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A woman has won the right to challenge a financial settlement agreed after the break-up of her same-sex relationship. She says her former partner lied about the extent of her wealth. The Court of Appeal heard that Helen Roocroft from Bolton had been in a civil partnership with property developer Carol Ainscow. They separated in
When family members buy a property together it is advisable to draw up documents outlining the extent of each person’s share, together with their rights and responsibilities. Failure to do so can lead to disputes as occurred in a recent case before the Court of Appeal. It involved a father and son who decided to
The government is introducing new rules on minimum room sizes in homes in multiple occupation (HMO) as part of a crackdown on rogue landlords. Ministers want to strengthen the ability of councils to tackle ruthless landlords who exploit tenants and charge them extortionate rents to live in poor conditions. Other proposed measures to help councils
Several leading judges and lawyers say businesses could save millions of pounds if they used mediation as a way of settling disputes with employees and other companies. Research by the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR) suggests that about 10,000 cases went through mediation last year – an increase of 5.2% on 2014. Mediation allows
A father has been awarded £28,000 because he received a lower rate of pay than his wife during their shared parental leave (SPL). David Snell and his wife were both employed by Network Rail. The company’s family friendly policy provided an enhanced level of pay for mothers during maternity leave but fathers were limited to
The High Court has ruled that a company acted unfairly when it removed a director without offering to buy his shares. The case involved a director who entered into a partnership agreement with other shareholders in 2000 to acquire and run care homes. The business was incorporated in 2004. In 2012, the shareholders removed him
A landlord was entitled to require bank references and to impose other conditions before allowing a tenant to assign three underleases on residential apartments. That was the decision of the High Court in a case involving two commercial property companies. At the first hearing, the tenant had sought a declaration that the landlord had acted
The number of applications for lasting powers of attorney (LPA) has doubled in the last two years, according to research carried out by the Times newspaper. It says half a million LPAs were set up last year by people seeking to protect their interests in case they develop illnesses like dementia at some point in
A father who lashed out at his children in a restaurant has been told he can only have indirect contact with them for at least the next two years. The case involved a couple who had three children together during their marriage. Following the breakdown of the relationship, the father wanted to remove the children
The government is providing a new fund to help small businesses grow and develop. The Enterprise Capital Fund is backed by the British Business Bank and has a total investment capacity of £40m. Active Private Equity, which specialises in helping consumer-focused businesses grow their brands and build the infrastructure needed to scale up successfully, will