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Proposals to link the cost of being granted probate over an estate valued at more than £5,000 (currently fixed at £215 for those applying individually or £155 if applying through a solicitor) to the value of the estate were announced in 2017 but were quickly dropped amidst a storm of protest. That, however, was not the end of the matter, because the proposals have been brought back in modified form. Under the new plans, those with an estate worth less than £50,000 will have probate granted without charge, but a...

The leasehold system in the UK has been crying out for reform for years, and the Government has decided to tackle the issues through the medium of a new consultation paper called 'Fixing our broken housing market'. The chief target for the Government has been the use of leaseholds for the sale of new properties, which is seen as a way that developers can receive a passive income as well as their development profit. One of the solutions to this problem will be capping the ground rent per property at...

Modern litigation spans the globe and issues concerning cross-border service of documents and jurisdiction often raise difficulties that make specialist legal advice essential. That was certainly so in a High Court privacy case with a strong international flavour. A doctor launched a claim for damages, alleging misuse of private information and harassment against a man who he feared was intent on publishing private details about him on a website. He obtained an emergency pre-trial injunction that forbade such publication. However, the man subsequently argued that he had not been properly...

You may be forgiven for thinking that the authorities always follow proper procedures, but that is not the case, and when they fail, their actions may not be legally valid. In a recent case, a series of errors put a taxpayer and HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) at loggerheads in the Tax Tribunal, with the result that HMRC's penalty assessments were partly cancelled. In April 2016, the taxpayer had received a notice requiring her to file a tax return. She did so the following October, but it was inadvertently signed not...