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A recent case illustrates the sort of unanticipated problem that can arise as a result of owning property abroad. The case involved an English man who owned a property in Brittany. He was in receipt of social security benefits – in particular,...
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An argument over a narrow strip of land has left a mother and son facing massive costs after their case was heard in the Court of Appeal recently. The dispute arose because their neighbour wanted to put up a fence on what he considered to be the dividing...
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The problems which can arise when there is an intestate estate that involves business assets were made clear recently when the High Court had to rule on a complex claim relating back to a death that occurred many years ago. At stake was a share in a farm,...
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A recent case in the Court of Appeal has resulted in a 92-year-old widow being given the right to evict her daughter and son-in-law, after a bitter family dispute that has lasted, on and off, for 20 years. The judges dismissed the couple's claims that they...
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A total of 15 people died from carbon monoxide poisoning associated with domestic gas appliances in the year 2008/2009, mainly a result of gas appliances being fitted badly or not being serviced properly. All landlords have a statutory obligation under the ...
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An executor who stole more than £80,000 from the estate of a client faces a jail sentence for his crime. The man, who operated as a ‘will writer’, also faces a confiscation order against his assets. Much of the money was used to finance a...
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An easement is a right over someone else’s land, such as a right of way. Once granted, rights of easement are frequently forgotten about, but a recent case shows the importance of making sure that an easement does not lapse through disuse. It...
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Following a series of cases involving unqualified will writers, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has announced that it has approved a Code of Practice which will apply to members of the Institute of Professional Will Writers (IPW). The code of practice will...
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Those who buy new homes 'off plan' now have significant new protection under the Consumer Code for Home Builders , which came into affect on 1 April 2010. The Code requires builders of houses to keep buyers informed of the progress of the construction...
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When an estate containing assets such as property or unquoted shares is to be distributed amongst several beneficiaries, there is potential for dispute over the valuations of assets. A case which is now starting to occupy court time illustrates this point....
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An owner of an estate was recently successful in preventing the creation of a public right of way, thanks to a previous owner who had disputed a planning enquiry nearly 30 years previously. The dispute involved a pathway which a local planning...
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One of the more contentious issues in the administration of estates arises when the deceased had remarried, leaving ‘old’ and ‘new’ families, which often take different views about how the estate should be divided. The High Court...
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A recent case in the Court of Appeal illustrates how disputes can arise between neighbours as a result of ambiguous drafting of legal documents. In this case, the dispute concerned the owners of neighbouring properties that had originally been one parcel...
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Although a trustee is personally responsible for the actions they take, the law is not so harsh as to prevent a trustee who makes an innocent mistake from rectifying it. In a recent case , a ‘receiver’ for a mentally impaired man (her...
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If landowners allow other people to use their land over a long period, they may lose the right to prevent such use in the future. An 'easement' (the right of use over someone else’s property) is created when use of...
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Possessions and money are not the only issues which can be considered when making a will. Some people choose to donate their body to medical science after death in the hope that it will be of some practical use. Donated remains are used by medical students...
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Although we have become used to the Government announcing initiatives which never see the light of day (or announcing them as new initiatives months or years later), the news that Home Information Packs (HIPs) have been scrapped by the new Government will...
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A recent attempt by the RSPCA to contest a will failed, after the charity pursued in court what was described as an ‘extremely weak’ case. The charity, which inherited two thirds of a millionaire’s estate, demanded an even bigger...
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When someone must cross a piece of someone else’s land to access their own, the land crossed is known as a ‘ransom strip’, because the price which must be paid for the right to cross the land is often heavy. In a recent case, two...
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Because of numerous problems with trust law (which is based both on common law and the Perpetuities and Accumulations Act 1964 ), the Government has, after a long consultation process, introduced new legislation in the form of the Perpetuities and...
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The Court of Appeal has overturned the ruling that a boat owner who had moored his boat to the river bed of the Thames had acquired legal title to the land. The Court accepted that it was possible to acquire the title by adverse...
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A recent case , involving a bitter dispute amongst a Norfolk farming family, has shown that a will may not be upheld by the courts if there are serious doubts about the testamentary capacity of the person who made it. In the case...
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A recent planning case in the Court of Appeal produced what the judge described as a ‘surprising outcome’. Alan Beesley had been granted planning permission by Welwyn Hatfield Council to build a barn on green belt land, for agricultural use...
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Owners of properties and other assets abroad will be relieved to hear that the UK has opted out of the European Union (EU) proposals to simplify the administration of estates with a ‘cross-border’ dimension. The EU estimates that there are some...
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The Mental Capacity Act 2005 introduced provisions to assist in establishing capacity. The law will assume that the Testator has capacity unless the contrary can be established. The Act provides that a Teatator is not to be treated as unable to make...
