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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...
In a ruling that provides clarification on the right of employees to be given an itemised pay statement, contained in Section 8 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 , the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has dismissed a man's appeal against a decision that...
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...
Businesses whose premises are compulsorily acquired are entitled to compensation for loss of profits and any reduction in the value of the business, as well as the value of the premises themselves. Recently, the Upper Tribunal (UT) found that compensation...
The Companies Act 2006 gives the courts a range of powers to assist shareholders who have been unfairly prejudiced by the way a company they hold shares in has been run. Recently, the High Court found that a man had suffered unfair prejudice after he was...
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...
The Supreme Court has upheld a decision of the Court of Appeal in a case concerning how the test of whether members of a limited liability partnership (LLP) have significant influence over its affairs for the purpose of determining whether they are...
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...
The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has ruled that the belated imposition of a cap on an employee's bonus amounted to an unlawful deduction from wages, overturning a decision of the Employment Tribunal (ET) dismissing his claim ( Chandrashekarappa v Wipro...
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...
A water company has been fined nearly £1 million by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) after a cyber attack led to the personal data of customers and employees being published on the dark web. The company began an investigation in July 2022...
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...
If a building is a house in multiple occupation (HMO) within the meaning of Section 254 of the Housing Act 2004 , can dwellings within the building also be houses for the purposes of the selective licensing scheme in Part 3 of the Act? The Upper Tribunal...
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...
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...
The government has launched a consultation on reforms relating to zero-hours and similar contracts , to implement measures in the Employment Rights Act 2025 to end one-sided flexibility. The reforms aim to reduce the insecurity of hours and income that...
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...
An engineering and consulting company has been fined nearly £13 million by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) under Section 91 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 , after it published inaccurate information in its full-year 2022 and 2023...
The Supreme Court has ruled that the costs of surveys and studies in connection with the construction of wind farms were not 'capital expenditure on the provision of plant' for the purposes of Section 11(4)(a) of the Capital Allowances Act 2001 , and...
