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Legal arguments between cohabitants who break up are commonplace. However, a recent case dealt with a lengthy legal dispute between the surviving partner of a gay couple and his deceased partner's family. The couple lived in a property that was owned by the partner who died in March 2016 without making a will. The dead man's brother and sister obtained letters of administration to deal with his estate and sought possession of the property in which he and his long-term partner had lived. However, the surviving partner, whilst acknowledging that he had...

When a wealthy construction business owner and his wife divorced in 2011, a 'clean break' agreement was made to include the sale of the two properties they owned – the family home in the UK and one in Spain. In the event that neither had been sold, the husband would purchase a property for the wife, the costs of which (including interest on the mortgage which he would pay) would be met from the proceeds of the property sale. In addition, he agreed to pay her by way of a...

Although they may not know it, many householders are banned by restrictions in their title deeds from using their properties for commercial purposes. Recently, a man who converted his garage into a dog grooming parlour discovered why he should have sought legal advice before setting up a business in his home. The man's home was part of a recently built estate. On transferring the properties to their new owners, the developer had imposed a restrictive covenant requiring that they should not be used for any trade or business. The man...

You may think that because a firm has an email address, you can serve a writ or other legal document on them by sending it via email…and so you can, but not unless the firm has agreed to that. It took a visit to the Supreme Court to resolve the issue in a recent case. The circumstances were simple. A man wished to serve a legal claim on a firm of solicitors. As is standard practice in such cases, the firm instructed another law firm to act for them. That...