LATEST NEWS

In an era of easy, internet-based mass communication, reputations can, without a shred of justification, be destroyed at the click of a button. As a High Court case showed, however, victims of such behaviour can, with expert legal assistance, achieve both vindication and just compensation. The case concerned the founder of a spiritual group who was the target of videos posted online and emails sent to recipients who possibly numbered in the thousands. They contained allegations of immoral and criminal conduct against him that were of the utmost gravity. The publications...

There are all sorts of good reasons why you should instruct a solicitor to draft your will whilst you are still hale and hearty. As a High Court case showed, waiting until you are old and vulnerable before performing that vital task is to positively invite dispute between your loved ones after you are gone. The case concerned a widow who was in her 80s when she made a will leaving the lion's share of her estate – which largely consisted of her home and farmland – to her daughter....

A newly purchased house may require a great deal of renovation and repair work to render it habitable – but does that mean it is unsuitable for use as a dwelling for the purposes of Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT)? A tribunal considered that issue in a guideline case. A couple paid over £1.7 million for a detached house that had in the past been tenanted but which had been empty for some months prior to its acquisition. Amidst signs of vandalism, the property was strewn with rubbish and the...

Disputes between separated couples as to how their children should be provided for can, in the absence of compromise, sadly reach epic proportions. That was certainly so in one extraordinary case in which a couple spent over £5 million between them litigating over the future of their son. The couple, who were not formally married, lived a remarkably lavish lifestyle during their long relationship. They viewed the birth of their longed-for child, following IVF treatment, as a miracle. Their separation, however, raised the curtain on relentless litigation concerning the boy....