The government has reaffirmed its commitment to ensure people taking out Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA) are given the help and protection they need. LPAs enable you to nominate someone such as a family member or trusted associate to make decisions on your behalf if you ever lose the ability to do so yourself in
A leading lawyers’ association says that cohabiting couples should have automatic rights to inherit if their partner dies without making a will. Under current law, a surviving partner must apply to the court to obtain financial provision or a share of the estate if their partner died intestate, that is, without having made a will.
A banker is suing his ex-wife for £500,000 after she refused to move out of their marital home following their divorce. Kerim Derhalli says that his ex-wife Jayne Richardson Derhalli had been ‘trespassing’ at the £6m property. When the couple divorced after 17 years of marriage, they agreed a ‘clean break’ consent order to divide
The government has issued a new set of guidelines to help people preparing to sell their home. The document, How to Sell, was produced by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, and covers everything from ensuring your home has ‘kerb appeal’ to making sure you get good legal advice from a qualified solicitor.
The government plans to bring an end to unfair evictions with what it describes as the biggest change to the private rental sector for a generation. It will introduce legislation to abolish so called ‘no-fault’ evictions, which are one of the biggest causes of family homelessness. Ministers say the plans will be beneficial to both
A Royal Mail employee was unfairly dismissed after he stored ‘obscene material’ on his online work account. That was the decision of the Employment Appeal Tribunal, which ruled that Royal Mail’s internal appeals policy shouldn’t have allowed such a severe penalty. The case involved operational support manager Mr P Chokski. He was dismissed for sharing
The leader of the political group, the Christian People’s Alliance, has lost a court battle with his sister over their mother’s will. Sidney Cordle gained national prominence in 2014 while campaigning against same-sex marriage. He also stood for Parliament for Hitchin and Harpenden but failed to get elected. Mr Cordle’s mother Peggy died in 2016
The High Court has set aside a transaction in which an 85-year-old sold her house at a considerable undervalue to a man 45 years her junior. The judge held that she did not fully understand what she was doing when she agreed to the sale. Ann Sybil Gurney formed a close relationship with William Paul
The government has announced a temporary change to probate applications until a controversial new fee structure comes fully into effect. Probate is the process by which a person’s will is administered after their death. Currently there is a flat fee of £215, or £155 if a solicitor is involved. That is being replaced by a
Pre-nups are becoming increasingly popular and although they are not legally binding automatically, they are now usually upheld by the courts if they are fair to both sides. If they are not fair, it’s possible that they will be overturned, as happened recently in the High Court. The case involved Morgan McConnell, who is an