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A family have been told they cannot make a claim on their stepmother’s estate following the death of her husband. The case involved a couple who died within a few months of each other. The wife had an estate worth more than £26m, while the husband’s estate was valued at £320,000. Both partners had children
Jaguar Land Rover has been ordered to pay £19,000 compensation to a black employee who was subjected to racist slurs by staff and management. Mr Paul Hoyte claimed he had regularly suffered abuse and harassment because of his race and disabilities. The Employment Tribunal was told that Mr Hoyte suffered from depression, anxiety and irritable
The High Court has allowed Bombardier Transportation to examine confidential documents after it alleged that it had been treated unfairly in a public procurement exercise. The issue arose after the company failed to win a £460m contract to supply trains to Merseytravel. The court heard that such contracts attracted the same group of tenderers, who
A landlord has lost a dispute with his local housing authority over the licensing of two of his properties that had been renovated without planning permission. The issue arose out of Part 3 of the Housing Act 2004, which provided for the selective licensing by local housing authorities of private-sector housing in particular areas. In
The High Court has overturned a major mistake made by directors that would have had serious consequences for their company and its shareholders. The problem arose because one of the directors had terminal cancer. The company was indebted to him for £600,000 and it was believed that upon his death, that amount would become immediately
The High Court has settled a dispute about how a minority shareholding in two companies should be valued in accordance with their articles of association. The two companies were owned by eight shareholders. The articles of both companies restricted the right of shareholders to sell their shares and granted pre-emption rights to other shareholders, giving
The issue of whether workers should be paid the National Minimum Wage when they’re on call or required to sleep on site has been addressed by the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT). It said there was no definitive answer as each case would depend on its individual circumstances. However, it did highlight some of the factors
The High Court has outlined the legal principles involved when determining how much companies should pay if they infringe a patent when selling their products. The issue arose in a case involving a company that breached a patent covering the use of aluminium snap-in inserts to fix shelves and brackets to horizontally-slatted wall panels, enabling
The recent Dementia Awareness Week, organised by the Alzheimer’s Society, put the spotlight on the challenges we face as we live longer lives and encounter the illnesses associated with old age. A study published by the journal, BMC Medicine, showed that the number of people who die from dementia is set to almost quadruple in
The problems that can arise if a person fails to keep their will up to date was highlighted in a recent case involving a deceased man’s estranged wife and his new partner. The man had separated from his wife in 1994 but they did not divorce. Shortly after the separation, he began living with his