The Family Court has concluded that it had no jurisdiction to hear a man's application for an order for sale of the former matrimonial home following his ex-wife's death, finding that personal rights and obligations arising under the Matrimonial Causes Act...
Seeking redress for defamatory statements can often be complex, but it is certainly not impossible. Recently, a woman succeeded in obtaining damages from a journalist who had misrepresented what she had said in an interview with him, as well as from an...
Imprecise drafting in a will is a recipe for litigation and dispute later on. A recent High Court decision on the interpretation of an ambiguous clause in a man's will illustrates the kinds of issues that can arise. The man had made a will in 2007 leaving...
Businesses whose premises are compulsorily acquired are entitled to compensation for loss of profits and any reduction in the value of the business, as well as the value of the premises themselves. Recently, the Upper Tribunal (UT) found that compensation...
Under Section 58(5) of the Family Law Act 1986 , the courts cannot make a declaration that a marriage was void at its inception. That recently proved fatal to an application for a declaration as to marital status by a husband who had undergone a marriage...
The Companies Act 2006 gives the courts a range of powers to assist shareholders who have been unfairly prejudiced by the way a company they hold shares in has been run. Recently, the High Court found that a man had suffered unfair prejudice after he was...
When applying for a boundary determination, it is crucial to gather as much evidence as you can in support of your application. Recently, a couple's application for a determination of part of the boundary between their home and neighbouring land was...
When deciding what is in the best interests of a patient who lacks capacity, the courts will take into account any wishes and feelings the patient has previously expressed but will consider them in the context of all the evidence. Recently, the Court of...
The law affords people a high degree of testamentary freedom, and those seeking reasonable financial provision from an estate must satisfy the courts that it was unreasonable that adequate provision was not made for them. Recently, the High Court ruled that...
The High Court has ruled that a three-year-old girl was not habitually resident in England and Wales and it therefore did not have jurisdiction to determine her father's application for her return from the UAE. The girl's mother was a citizen of Pakistan...
If a building is a house in multiple occupation (HMO) within the meaning of Section 254 of the Housing Act 2004 , can dwellings within the building also be houses for the purposes of the selective licensing scheme in Part 3 of the Act? The Upper Tribunal...
The High Court has ruled that a will made by an elderly woman with dementia, in which she disinherited one of her sons, was invalid due to lack of testamentary capacity and want of knowledge and approval. The woman's previous will, made in 2018, divided...
In certain circumstances, owners of leasehold flats have a legal right to buy the freehold of the building together with other leaseholders. This process is known as collective enfranchisement. For collective enfranchisement to be available, the building...
An engineering and consulting company has been fined nearly £13 million by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) under Section 91 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 , after it published inaccurate information in its full-year 2022 and 2023...
The High Court has dismissed an ex-wife's appeal against a ruling that her former husband's share of the home they owned together was held by his trustees in bankruptcy. The couple had married and purchased the property in 2009. They had two children. In...
The High Court has dismissed a landlord's appeal against a decision that a pub company was entitled to a new tenancy of its premises, the landlord having failed to establish that it intended to carry out works on the premises and could not do so without...
Figures from the High Court have shown that the number of disputed probate claims is continuing to rise. A total of 1,217 disputed probate cases were filed at the High Court in 2025, an increase of 12.7 per cent from the figure of 1,080 in 2024. There were...
The courts are often called upon to make difficult decisions about what is in the best interests of patients who cannot express their wishes for themselves. In a tragic case, the High Court recently ruled that it was not in the best interests of a young boy...
At the third time of asking, the Upper Tribunal (UT) has granted an application to modify a restrictive covenant to permit a second dwelling to be built on a plot of land. The land, on which a small partly thatched cottage had originally stood, had been...
The Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal by a number of hospitality companies against a decision that furlough payments they received during the COVID-19 pandemic served to reduce the amounts payable to them under their business interruption cover. The...
The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal against an order of the High Court that a 14-year-old boy who had remained in England after visiting his father should return to live in South Africa. The boy's parents, both South African nationals, had married...
A claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 for reasonable financial provision from a deceased person's estate must be brought within six months of the grant of probate or letters of administration being issued, unless the...
Disputes over ownership of land all too often become protracted and lead to costs out of proportion to the value of the land involved. Recently, the Upper Tribunal (UT) ruled on a dispute over a strip of land with an area of just 2.2 square metres. The...
Landlords would be well advised to check the terms of their leases before undertaking any projects that may cause problems with issuing service charge demands. Recently, the Upper Tribunal (UT) ruled that a local authority landlord must wait to collect...
A marriage is generally recognised in English law if it is valid under the law of the country in which it takes place, a legal principle known as lex loci celebrationis (the law of the place of the celebration). That principle was central to a recent...
