A recent case illustrates the sort of unanticipated problem that can arise as a result of owning property abroad. The case involved an English man who owned a property in Brittany. He was in receipt of social security benefits – in particular,...
An easement (such as a right of way) is a right over someone else’s land. A right of easement, once granted, is quite often forgotten about. However, a recent case shows how important it can be to make sure that an easement does not lapse through...
Firms that offer vouchers to employees in exchange for salary sacrifices may face a VAT charge, following a recent opinion of the Advocate General of the European Court of Justice (ECJ). It involved AstraZeneca, which had given employees vouchers in...
In a recent case , the executors of a woman's estate have been ruled to be liable for Inheritance Tax (IHT) on the value of her pension fund, after she failed to take her pension when she was terminally ill. The woman was diagnosed with cancer five months...
The principle that British persons divorced abroad can look to the courts in England and Wales to ensure that their ‘reasonable needs’ are met in the divorce settlement has been firmly established following a recent case involving a divorced...
Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are the most common occupational illness in Britain. They include problems such as low back pain, joint injuries and repetitive strain injuries of various sorts, and affect more than 500,000 people every year. They are often...
The comedian Jimmy Carr was recently successful in using a loophole in the law to avoid a fine for using a mobile phone whilst driving. The argument was based on the fact that he was using his mobile phone as a dictating machine, rather than as a...
An argument over a narrow strip of land has left a mother and son facing massive costs after their case was heard in the Court of Appeal recently. The dispute arose because their neighbour wanted to put up a fence on what he considered to be the dividing...
Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has ruled that the Employment Tribunal (ET) had no jurisdiction to refuse to accept a claimant’s ET1 claim form, on the ground that it found some of the handwriting illegible, because the form did contain the required...
The problems which can arise when there is an intestate estate that involves business assets were made clear recently when the High Court had to rule on a complex claim relating back to a death that occurred many years ago. At stake was a share in a farm,...
It is often thought that, when couples live together, they have similar rights to those who are married or in a civil partnership. However, this is far from the truth, as a barrister found out recently when she lost her case in the High Court . The...
Litigation can be expensive and there are good reasons in many cases for achieving a resolution by mediation when possible. The best course of action will depend on the individual circumstances of the case. Recently, a court case was settled after a...
The Court of Appeal has ruled that a man who knew that he and his daughter were about to become homeless, and who wrote to the council seeking its assistance in obtaining accommodation, had done enough to trigger the council’s obligation to provide...
When someone breaches a confidence and uses confidential information to make a profit, one of the legal remedies which may be sought is to require the person committing the breach to account for the profit made as a result. In a recent case , two...
HM Revenue and Customs have announced that non-UK resident persons who remained in the UK due to disruption of their travel plans because of the volcanic ash cloud and who, as a result, spent more than 90 days in the UK at one time, will not be treated as...
The Court of Appeal has ruled in a case which establishes an important precedent for the setting of fines for breaches of environmental law. Thames Water had appealed against a fine of £125,000 for a mistake which had led to pollution of the river...
Employers should be aware that problems may arise during major sporting events as a result of employees supporting different national teams. In a recent case , a woman claimed that remarks made to her by a colleague during the 2006 FIFA World Cup amounted...
In many countries, bribery and corruption are commonplace. IKEA recently ceased its expansion in Russia, for example, because of the difficulties in obtaining permission to build new stores without being willing to engage in corrupt practices....
A will made two months before the death of an elderly woman has been set aside by the High Court after it heard evidence that by 2006, when the new will was made, she was ‘seriously losing her grip’. The new will left the woman’s entire...
Breach of copyright on the Internet is relatively common, but it is still a breach of the law and one for which there is no defence based on ignorance. Copyright is an absolute right, which arises automatically. Nothing has to be done to obtain it: it arises...
A recent case in the Court of Appeal has resulted in a 92-year-old widow being given the right to evict her daughter and son-in-law, after a bitter family dispute that has lasted, on and off, for 20 years. The judges dismissed the couple's claims that they...
Social Housing providers will greet a recent decision of the Supreme Court with relief. The Court upheld a local council’s decision that it had discharged its duty to secure accommodation for persons who were homeless by sending each of them a...
Taxpayers who evade more than £25,000 of tax will now be ‘named and shamed’ by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) where the evasion affects a period after 1 April 2010. It is expected to be 2011 before the first tax evaders will be publicly...
Recently, two issues relating to foreign travel have arisen which are relevant for taxpayers. Firstly, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have advised that taxpayers who expect to have problems paying tax on time as a result of the volcanic ash cloud should...
Over 1,500 people who suffered chemical burns and allergic reactions after buying ‘toxic sofas’ are to share a compensation settlement worth £20 million, in what is thought to be the largest consumer class action in English legal history. ...
