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Investing in property is very far from being risk free but usually has the advantage that monies advanced are secured against real 'bricks and mortar' assets. The crucial importance of ensuring that enforceable security is in place before parting with your money was underlined by a High Court ruling. The case concerned a company's purchase of a substantial property with a view to its conversion into a nursing home. Private investors were sought on the basis that they would be granted leases of individual rooms. More than 50 investors, who...

Family disputes frequently focus on inheritance and can inflict immense anxiety and pain on all concerned. A case concerning a young man who died tragically when he stepped in front of a train, however, showed that the best way to avoid such conflict is to make a professionally drafted will. The deceased, who had learning disabilities and mental health issues, was aged just 35 when he died but was a wealthy man due to an inheritance from his grandfather. An inquest resulted in a verdict of accidental death. Following his...

Santosh Kumar has over 25 years’ experience handling international child abduction cases. Here Ms Kumar explains why having a specialist solicitor is vital to getting a positive outcome with child abductions, particularly in Hague Convention cases. Background to the case I recently took over a child abduction case from a firm who had little understanding of Hague Convention cases. The client had come to me because she understood the case was not going well. What she could not have known is that her previous firm had not set out any defence...

The most straightforward means of minimising Inheritance Tax (IHT) payable on your estate is to give away your assets with warm hands when you are still hale and hearty. However, such gifts will bring no tax advantages at all unless they are absolute and unreserved. A recent High Court case concerned four British Virgin Islands-based trusts which were set up by a wealthy British businessman to hold various UK properties for the benefit of his two sons, their spouses and progeny. The objective of the trusts was to remove the...