Nearly half the people in England and Wales still believe in ‘common law’ marriage, with many cohabiting couples unaware of the risks they run if their relationship breaks down. A survey carried out by the National Centre for Social Research and Exeter University found that only four out of 10 people realised that cohabitation does
The High Court has outlined the issues to be considered when deciding whether a teenage father should be told that he has a child if the mother doesn’t want him to know. The case involved a mother who had become pregnant at 13 but was unaware of her pregnancy until her waters broke. Her family
The government is planning more protection for pregnant women and new parents to prevent them losing their jobs when they return to work after having children. It’s put forward proposals that the legal protection against redundancy for pregnant women and new mothers on maternity leave is extended so that it continues for up to six
A husband has failed in his attempt to get a £2m lump sum from his wife as part of their divorce settlement. The court held that there was nothing to justify such a payment. The husband and wife had married in 2007. They divorced in 2016 and had a six-year-old son. They had lived in
The High Court has settled a family dispute over who should inherit a house that had belonged to a man who died 17 years ago. The court heard that the man, a grandfather, had purchased the property in 1994 when he separated from his partner and wished to provide for her. He was then 73
A company had not acted unfairly when it dismissed an employee for gross misconduct after he made offensive comments about the managing director on Facebook. However, the employee’s behaviour had not been so bad that it warranted dismissal without any notice pay so he was entitled to compensation. That was the decision of the Employment
The Employment Appeal Tribunal has ruled that a hotel worker is entitled to compensation because her employer failed to give her a statement of rights after one month of employment. The case involved three Polish workers who were dismissed after they complained about “persistent shortfalls in their wages, late payment and a falsification of their
The dismissal of a security guard after he submitted a grievance letter on behalf of work colleagues has been ruled unfair by the Employment Tribunal. The case involved Mr M Brough, who worked for Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital. In 2016, he emailed the trust’s chief nurse saying that security
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Press Release – 31st January 2019 With legal aid drastically cut back, Machins Solicitors is delighted to be supporting a national, not-for-profit social enterprise working to provide accessible support to families through the difficulties of separation and divorce. Paul Owen, Kathryn Ainsworth and Joe Colley are delighted to have contributed to 101 Questions Answered About