Latest News

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...

The perceived generosity of English judges in big money divorce cases has made the UK the venue of choice for some – but anathema for others. However, as one case showed, judicial priorities have more to do with fairness than finance. The case...

Road accidents happen in seconds and those who are injured often have little or no memory of what happened. However, as a High Court case showed, that should not discourage victims from seeking legal advice with a view to fair compensation. The case...

A paramedic who was badly injured when a man he was assisting fell onto him has secured compensation from his employer. Andrew Worrall, from York, was taking home a man who had been involved in a road accident in icy conditions. The man was being helped out...

If you are approaching pension age, unless you are one of the increasingly few with a salary-related pension scheme, you would be wise to take professional advice before you take any irrevocable action. The decisions taken at certain points in managing your...

One of the dilemmas the courts face from time to time is how to achieve the right balance between individual privacy and the public's right to know about things. In a recent case , a patient who had made a complaint against a GP sought publication of the...

Insurance is a legal requirement for any driver in the UK and that is why insurance policies cover drivers, not the cars they drive. Since insurance companies will always seek to minimise the amount they pay out on claims, there are often lively arguments...

Japanese knotweed is a very considerable pest – 'indisputably the UK's most aggressive, destructive and invasive plant', according to the Environment Agency –as it can cause damage to buildings, spreads easily and is difficult to eradicate. As...

Taking on the police in court can appear daunting, but specialist solicitors are more than capable of performing the task, as was shown by a recent case in which the family of a young man who suffocated in a police van following his traumatic arrest...

One of the requirements for a will to be accepted as valid is that the person who makes it must have 'knowledge and approval' of its contents...in other words, they must understand what the will says and what it means in practice. It might seem, therefore,...

In the year to May 2018, councils in the UK paid out more than £2.1 million in compensation to pedestrians who tripped on uneven pavements, according to information obtained following freedom of information requests made by the Automobile Association...

It is normal for money, often considerable sums, to pass between family members. However, when this is done without legal advice, it is only too common for disputes to arise as to whether or not the sums concerned were meant as gifts. Disputes between family...

With the benefit of expert legal advice, even motorists who are partly to blame for accidents can win compensation for any injuries they suffer. Exactly that happened in one case concerning a motorcyclist who was travelling well over the speed limit when he...

Despite strong representations from the professional community, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have decided that they will stick with a 30-day initial payment requirement for Capital Gains Tax (CGT) on residential property gains for disposals after April...

Almost everyone who has flown much has a story (or more than one) about lost or damaged luggage, and holiday insurance claims regarding these are commonplace. A Finnish man who took a holiday to Malaga found that some items went missing from his luggage on...

Expert legal advice is essential for those injured or made ill during a leisure activity, as was shown by a case in which lawyers secured a six-figure settlement for 28 victims of salmonella poisoning. The diners had all eaten at the Real China restaurant...

If you are faced with an unwelcome proposal for development nearby, a recent case shows how tenaciousness and a knowledge of past planning history can help to prevent it. Consistency of decision making is a fundamental principle of planning law and local...

If a loved one dies in an accident that is someone else's fault, you are entitled to compensation to reflect the loss of services and financial support that the deceased would otherwise have provided to you. However, as a High Court case showed, proving the...

London has gained a reputation as 'the divorce capital of the world' because settlements reached are, by international standards, very generous towards women. It is no surprise, therefore, that the courts in this country are a very popular choice of venue...

If you accept appointment under a power of attorney, it is essential to understand the responsibilities this entails. A recent case shows what can happen if a less than thorough approach is taken. It dealt with arrangements made by a 95-year-old widower...

It is a stressful and unhappy enough time when a loved one dies, but the anguish of those mourning the loss can be compounded when there are complications over payments to care homes which seem excessive. Recently, the Competition and Markets Authority...

On our densely populated island, there is a pressing need for available land to be put to sensible use and, where restrictive covenants lurking in title deeds prevent that happening, they can be modified. In a case on point, a man's desire to provide a...

The aim of compensation is to put victims of negligence as nearly as possible in the same position they would have been in had they not been injured. In a good example of that principle being applied, a woman who lost a leg in a road accident was awarded...

A decision of the Supreme Court announced today has important implications for unmarried partners of people who have died. The case involved a woman from Northern Ireland who was denied Widowed Parent's Allowance (WPA) after her partner of 23 years passed...

The usual course of events on divorce is that there is a financial settlement which divides up the family assets as they are at that point in time. This takes into account the expected future income and need for income of the couple who have split up, based...

A music teacher who suffered a serious leg injury when she fell off a stage at the University of London while teaching the oboe to students from the National Youth Orchestra has secured £65,000 in compensation. The stage where the 64-year-old teacher...

If landowners allow vegetation to grow so that it affects visibility on adjacent highways, should they be held liable if accidents occur? In a decision that broke new legal ground, the Court of Appeal has answered that question with a resounding 'no' . The...

Farming families appear regularly in the courts these days, as more and more cases arise that feature undocumented promises that have been made (or are alleged to have been made) by parents but not kept. The law will only enforce such informal arrangements...

Parents obviously bear responsibility for the safety of their children, but that does not mean that they have to be wrapped in cotton wool. A judge resoundingly made that point in rejecting claims that a mother was partially responsible for catastrophic...

Following the Grenfell disaster in 2017, cladding has come under close scrutiny with surveys being carried out as a priority in buildings across the UK. The failure to comply with Building Regulations (Part L1A 2010), which provides a framework for ensuring...

The first step in proving negligence is to establish that a duty of care is owed, and that can be no easy matter. However, in an important decision, the High Court has ruled that a police force owed such a duty to a suicidal woman who died from an overdose...

Relationships that start on the Internet are already leading to some interesting situations. A recent family case involved a British woman who had met a Pakistani man online and married him in the USA, where the couple had two children. Her husband had...

People frequently suffer injury principally as a result of their own carelessness. As a High Court case strikingly showed, however, that does not mean they cannot win compensation where the injury they suffered was partly because of the negligent action of...

Taxpayers are personally responsible for filing their tax returns on time, and failing to do so can lead to stiff financial penalties. However, in one case, the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) ruled that a self-employed website developer whose accountants lost all...

Money in a bank account represents the debt due from the bank to the account holder and is not 'property' in the eyes of the law. The Court of Appeal made that point in quashing the convictions of a woman who was accused of abusing her position as a senior...

When a will is made late in life which materially changes how an estate is to be distributed (especially when the new will favours one of a number of children), a dispute following the death is almost inevitable. So it was when an 85-year-old woman made a...

Almost every job involves at least some risk and, if you are injured at work, specialist lawyers should always be your first port of call. In one unusual case, an airline steward who suffered grave consequences after being bitten by a venomous insect during...

Family judges will approach pre-nuptial agreements with greater respect following a landmark Court of Appeal ruling in a 'big money' divorce case . The Court agreed with Lord Phillips' opinion in Radmacher v Granatino that failing to honour such...

Whilst most slips and trips are minor, the consequences are not always short-lived, as was evidenced by a woman who suffered a painful fall as she entered a lift. The floor inside the lift had recently been washed by a firm employed to clean the building,...

It is a common term in a lease for the tenants to have to seek permission from the landlord if they want to do something new to or with the premises they let. Typically, such clauses specify that permission will not be 'unreasonably withheld'. However, what...

A high-speed crash in Edinburgh between a car and a lorry left the driver of the car dead and his passenger severely injured. It later emerged that the car driver had been smoking cannabis prior to the accident. The woman passenger suffered a cardiac...

There are special rules for people working in the UK on short-term secondment from employers based abroad. Many do not become taxpayers under the UK tax system. When one such person contacted HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to clarify his position, he was...

With the holiday season upon us, a recent case shows that there are limits to the liability of tour operators when accidents occur, especially when they are the result of rash behaviour. The case involved a man who fell from the balcony of his hotel in...

A divorced man who remarried in his late 50s made a new will in 1998, one year after the marriage, which left his entire estate to his new wife. After he died, a home-made will was discovered, made shortly before his death. This left virtually his entire...

Employers who fail to provide their staff with the equipment they need to safely carry out their work positively lay themselves open to compensation claims, but not all accidents are the result of health and safety breaches. A High Court ruling in the case...

Court orders have to be obeyed and those who defy them can ultimately be sent to prison. Exactly that happened in one 'big money' divorce case in which an 83-year-old businessman repeatedly tried to thwart his ex-wife. Following the end of the former...

When valuing a property for Inheritance Tax (IHT) purposes, is it legitimate to take into account its potential for enlargement or improvement – so-called 'hope value'? In a guideline ruling, the Upper Tribunal (UT) has answered that question in the...

No amount of money can ever make up for what is lost by those whose lives are ruined by the negligence of others. However, as a £19 million compensation payout to a young road accident victim showed, a settlement can at least bring relief to...

If family members or friends are facing bankruptcy, it may be tempting to assist them in keeping their assets away from the clutches of creditors. The folly of such conduct was, however, strikingly revealed by a Court of Appeal case concerning a family...

One powerful reason why you should always seek legal advice before making your will is to ensure you meet your responsibilities to those who depend on you financially. In one case on point, the High Court effectively rewrote the will of a wealthy landowner ...