A 91-year-old man has been granted the right to buy the home he shared with his partner because her will had not made reasonable provision for him. The court heard that the man had lived in the home with his partner for 20 years. She had made a will leaving all her estate to her daughter and nothing to him. After she died, her daughter began legal proceedings to gain …Read More
New scheme to promote arbitration in family disputes
A new scheme has been launched to encourage the use of arbitration in family disputes involving the welfare of children. The Family Law Arbitration Children Scheme was set up four years ago to help families resolve financial issues. Now the Institute of Family Law Arbitrators, which runs the scheme, wants to extend it to cover disputes concerning the exercise of parental responsibility. The kind of issues covered include where children …Read More
Trust enabled Duke of Westminster to avoid billions in tax
The late Duke of Westminster saved his family billions of pounds by using a trust that allows wealth to pass through the generations without attracting a large inheritance tax liability. The Duke died in August leaving an estate valued at £9bn. It’s thought nearly all of that wealth will pass to his son Hugh without triggering death duties. This is because under a complex trust structure, the family are trustees …Read More
Soap Box Challenge comes to Hartley Wintney – Sponsored by Bates Solicitors
Race 1 on the card for the annual Hartley Wintney Pram Race 2016 is the ‘Toddlers Dolly & Teddy’ Race for 4/5-year-olds, 20 yards run across the quintessentially bucolic Cricket Green
More than half a million people open Help to Buy ISAs
More than half a million people have opened Help to Buy ISAs in just six months, according to the latest government figures. The ISAs became available last December. They are very attractive to first time buyers because the government has agreed to add a 25% bonus to a person’s savings as long as the money is used to buy a home. The maximum bonus is £3,000, available when your Help …Read More
Daughters lose appeal after being left out of father’s will
A father had understood what he was doing when he left his daughters out of his will and made specific provisions for the division of his estate. That was the decision of the Court of Appeal in the case of two daughters who believed their father had been subjected to undue influence shortly before his death. The court heard that the father had substantial shares in a company. While in …Read More
Court orders that abducted girl should be returned to her mother
A court has ordered that a nine-year-old girl who was abducted by her father should be returned to her mother. The case involved an English father and a Polish mother who had separated after a long relationship. Following a dispute over their daughter’s residence, the English court declared that the child had become habitually resident in Poland and that she should remain there in her mother’s custody. An order was …Read More
Employee on sick leave can carry over holiday entitlement
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has confirmed that an employee who is unable to take annual leave because of sickness can carry over the entitlement to a later date. The case involved a teacher in Poland who was convalescing from an illness and unable to take her annual leave. When she later came to claim it, her school said that it had been used up during her sick leave. …Read More
Asda fails to block equal pay claim at employment tribunal
The retailer Asda has failed in its attempt to force 7,000 women to pursue equal pay claims in the High Court instead of at an employment tribunal. The case involved claims by more than 7,000 Asda employees, overwhelmingly women, working in its stores across the UK. They claimed equal pay with staff, mainly men, employed in distribution depots. Asda considered the case to be exceptional and of great significance for …Read More
Court warns against secretly recording children in family cases
A judge has outlined why it would nearly always be wrong to secretly record children’s conversations as a way of gathering evidence in family proceedings. The issue arose in a case involving a dispute between a father and mother over the residence of their daughter. The father and his new partner wanted to know what the child was saying at meetings with her social worker, a family support worker and …Read More