Read our latest articles, news briefs and legal updates across all our different services.
A father has won his appeal against a court order allowing his estranged wife to take their three children to live in Germany. The couple had married in 2010 and separated in 2015. The father was British; the mother was German with extended family in Germany. They had three children aged between one and five
The government has postponed its proposed increases in probate application fees because there won’t be time to introduce them before the coming election. Ministers hope to go ahead with the changes later this year despite strong opposition from lawyers, charities and the public. Under the current fee structure, fees for grants of probate are set
Thousands of large companies and organisations now have to publish their gender pay gap figures as part of the government’s drive to reduce the pay differential between men and women. Voluntary, private and public sector employers with 250 or more employees must publish their figures by April 2018. The regulations cover approximately 9,000 employers with
New measures including £30,000 fines to tackle the problem of rogue landlords have now come into force. Councils also have new powers to access tenancy deposit protection data to help them identify rental properties in their area, and deal with the small minority of rogue landlords who flout the rules and shirk their responsibilities. Councils
A deceitful director who lied about her company’s ability to pay a supplier has been found personally liable for damages of £1m. However, her former husband who was her fellow director, was not liable as he knew nothing about the disputed contract. The woman and her former husband were equal shareholders in a company buying
A building firm has won a dispute over a £700,000 payment after the High Court upheld a decision made by an adjudicator. The firm had been contracted by some developers to provide pre-construction services for a proposed retirement village. Once the work was complete, it submitted an invoice but didn’t receive payment. The firm then
The recent changes to corporation tax loss relief could lead to more business failures, according to the insolvency specialists, R3. From 1 April this year, companies are only allowed to write off 50% of past losses from future corporation tax bills, rather than the previous 100%. The changes are expected to raise £1.6bn over the
The Court of Appeal has ruled in favour of a landlord who was in dispute with his local council over accommodation for students in two houses in multiple occupation (HMO). The landlord had been granted HMO licences by the authority in relation to the two properties. Each property had a bedroom in the attic, but
You have received a disqualification order, either for a minimum of one year up to a maximum of fifteen, and you may think it is a relatively simple matter to not be employed as a company director during this period. Be warned. The effects of a disqualification order go beyond a simple prohibition. It also
The increasing demand for powers of attorney have enabled the government to reduce costs. It means the fee for applying to register a lasting power of attorney (LPA) or an enduring power of attorney (EPA) has been reduced from £110 to £82. The fee for resubmitting an LPA for registration has been cut from £55