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When it comes to estate planning on the death of an individual, the default legal positions for married and unmarried couples who have not made wills are very different. There is a common misconception that long term partners are automatically entitled to a share of their partner’s estate if they die without a will. However
A court has ruled that a local council was entitled to terminate a contract with a communications company following a number of service failures. The agreement between the two sides covered services such as health, transport communications and public safety. The contract contained a clause entitling the local authority to waive key performance indicator scores
The government says it wants the new penalties for employers who fail to pay tribunal awards to come into force from April this year. The penalties relate to awards made in employment cases. If an employer fails to pay the award or settlement, they will receive a warning notice. If they still fail to pay
A company had not discriminated against an employee by telling her that she had to speak English while at work. That was the decision of the Employment Tribunal in the case of a Russian born woman who started working for a company involved in testing products on animals. The company became concerned at the woman’s
Landlords in England now have to carry out Right to Rent checks on potential tenants to make sure they are entitled to stay in the UK. The new regulations came into force on 1 February. They will affect you if you are a private landlord, have a lodger, are sub-letting a property or are an
The government is to oblige courts and councils to always pursue adoption when it is in a child’s best interest. Ministers say they will change legislation as soon as possible to “make crystal clear that councils and courts must place children with the person best able to care for them right up until their 18th
A court has ordered that a deceased man’s bank account should be frozen because of a family dispute over his estate. The case involved a man who had died intestate, that is, without having made a will. His bank accounts containing £500,000 were closed down by his eldest son, from his first marriage. The man’s
The government has confirmed that more than 2,000 divorce cases may have been voided due to an error on the self-assessment form on the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) website. The error involves Form E, which records the financial details of divorcing couples. The software running the form didn’t take all liabilities into account and so
The Right to Buy scheme has now been extended to housing association tenants. It is being piloted in five areas across England and will be rolled out to the rest of the country later this year. It gives tenants the opportunity to buy their home with a discount of £103,900 in London and £77,900 elsewhere.
The government is making an extra £5m available to councils to tackle unfair practices by rogue landlords. The money will be shared among 48 councils to enable them to carry out more raids, increase inspections of property, issue more statutory notices, survey more streets and to demolish sheds and prohibited buildings. Housing Minister Brandon Lewis