Nearly two out of three people in the UK haven’t made a will and so risk creating a financial nightmare for their families, according to new research. The survey suggests that many people don’t make a will because they feel uncomfortable about discussing death and their dying wishes. However, there is a great deal at
An extended family have been able to rectify a trust document which would have prevented them benefiting in the way intended when the settlement was first drawn up. The case involved a farming business. The shares were originally held by a husband and wife team in the 1970s. The couple put a number of shares
A businessman has been sentenced to four months in prison after failing to disclose financial information during his divorce proceedings. The high profile case involved former model Alisa Thiry and her second husband, Didier Thiry, a Belgian businessman and property developer. Their divorce involved complex discussions about how the couple’s considerable wealth should be divided.
A new strand of the Government’s Help to Buy scheme has been launched, with the aim of helping members of the armed forces to buy their own home. They can now apply to the Forces to Buy scheme for a loan of up to 50% of their salary to use towards buying a home. It
A father has been denied direct contact with his daughters because they repeatedly stressed that they didn’t want to see him after he separated from their mother. The sisters were born in 2003 and 2006. They both moved out of the family home with their mother when their parents separated in 2008. Then the sisters
The government says building your own home is becoming more affordable following the introduction of new measures to support the self-build industry. In the Budget, the Government announced it would create a £150m repayable fund to help people who want to custom build. This will help to service up to 10,000 plots. Ministers are also
There have been very substantial changes to the law that affects families since the Children and Families Act 2014 and the Child Arrangement Programme came into force in April. The main changes are that 1. It is now compulsory to attend a Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting (MAIMs) before being able to make an application
A property developer who breached his legal duties by failing to spend an investor’s money correctly has been ordered to make a full repayment. The case involved a property developer and an investor who agreed to set up a golf course in France. The investor provided £500,000 to get the project started in July, 2007.
A pressure group has lost an appeal to prevent wind turbines being built next to an area of natural beauty. A planning inspector had approved an application from a developer to build the turbines. He found that they would provide a useful contribution to the area which had a shortfall of renewable energy. He was
What is defamation? A defamatory statement is where one person damages a person’s good name without lawful justification or excuse. When a defamatory statement is in writing it is libel and when a defamatory statement is made orally, it is slander. The changes brought in under the Defamation Act of 2013, including the new requirement