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In a ruling which will be greeted with joy by the growing community of self-builders, a couple who made a very handsome return on their 'Grand Designs'-style project have been relieved of a six-figure Capital Gains Tax (CGT) bill. The couple bought a plot of land for £1,679,000 before demolishing the house that stood on it and replacing it with a new residence. The project lasted for the best part of three years and, following completion, the couple lived in their new home for about 14 months before they sold...

Lasting powers of attorney (LPAs) enable thousands of vulnerable people to have their financial and other affairs managed by others whom they trust. However, as a High Court case showed, it is vital to remember that they can only be granted by those who retain the mental capacity to make their own rational choices. The case concerned a 60-year-old man who had a lifelong learning disability and a diagnosis of chronic schizophrenia. In 2009, he purported to grant an LPA in favour of his two brothers and his mother. Some...

In divorce proceedings, those who make overly ambitious financial claims or fail to enter into reasonable negotiations are highly likely to end up worse off. The point was powerfully made by a case in which a bitterly opposed former couple ran up more than £1.2 million in legal costs bills. Following a hearing, a family judge directed the husband to pay the wife a lump sum of £750,000. That was only a fraction of the more than £6 million she had initially claimed. £237,000 of the award was to clear...

Claims to non-UK residency for tax purposes are a political and fiscal hot potato and HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) are, to say the least, reluctant to accept them. In an exceptional case, however, the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) backed a hard-pressed taxpayer and relieved her of a seven-figure tax demand. The woman relocated from the UK to Ireland before receiving a dividend on shares of about £8 million. HMRC refused to accept that she was a non-UK resident during the relevant tax year and amended her self-assessment tax return so...