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Making a mistake on your tax return can have extremely serious consequences and that is why it is always wise to take professional advice. In a striking case on point, the High Court declined to come to the aid of a public-spirited businessman who donated £800,000 to charity but entered only half that sum on his tax return. The man made the donation on the anniversary of his wife's death. He said that he had initially considered a gift of £400,000 before changing his mind and deciding to donate double...

A parent who wishes to move from one country to another with his or her child must first obtain the consent of the parent left behind. That principle of international law is easily stated but, as a guideline Court of Appeal ruling showed, applying it in a way that protects the child's welfare is often a much more complicated matter. The case concerned two children, aged six and eight, who were born in Germany, where they spent the first years of their lives. Both their parents were also born in...

If your neighbours have obtained planning permission for building works to which you object, you may think that is the end of the matter. However, as one case strikingly showed, with the right legal advice you can still win the day. A company obtained planning permission to build a large, six-bedroom family home on a vacant plot of land. The project, however, would breach a restrictive covenant in the plot's title deeds which forbade construction of any substantial buildings in front of a line 50 feet away from its rear...

Senior partner and statutory tenancies expert Russell Conway rescues rent act tenant from a deal with hidden costs, to secure a £1.8 million cash settlement for her small one-bedroom flat. Regulated tenancies The client in question had a regulated tenancy under the Rent Act 1977, which entitled her to the following protections: Regulated tenants pay a ‘fair rent’ which is often substantially lower than market value; Regulated tenants can only be evicted by court order, and a legal reason for eviction must be proved (such as rent arrears). Due to the one...