The government is being urged to introduce reforms to provide better legal protection for cohabiting couples if their relationship breaks down. The number of cohabiting couples has more than doubled in the past generation with 1.5m in 1996, compared to 3.6m in 2021. The House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee says there is a
I have less than two years’ employment. Can my employer dismiss me without a reason? Employees can only usually claim unfair dismissal against an employer if they have a minimum of two years’ service. However, there are exceptions to this rule. If an employee is able to establish an automatically unfair or discriminatory reason for
The new ‘No-Fault Divorce’ legislation came into effect from April 2022, but what does this mean and what has changed for separating couples? Thomas Palmer, a solicitor in the Machins Family Team has some FAQs! What was the old divorce law? Under the old law, those starting the divorce process would have to prove their
Victims of domestic abuse will no longer be cross-examined by their attackers in family and civil courts under new measures which have now come into force. The change is part of the government’s Domestic Abuse Act (2021). It places a legal bar on parties cross-examining each other where there is evidence of abuse. It follows
A fashion designer in her early fifties who was passed over for promotion has been awarded £96,000 after making an age discrimination claim. The case involved Rachel Sunderland, who had worked as a knitwear specialist for Superdry since 2015. Sunderland had 30 years’ experience in the industry and had worked for well-known brands such as Fang Bros
A new insurance scheme has been developed to enable people living in high-rise buildings to sell their homes in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire tragedy. Following the fire in 2017, mortgage lenders became reluctant to lend to buyers of flats in high-rise buildings, and sales dropped rapidly. To provide assurance, a building industry
A couple have won a legal dispute with their landlord after a disagreement over the meaning of the terms of their lease. The case involved a couple, who had leased a flat from AHGR Ltd since 2009. They were leaseholders of a unit in a block of which AHGR was the freeholder. The planning permission
The High Court has ruled that a man’s will that existed only in draft form on a computer, but which was signed by two reliable witnesses, should be accepted as valid. This is a highly unusual decision because generally, the original will, signed in the presence of two witnesses present at the same time, must
House prices across the UK increased by an average of 12.4% in the year to April 2022, according to the latest figures from the Land Registry. It means the average property in the UK is now valued at £281,161. On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, house prices increased by 1.1% between March and April 2022. The UK Property Transactions Statistics showed
The government is providing an extra £5.4 million to help families resolve disputes such as contact arrangements through mediation instead of going to court. Under the scheme, mediation vouchers worth £500 are provided to divorcing couples with the aim of helping them find mutually agreeable solutions and freeing up space in the family courts. It seeks