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There is nothing unlawful about tax avoidance schemes but, however intricate and apparently foolproof they may be, their effectiveness can never be guaranteed. A businessman found that out to his cost after one such scheme failed to shield him from a substantial Income Tax liability. The commercially promoted scheme was designed to enable shareholders in private companies to receive profit distributions free of Income Tax. The businessman was the sole director and shareholder of one such company. Pursuant to the scheme, a single new share, with a face value of...

If someone on whom you depend financially dies without reasonably providing for you in their will, you should contact a solicitor straight away. In a High Court case on point, a delay in seeking legal advice very nearly stymied a disinherited widow's claim against her husband's estate. The widow was 26 years younger than her husband and his family disapproved of their union from the outset. The marriage was a troubled one and, either side of a period of at least partial reconciliation, he twice petitioned to divorce her. They...

Many families have one foot in the UK and another abroad and that can give rise to parental disagreement as to where their children should live. Wherever in the world British children may be, however, family judges in this country have an inherent power to make decisions as to where their best interests lie. The point was made by a case concerning two teenagers who were born in the UK but who had dual British and Pakistani nationality. They had for several years been living with relatives in Pakistan, whilst...

The litigation process can, to a non-lawyer, appear to be a maze of procedural rules replete with traps for the unwary. In one case, a woman's claim against a builder went wrong almost from the start when she failed to pay a court fee on time. Following a trial, the builder, who had worked on her property, was ordered to pay the woman £10,920 in damages. His appeal against that decision was, however, subsequently upheld by a judge on the basis that the woman's delay in paying a £545 trial...