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The whole purpose of the civil justice system is to achieve just and final resolution of frequently intractable disputes – and, as a guideline Court of Appeal decision in an inheritance case made plain, that includes saving litigants from themselves by encouraging them to settle their differences. The case concerned a widow's claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 for reasonable financial provision from her husband's estate. The executor of the estate resisted her claim and opposed a judge's suggestion that a procedure be adopted whereby...

When HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) find out that tax has been under-declared, the response is normally to raise a 'discovery assessment' to collect the tax due. This is usually the result of a period of investigation, and penalties and interest are also levied. When HMRC discovered that a Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) mitigation scheme had been entered into by thousands of people, the response was to issue discovery assessments to all those involved. Curiously, however, a group of six people did not receive any assessments until many years later....

Surprisingly, nearly 250,000 people go missing in the UK every year. Leaving aside the heartache and worry this causes, until recent changes in the law it also created an appalling position for family members trying to deal with the affairs of the person who had disappeared, as they had to be declared legally dead before any action could be taken – a procedure that took years. Matters have been much simplified by the introduction of guardianship orders, which allow the finances and property of a missing person to be managed....

Cohabiting couples are the fastest-growing family type in the UK, according to newly released figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS). The ONS reports that the number of cohabiting couple families continues to grow faster than the number of married couple and lone parent families, with an increase of 25.8 per cent over the decade 2008-2018. It highlights the fact that more and more people are choosing to live together before, or without, getting married. These changing demographics mean that an increasing number of people may be at financial risk...