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Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, it is becoming increasingly hard to see where the balance of harm lies between the risk of exposing care home residents to a life-threatening virus and compromising their most basic quality of life. The Court of Protection made that point in coming to the aid of a man whose contact with his beloved wife was restricted to conversations through a barely ajar window. The 58-year-old woman's relationship with her husband had endured for 40 years. A music lover who was extremely well travelled, she enjoyed life...

Those who deliberately delay filing their tax returns risk incurring severe financial penalties. However, the tax regime leaves room for mercy and, in relieving a hard-pressed restaurateur of more than £60,000 in penalties, the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) took account of her caring responsibilities for a succession of sick and elderly relatives. The woman managed an extensive family restaurant business. She explained her delay in filing her returns in respect of two tax years by the fact that she was at the relevant time primary carer for her father and parents-in-law,...

Many rural homes obtain their supplies of fresh water from sources which lie beyond their boundaries and such arrangements can sadly prove fertile ground for dispute. A case in which a farmer and his niece were at odds over water rights showed the wisdom of seeking early legal advice so that such disagreements can be nipped in the bud. The niece lived with her partner and young son in a converted agricultural building which had been bequeathed to her by her grandfather in his will. The property was served by...

Contact arrangements between children in care and their parents often raise vexed issues, but all the more so during the COVID-19 pandemic. In a case concerning a mother who was denied skin-to-skin contact with her newborn baby, however, the High Court bent every sinew to achieve a just and practical resolution. The mother suffered from an emotionally unstable personality disorder and accepted that she was not currently able to care for her daughter, who was born at the height of the pandemic. The child was made the subject of an...