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If you are purchasing a property with a partner, friend, family member or anyone else, your solicitor is bound to ask you whether you intend to own it as joint tenants or tenants in common. A High Court case showed why that is likely to be one of the most important questions you ever have to answer. The case concerned a wealthy unmarried couple who bought a country house for £1.5 million to serve as their holiday and weekend home. The man paid the entirety of the purchase price and...

The legal concept of habitual residence is a notoriously slippery one, but the ease of global travel has rendered it ever more important in the field of family law. The point was powerfully made by the case of an orphaned schoolgirl who was born in Britain but whom a US citizen was desperate to adopt. The girl was aged three when her mother died. Her father had no relationship with her mother and had no parental responsibility for her. A US citizen who had for six years grown up in...

The vexed distinction between employees and independent contractors is a constant source of dispute, not least in the realm of tax. Each case has to be decided on its own unique facts and, in one case, the Upper Tribunal (UT) ruled that a radio presenter was genuinely freelance and was thus not caught by the intermediaries legislation, commonly known as IR35. The presenter provided her services to a broadcaster under the aegis of her own personal service company. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) decided that, if the company's role as...

You are never too old to make a will, but failing to consult a solicitor before you reach advanced old age can be a positive invitation to dispute amongst your loved ones after you are gone. That was certainly so in the case of a woman who was 94 when she signed her last will in a shaky hand. The wealthy woman's niece considered that their relationship was a close one. After receiving a legacy of £100 in her aunt's will, she challenged the document's validity. She argued that her...