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The terms of a rental agreement that would have meant fashion designer Vivienne Westwood having to pay an extra £100,000 on her flagship store in Mayfair were too severe to be enforceable, the High Court has ruled. Vivienne Westwood Ltd leased the premises from Conduit Street Development Ltd in 2009 on a 15-year term with
The risk involved in making major business decisions based on oral agreements was highlighted in a recent case involving a claim for a £13.5m commission payment. It involved a bank employee who agreed to help a company director sell his business. They met in a restaurant on 11 March, 2011 to discuss the deal. The
A director who channelled substantial payments from his family’s businesses to a new company he had set up on his own has been ordered by the High Court to repay the money with interest. The case involved two brothers and their extended family. One of the brothers started making unauthorised gifts and loans to his
A company’s minority shareholders have won a legal dispute with directors who refused to pay dividends yet awarded excessive payments to themselves. The shareholders were descended from the company’s founder. They owned 27% of the company. The directors, who were also the majority shareholders, owned 65%. From 1987, the directors maintained a policy of paying
The thought of trying to get on the property ladder as a first-time buyer can be daunting, particularly with the ever-increasing house prices, paying rent or saving for a deposit. This coupled with the acceleration of residential property prices over the last couple of years has made it increasingly harder for first-time buyers to get
A woman has lost her legal battle with three charities over how much she should be allowed to inherit from her mother’s estate. The high profile case involved a mother and daughter who had been estranged from each other for more than 20 years. The rift happened after Heather Ilott eloped with her boyfriend at
A woman has lost her appeal against being removed as an executor of her father’s will following a dispute with her brother. The case involved a father who died in 2008. He was survived by his daughter and son who were the executors and beneficiaries of his will. There were difficulties between the two of
A mother has been told by the High Court that she cannot take her two-year-old daughter to live with her in Canada. The case involved a couple who began their relationship in England in 2013. The father was British and the mother had dual British/Canadian nationality. They never married and it appeared that they had
The Court of Appeal has ruled that divorce settlements don’t have to try to enable each partner to maintain the same living standards they enjoyed during marriage. Mr Justice Moylan said he did not agree that “need should be met at a level similar or comparable to the standard of living during the marriage”. He
The main residence tax allowance of £100,000 planned by former chancellor George Osborne to reduce inheritance liability has now come into effect. Inheritance tax is set at 40% and becomes payable once the tax free threshold of £325,000 has been passed. It is one of the most unpopular taxes as it reduces the amount of