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There are a number of requirements that must be met for a will to be valid and one of these is that the signing of the will must be witnessed by two people who are not beneficiaries. A recent case before the High Court turned on that point. It was brought by the long-estranged son of a man who died in 2011. The son only became aware of his father's death in 2015 and brought a claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 that financial provision...

Planning laws are complex and before starting any building work it is always wise to seek professional advice. In one case that proves this point, a couple who almost doubled the size of their country cottage without planning permission were ordered to demolish the entire building. The couple had knocked down a large part of the cottage and replaced it with a new house that had a floor area almost 70 per cent larger than the original building and an internal volume nearly 100 per cent bigger. The property was...

It is astonishing how often disputes over the beneficial ownership of assets become the subject of lengthy court proceedings. In a case decided in March, an argument about the ownership of a property ended up (at huge cost to the loser) in the Court of Appeal. The issue was whether the property was owned in accordance with how much the two owners had contributed to its purchase and normal running costs or whether it was owned in some other proportion. In the absence of compelling evidence that ownership of the property...

No matter how much you may trust relatives or close friends, you should never sign important documents without independent legal advice. In one case that proves the point, a man put his name to a deed that was put before him by his brother but which eventually led to the forced sale of his £750,000 home. The man and his brother had used money given to them by their mother to buy a flat. He believed that it would provide a home for him and his family indefinitely, but his...