How can I make sure my children inherit my home? Emma Longstaff – Associate Solicitor For most people the main asset you own is your home. Most people wish to ensure that the whole value of the property is left to their
Secret commissions – otherwise known as bribes – leave the taint of illegality on any transaction of which they form part and can have consequences far into the future. The High Court powerfully made that point in castigating mortgage brokers who violated the duty of
If you object to a planning decision, an expert lawyer will ensure that your voice is heard loud and clear. In one case, a woman succeeded in overturning planning permission for the construction of 18 holiday lodges close to her rural home. The local authority
Family disputes frequently focus on inheritance and can inflict immense anxiety and pain on all concerned. A case concerning a young man who died tragically when he stepped in front of a train, however, showed that the best way to avoid such conflict is to
Remote hearings via Zoom, Skype and other communications software have made it possible for the family justice system to continue functioning during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, as a Court of Appeal case showed, such hearings carry the ever-present risk of private comments being overheard. The
Patents reward originality, and inventions that are obvious developments on pre-existing designs do not qualify for protection, however successful they may be. In a ground-breaking case on point, patent protection was denied in respect of a one-man invention which revolutionised the garden hose market. An
It is a fundamental feature of any free society that justice must be done in public, but how does that principle sit with the right of individuals not to have sensitive details of their private lives exposed to the public glare? The Employment Appeal Tribunal
Breaching a planning enforcement notice is a serious offence and landlords should take careful note of a case in which a property owner was stripped of over £500,000 in rent paid on a house which had been converted into 12 flats without planning consent. After
There is a powerful public interest in parties to contracts having the freedom to agree how any disputes between them should be resolved. That principle underpinned the Court of Appeal’s ruling that a dispute arising from a property company’s brief removal from the Register of
Proving a case often requires commercially sensitive documents to be placed before a judge in a public court. In the context of a debt recovery action, the Court of Appeal gave guidance on where the balance should be struck between confidentiality rights and the overriding
