle, the legal point was simple, although the legal issues raised were not. Could an employer who provided the...

The High Court of Justice is a very expensive place to resolve a family dispute, as is evidenced by a recent case which pitted members of a farming family against each other : it shows beyond doubt the importance of documenting decisions and retaining the...

The law allows people who occupy land over a long period and use it as their own, without anyone else asserting ownership rights to it, to apply to have their title to it registered at the Land Registry. This is normally called 'squatter's rights' and...

Scams of all shapes and sizes are becoming depressingly frequent and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has warned against the rising tide of pensions scams that leave people facing years of misery in retirement as a result of passing their pension funds...

The Supreme Court recently decided a case which made clear some of the limits that apply when financial issues were resolved within a consent order at the time of a divorce but where circumstances have changed over time and one spouse seeks to have the...

Gazebos are used by all kinds of organisations when attending events up and down the country. It may not seem that an employer's duty to assess and minimise workplace risks would extend to tasks such as carrying and assembling gazebos, but a recent case...

When a person's affairs are being managed by someone else under a lasting power of attorney (LPA), there are strict rules about what the attorney can and cannot do with the assets placed under their control. The attorney is expected to safeguard the assets...

It is entirely understandable that victims of sexual abuse may seek to bury memories of their suffering. However, as a Court of Appeal decision illustrated, those who delay contacting specialist lawyers may ultimately jeopardise their chances of obtaining...

Care orders for children that result in them being taken away from their parents are not made lightly. When a 14-year-old girl was assessed as having 'a range of complex therapeutic needs' that made constant supervision and care essential, the decision was...

A pedestrian with learning difficulties who suffered serious injuries when he was struck by a car as he crossed a main road in Peckham has been awarded £147,000 in compensation. The car hit the man on his left side when he had nearly reached the...

Those who make a profit on the sale of their principal private residence do not have to pay Capital Gains Tax (CGT) on it. However, as a test case concerning a couple who built their own home showed, that apparently simple statement disguises a hinterland of...

Those who doubt the legal advantages of getting married should take note of a case in which an elderly man was left facing homelessness after his partner's unexpected death and had to go to court to seek reasonable provision from her estate. The unmarried...

When a council had to dig a trench along a street in order to carry out road works, it created a temporary path for those using the street. However, the path it built was unsafe and, in trying to negotiate it, one local resident fell into the trench and was...

Many blocks of flats are managed by a residents' association, which has the great advantage of affording tenants democratic rights of self-determination. However, as a decision of the Upper Tribunal (UT) showed, such bodies bear onerous, and often complex,...

The law that allows someone who was dependent on a deceased person during their lifetime to make a claim against their estate if there is no, or inadequate, provision for them in the will is one of long standing (the Inheritance (Provision for Family and...

We all make mistakes…and when a contract is set up the terms of which clearly do not reflect what was intended, the court can be asked to rectify it. A recent case shows that that approach can also be taken with regard to incorrectly drafted trust...

The Supreme Court judges' decision to prevent a wife from divorcing her husband , which was made 'without enthusiasm', is expected to lead to calls for a rapid change in the law. The case arose after a wife's application for a divorce was opposed by her...

When someone is injured at work in a preventable accident that was not their own fault, it is not always immediately clear who is to blame. A recent case dealt with a claim brought by a warehouse worker who hurt his back while unloading goods delivered to...

When the Finance Act 2006 came into force, it introduced a ten-year charge on discretionary trusts containing 'relevant property'. Most discretionary trusts that were started after 21 March 2006, other than those covered by specific exemptions, will carry...

In a ground-breaking decision, the High Court has awarded compensation to a pedestrian who was hit by an uninsured driver on private land. The man was walking across a field when he was hit by a 4x4 vehicle, which had been driven from a public road onto a...

Construction works on neighbouring properties can make your life a misery but, with the right legal advice, you may be able to do something about them. In a case on point, the High Court came to the aid of a woman whose rental property was deprived of light...

When an estate is to be administered, an application for probate must first be made if the deceased left a will. Once probate is granted, the process can begin. However, the mere granting of probate does not mean that all is said and done on the matter, as a...

Trees may be easy on the eye, but they can also be dangerous and landowners are under a legal duty to protect the public from falling timber. In a recent case, a bus driver who was seriously injured when his cab was hit by a falling lime tree won the right...

In a unanimous judgment, the Supreme Court has ruled that a bakery in Northern Ireland's refusal to make a cake bearing a slogan in support of same-sex marriage was not discriminatory. The legal battle began four years ago after Ashers bakery, a family-run...