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If you are involved in a dispute with your builder, taking sound legal advice is by far the best means of ensuring that matters do not get out of hand. One householder who failed to take that sensible course found himself embroiled in costly legal proceedings and on the receiving end of a substantial bill. The man engaged a building firm to deal with some persistent leaks in his basement. Rather than entering into a fixed-price contract, he orally agreed to pay the firm a daily rate for its work....

Co-ownership of land by family members can be intensely problematic if they do not see eye to eye as to the use to which it should be put. A High Court case on point focused on a naturalist's ambition to 'rewild' farmland he and his brother had jointly inherited from their father. The naturalist said that the seven plots of land had been in his family for over 600 years and objected to his brother's proposal to sell five of them to a neighbour for £845,000, far in excess of...

New rules surrounding the payment of Capital Gains Tax (CGT) on profits made on the sale of a residential property are now just weeks away. Taking effect on 6 April 2020, the changes will reduce the amount of time individuals have to pay their CGT bill and could significantly increase the CGT due on the disposal of a residential property. Current legislation will change in regard to Letting Relief, CGT liability and the tax exemption period on principal private residences. In summary, from April: Residential property disposals will have...

It is hardly surprising that confidential or privileged documents which have or may have been illegitimately obtained cannot be used in evidence. However, as the High Court made clear in the context of a big money divorce case, that rule does not apply where such documents are likely to assist in exposing a fraudster's schemes. A wife had obtained a record financial award against her husband. He had, however, failed to pay a penny and her legal team was engaged in an international struggle to enforce the debt. A former...