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When the mother of a teenage daughter who had been taken into care in 2016 with her agreement had another child, the local council's social services department became involved. The woman's daughter had been removed from home as a result of her mother's relationship with the baby's father. As is often the case in such situations, the family relationship was dysfunctional, having been described as being 'characterised by alcohol consumed by both parties, but more important and additionally, alcohol which fuelled regular domestic violence within the household'. Following the birth...

Recently, Santander was fined more than £30 million for failing to distribute more than £180 million held in deceased customers' accounts to their personal representatives or entitled beneficiaries. More than 40,000 account holders were involved in a problem that persisted for years, leading to an investigation by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). One of the chief issues that the bank faced was that its procedures were unable to identify when a deceased account holder held several accounts. This meant that assets were not identified and dealt with, delaying the administration...

When an 18-year-old woman bought a derelict end terrace property in London in 2006 and sold it to developers the following year, she made no entry on her tax return, believing that principal private residence relief applied. Having made a 'discovery' of the sale in 2012, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) denied that the relief was due and raised an assessment to Capital Gains Tax of £105,300 in 2015. The woman was unsuccessful in persuading the First-tier Tribunal that the relief should apply in her case and also that HMRC's assessment...

Many wills contain clauses which alter the distribution of assets in the event of changing circumstances, such as the death of one of the beneficiaries under the will before the person making it. When drafting such clauses, it is essential that they are absolutely clear to prevent confusion, as a recent case shows. It involved the will of a woman who died in 1973, leaving her estate in trust for her son for his lifetime and then to his children if he had any. If he did not, the estate was...