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Relatives of a wealthy physicist have failed in their bid to inherit hundreds of thousands pounds from his estate. The physicist had several bank accounts, including one on the Isle of Man containing £250,000, and one in Jersey containing £500,000. He made a will leaving some assets to his family but then specifying that the
A householder has lost ownership of a strip of land outside his home after a neighbour started using it and then claimed it as hers under the principle of adverse possession. The case involved a grass verge that was close to the neighbour’s property. The neighbour started using in 1999 and maintained it as if
The government is to extend mandatory licensing to smaller and medium-sized properties in an effort to crack down on rogue landlords who exploit vulnerable tenants in unsafe and overcrowded accommodation. Landlords who fail to obtain a licence will face a potentially unlimited fine. The proposals are contained in a new discussion paper published by the
The family law group Resolution has urged the government to increase legal protection for cohabiting couples. New figures released by the Office for National Statistics reveal that unmarried couples living together are now the fastest growing family grouping in the UK. There are 3.1 million opposite sex cohabiting couple families. It means they now make
With an ageing population and more people living in less traditional family set ups it is becoming increasingly common for people to challenge wills and make claims on the estates of their deceased relatives. Challenging a will and making a claim on an estate are two quite different legal matters. The former is made on
A sub-contractor has won its appeal that workers who were temporarily laid off while employed on a building project should still qualify to be transferred to a new firm under TUPE regulations. The sub-contractor had been engaged by a construction company to work on a large contract. It assigned a number of workers to carry
The government is introducing new measures to allow more offices and other commercial buildings to be converted into homes. Temporary permitted development rights were introduced in 2013. They made it possible to convert offices into homes without having to apply for planning permission. It led to 4,000 conversions being given the go-ahead between April 2014
A total of 115 employers, including high profile companies like Monsoon Accessorize, have been named and shamed for failing to pay some of their employees the National Minimum Wage. The companies spanned several sectors including hairdressing, retail, education, catering and social care. Between them they underpaid their workers by a total of £389,000. Monsoon headed
A husband has won his appeal against a divorce settlement that would have not have been possible to put into practice. The case involved a couple who were both 58 and were divorcing after 13 years of marriage. The wife worked in a primary school and the husband owned a small company. At the hearing
A company providing environmental training courses has won its appeal against the non-payment of invoices by a major client. The issue arose after the provider was hired to provide training on behalf of the client to small and medium-sized enterprises. The draft service agreement stated that payment would only be made if the provider produced