Three homeowners have lost their appeal against a decision that sections of land they bought with their homes should be classed as ‘gardens or grounds’ and so be subject to Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) at the full rate. The issue in each case was whether the land sold with each house was, or formed
Two children caught up in a parental dispute have been allowed by the High Court to choose to live with their mother in England. The children were aged 17 and 14. Their mother and father were Spanish nationals who had moved to the UK in 2004. The relationship had broken down and the father had
The High Court has reconciled contradictory instructions relating to a deceased woman’s estate so that all three of her children can receive an equal inheritance. The court made the ruling after the trustees of a settlement applied for an interpretation of the woman’s will. Under the deed of settlement, the woman had a special power
The government has announced the next step in its plan to provide an extra 1,500 homes for first time buyers and key workers by 2023. Home builders across England have been invited to bid for a share of the £150 million being made available by offering plots for sale as First Homes, The contract award
A husband has won his appeal against a costs order in favour of his wife during divorce proceedings. The couple had been married in 2007 and had one child. Their marriage ended in 2017 following two incidents of violence by the husband. He was acquitted in criminal proceedings, but a finding was made at a
A supermarket assistant was discriminated against when managers didn’t believe he could be intimidated by a 5ft 4in woman. The case involved Mr T King, who is 6ft tall, and his Tesco line manager, known as JF, who was five months pregnant at the time. King also worked for the Aylesbury Fire Service and was
The Employment Tribunal has ruled that a former employee was subjected to harassment related to his sex and discriminated against on the grounds of sex by his Employer. The case involved Mr Toby King, who worked for Tesco Stores Limited as a Customer Assistant from 18 November 2017 until he was dismissed with effect on
A woman who stumbled across a workplace WhatsApp group featuring racially abusive remarks about her has been awarded nearly £25,000 for unlawful harassment on the grounds of sex, race and religious belief. The case involved Mrs Muna Abdi who worked as an operations clerk for Deltec in Hounslow. She was originally from Somalia and moved
HMCTS have confirmed that legal representatives will need to process divorce applications online using the digital service (rather than paper forms) from 13th September 2021. The exceptions to this, which should continue to be processed via the paper route, are:- • Civil Partnership• Judicial Separation• Nullity Machins Solicitors are already set up to use the
The Court of Appeal has set aside a court order that a girl should be returned to her mother rather than stay with foster parents. The girl was 18 months old and was referred to in court as X. Her mother had agreed to X being accommodated with foster parents when she was three days