A married couple have been allowed to remove a clause from a trust document that could have cost their family £650,000 in tax liability. The issue arose after the husband set up a trust for which both he and his wife were among the trustees. When drawing up the trust, he decided to appoint certain
The Court of Protection exists to safeguard the interests of people who may be unable to look after themselves fully or make decisions on their own behalf. Sometimes the court may defend them against individuals seeking to exploit them, but it can also protect them against the heavy handed actions of official bodies, as illustrated
A commercial property company has won a claim that its insurers should pay for damage caused maliciously by tenants. The case involved business tenants who had failed to pay rent and carry out certain work required under the terms of the lease. The property company tried to terminate the lease but the court allowed the
Developers have been granted permission to build 400 homes on a greenfield site despite local objections. The case involved Bewley Homes PLC, which wanted to develop a 46-hectare site near Guildford. The local borough council granted planning permission even though its local plan restricted development in the countryside beyond the green belt. The site was
A woman has lost her appeal against a judge’s decision that she and her husband should share their assets equally as part of their divorce settlement. The case involved a couple who had been married for four years and had a three-year-old daughter. They were both professionals but the wife had more earning power than
A court has ruled that a teenage girl must live with her mother in Mexico, despite her wish to stay in the UK with her father. The family had lived in England until the parents divorced. The Mexican mother then returned home and took their three children with her. Four years later the youngest daughter
A woman has won a legal dispute with a charity over the meaning of her mother’s will. It means she will inherit an extra £325,000. The case involved a woman who made a will leaving her daughter all the tax-free money from her estate. The remainder was to go to the Woodland Trust charity. When
The number of first-time home buyers in 2014 was at its highest level for seven years, according to the Halifax bank. This was in spite of the fact that house prices rose by an average of 8.5% last year. The Halifax says that 326,500 people bought their first home last year – a 22% increase
Two sisters have been appointed to manage the estate of their mother who is suffering from dementia. The appointments were made by the Court of Protection despite an objection from a brother of the two sisters. The case involved a woman who had not drawn up a lasting power of attorney stating who she wanted
The Court of Appeal has ruled that a judge got it wrong when calculating the divorce settlement for a woman who gave up a lucrative career to look after her children. The case of Julia Hammans will now be re-tried by another judge to ensure that she is treated fairly. The court heard that Ms