How much can you rely on a property information form provided by the seller when you are buying a home? A recent case before the High Court shows the need for caution when interpreting the responses given on some questionnaires. The case involved a couple buying a property surrounded by woodland and farmland. Question 3.1
There has been a steep rise in the number of grandparents taking legal action to secure a role in the lives of their grandchildren. Some try to acquire parental responsibility in cases where the parents are unable to cope or unwilling to take responsibility for their children. Other grandparents simply want to have contact with
A mural by the famous but secretive artist Banksy has highlighted some interesting points about who owns what when a tenant leases a property from a landlord. The case involved the company Dreamland Leisure and a property it leased as an amusement arcade in Folkestone. Banksy painted a mural on one of the walls of
New regulations governing the use of section 21 eviction notices and specifying the information landlords must provide to tenants came into effect on 1 October. Landlords must provide tenants with the following information at the start of the tenancy or as soon as possible afterwards: • a copy of the Energy Performance Certificate for the
What are they? Lasting Powers of Attorney are forms you complete and sign, naming people you want to be able to make decisions for you which continues even if you are no longer able to make them for yourself (if, for example, you have dementia or are unable to communicate following a stroke). What type
Unless we have been through it before, most of us don’t know what we are supposed to do from a legal point of view when someone close to us has died. Our Private Client department can assist you to make sure you are doing the right thing by the beneficiaries of the deceased’s estate and
Machins Solicitors LLP are pleased to announce that they have been recommended in The Legal 500 2015 United Kingdon in the following eight practice areas: South East Corporate and commercial – Corporate and commercial – Beds, Bucks, Herts, Middx South East Dispute resolution – Commercial litigation – Beds, Bucks, Herts, Middx South East Dispute resolution
House prices in the UK rose by an average of 5.7% in the 12 months up to May. That was a slight increase on the 5.5% figure for the year up to April. The figures varied from increases of 5.8% in England to 2.5% in Wales, 2.9% in Scotland and 10.5% in Northern Ireland. The
The High Court has set aside a trust settlement that was drawn up in error and would have resulted in a woman having to pay a large, unexpected tax bill. The case involved a woman who made a settlement on the advice of her father to protect her assets from her former boyfriend. Most of
A son who was once very close to his mother but was then disinherited has failed to overturn her will, even though she had suffered from dementia towards the end of her life. The court heard that the woman had originally made a will leaving her estate equally to her two sons, Timothy and Stephen.