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The money that goes to the Treasury from people who don’t make a will has nearly doubled in the space of just a year. The Times newspaper has published research carried out by lawyers which shows that £38.5m flowed into the Treasury coffers last year from the estates of people who died without a will
There has been a large increase in the number of children abducted by their parents and taken to or from the UK following the breakdown of relationships. Figures released in the annual report by the Office for International Family Justice for England and Wales show that there were only three such cases in 2007. The
A neighbour dispute over relatively trivial matters has led to financial disaster for one side and divorce for the other. The judge described it as a “sad and regrettable dispute” and urged the warring parties to make peace. The case involved a teacher and a photographer who made a series of complaints about each other’s
The Government has made significant concessions on its ‘shares for employment rights’ scheme in order to get it through the House of Lords. The scheme, in which employees give up some employment rights in return for shares in the company they work for, has met with strong opposition from both Labour and the Liberal Democrats.
Letting agents are to be regulated to protect both tenants and landlords against unfair practices. Housing Minister Mark Prisk has promised legislation that will raise standards across the industry. His proposal will oblige letting and managing agents, and agents involved in leasehold management, to offer tenants and landlords access to an approved redress scheme. It’s
A council has been ordered to compensate the owners of an amusement arcade which lost business when a seaside pier was closed for safety reasons. The case arose after the arcade owners became concerned about the structural integrity of the pier and commissioned a survey. It then provided a copy of the survey to the
Two directors have been disqualified for five years for taking a total of £59,000 from company funds instead of paying creditors after their business got into financial difficulties. Neither director disputed that they took the money at a time when the company’s tax liabilities had risen to more than £109,000 and when a trade creditor
A firm of surveyors has been ordered to pay compensation to a finance company for negligently providing a property valuation that was far too high. The case arose after the surveyors valued a house at £3.4m in July 2007. On the basis of that valuation the finance company provided the purchaser with a loan of
The new National Minimum Wage rates include an increase for apprentices. The Low Pay Commission (LPC) had recommended that the rate for apprentices should be frozen following concerns about compliance, but the Government has decided to go ahead and increase it. Business Secretary Vince Cable said: “The independent Low Pay Commission plays a crucial role
The Government has unveiled plans to introduce a 90-day patent service to help creative and innovative businesses. Under the present system it can take a number of years to obtain patent protection. Ministers say this is acceptable for most patent applications as it gives innovators time to develop their ideas and make important commercial decisions.