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One good reason why professional conveyancing is always required is that lurking in the title deeds of a great many properties are clauses that may heavily restrict their development or any future use to which they can be put. One such clause came under close analysis in a High Court case. A couple had obtained planning permission to demolish their cottage and replace it with a substantially larger home. Their neighbour, however, pointed to a restrictive covenant in the cottage's title deeds which dated back to 1958, long before the...

When a person goes missing without trace, the fact that their assets are left in limbo often adds to the agony suffered by their loved ones. However, as a High Court ruling in a very sad case showed, such impasses can if necessary be broken by a judicial declaration of death. The case concerned a teacher and keen outdoorsman in his 50s who never returned home from a walking holiday to Turkey. He told fellow guests at the hotel where he was staying that he was going for a hike...

Tax avoidance schemes are not always effective and can have serious unforeseen consequences. In a telling case on point, a man was required to pay the entirety of the Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) due on a seven-figure property transaction, a bill that he would otherwise have shared equally with his then wife. The then couple initially contemplated a straightforward purchase of the property for £1.075 million. Had that happened, the property would have been conveyed into their joint names, rendering them equally liable to SDLT. In the event, however,...

Judges are not expected to sit placidly on the bench, silently listening to barristers' arguments. However, as a Court of Appeal ruling in a case of critical importance to the future of two children showed, there comes a point where excessive judicial interventions may render a hearing unfair. The children, aged 13 and 10, had poor school attendance records and came from a home blighted by domestic violence and substance abuse. In care proceedings, the local authority proposed that they should remain in their mother's care under the aegis of...