A woman’s will has been declared invalid after a court ruled that it had been forged by her son. The woman originally made a will in 1999, stating that she intended to split her estate equally between her two children. The son claimed the mother made a new will while she was dying from cancer
A woman has been ordered to pay her ex-husband £1.2m, even though the couple had a pre-nuptial agreement that her wealth would be protected in the event of a separation. The case involved the daughter of one of Britain’s wealthiest men. She received an annual allowance of £81,000 from her father and lived in a
More than 100,000 people have used various government schemes to buy a home over the last four years. Households have taken advantage of schemes such as Right to Buy and Help to Buy. The Right to Buy scheme gives people who have lived in a council property for at least five years the right to
Ministers say children will be better protected and family disputes will be less stressful following changes to legislation relating to divorce and separation. The main changes are that separating couples will be obliged to attend mediation sessions to try to reach agreements regarding childcare and finances, before they can take their disputes to court. If
A court has ordered that a six-year-old boy should live with his father because the mother had constantly ignored contact orders over several years. The two parents separated before the boy was born and the mother became the primary carer following the birth. The father tried to establish contact with his son but the mother
Divorcing couples are being urged to use mediation to settle their disputes instead of engaging in lengthy court battles. The latest figures released by the Office of National Statistics show that more than 100,000 people get divorced each year. Family Justice Minister Simon Hughes says mediation can help settle disputes over issues such as money
On 6 April 2014 a major part of the Government’s programme of employment dispute reform will come into force with the introduction of ACAS Early Conciliation. The new scheme will require an employee who believes that they have a claim against their employer to notify ACAS of the dispute before they can issue a claim
A woman has failed to get an improved divorce settlement even though her husband had misled the court about the extent of his wealth. The case involved a couple who separated after 17 years of marriage. The assets were divided with the wife getting around 65% in cash and properties, giving her a total of
Setting up a simple trust relating to his mother‘s home has saved a man and his wife several thousand pounds in capital gains tax. The case involved a woman who sold her house in 1996 to her son and his wife on condition that she was allowed to continue living there for the rest of
The High Court has upheld a 91-year-old woman’s will even though she was suffering from dementia at the time it was made. The law requires that when making a will, a person must have testamentary capacity – that is, they must fully understand what they are doing and the consequences of their decisions. However, in