One of Britain’s leading judges has called for living wills to be made compulsory to prevent disputes about the kind of medical treatment offered to patients who are unconscious or unable to make their feelings known. A living will, also known as an advance decision, enables you to write down how you wish to be
Many people are tempted to make DIY wills to save money but it can often lead to confusion and extra cost for grieving families, as in a recent case before the High Court. It involved a man who left three houses, one in London, one in Cardiff and one it Montenegro, to the Serbian Orthodox
The government says it wants to streamline the process of buying and selling a home so that it’s easier, cheaper and less stressful for all concerned. It’s begun a public consultation seeking ideas on how to make the system work more smoothly. A survey of 2,000 people who have bought or sold a home recently
The Court of Appeal has overturned a decision that left a wife dependent on her father for financial support following her divorce from her wealthy husband. Hayat Alireza and husband Hossam Radwan divorced in 2013 after 14 years of marriage. Mr Radwan had assets of £17m and earned £350,000 a year. Ms Alireza had no
The divorce rate has risen to its highest level since 2009, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics. It’s thought that financial concerns could be one of the main reasons for the rise. There were 106,959 divorces of opposite-sex couples in 2016, an increase of 5.8% compared with 2015. This amounted
The government has begun refunding employment tribunal fees following the Supreme Court ruling that they’re unlawful. The fees were introduced in 2013, with employees having to pay up to £1,200 to bring a claim. Following a challenge by the union Unison, the Supreme Court ruled that the fees were discriminatory, unlawful and unconstitutional. Up to
A woman who was told that she would be better off working for a more traditional firm has won her claim of age discrimination. Carolina Gomes, aged 59, worked as an administrator for an estate agency. In 2015, management became dissatisfied with her work and told her that she needed to cut out mistakes in
A woman who suffered with mental health problems has been awarded more than £11,000 compensation after her employer failed to deal properly with her request to work fewer hours. Marie-Claire McLaughlin worked for the Charles Hurst car firm when she began to suffer from depression and panic attacks. She asked for reduced hours but her
Parents who lose a child under the age of 18 are to be given the right to two weeks’ paid leave to allow them time to grieve. The government says the allowance will be one of the most generous in the world. Currently under the Employment Rights Act, employees have a day-one right to take
The Court of Appeal has ruled that a teacher’s dismissal was at the extreme end of reasonable but was not unfair. The teacher had been dismissed following a disciplinary hearing. Her internal appeal was dismissed after the panel found that she had repeatedly failed to follow reasonable management requests to attend meetings; had communicated in