The Upper Tribunal (UT) recently ruled on an appeal against a decision of the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) that a sign saying there was no public right of way over a staircase did not prevent a private right of way being acquired over it. The staircase had...

A man has been banned from acting as a company director for 10 years after breaching the rules of a scheme designed to support businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. The man, who was the sole director of a construction company, applied in 2020 for a...

Taxpayers would be well advised to give prompt attention to any correspondence they receive from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). In a recent case, a man who appealed tax assessments and penalties several months late failed to convince the First-tier Tribunal...

As part of the legislative programme set out in the King's Speech, the government has outlined changes to be included in the Employment Rights Bill, which is set to be introduced within the first 100 days of the new parliament. Proposed changes include: ...

The High Court has ruled that a financial remedies order requiring a husband to transfer his half share of the former matrimonial home to his wife could not stand because he had been made bankrupt by the time it was made. The couple had separated in 2017,...

The Upper Tribunal (UT) has granted a social housing provider's application to modify a restrictive covenant so as to allow it to proceed with a residential property development. The relevant land was sold in 1975 subject to a conveyance limiting its use...

An allegation that a will is a forgery can be hard to prove. However, such an allegation was successfully made out in a High Court case concerning an elderly man who died during the COVID-19 pandemic. The man had passed away in February 2021. A firm of...

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has updated its statistics on data security incidents to include the first quarter of 2024. There were 2,970 incidents reported to the ICO in Q1 2024, an increase of 21 per cent from the same quarter in 2023. The...

Under Section 28A(4) of the Taxes Management Act 1970 , taxpayers whose returns are under enquiry may apply for a direction requiring HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to issue a closure notice. It is for HMRC to show that there are reasonable grounds for...

Under Section 15(2) of the Equality Act 2010 , an employer has a defence to a claim of disability discrimination if it can show that it did not know, and could not reasonably have been expected to know, that the claimant had the disability in question. The...

When making decisions about where and with whom a child should live, the courts will prioritise the welfare of the child and will take the child's own views into consideration where appropriate. In a recent case, the High Court rejected a father's...

The passage of time does not necessarily prevent partners from revisiting partnership accounts that they believe are inaccurate. The High Court demonstrated the point in directing that a number of errors in a family partnership's accounts be corrected. In...

Lasting powers of attorney (LPAs) allow you to appoint someone else to make decisions in respect of your property and financial affairs, and/or your health and welfare, in the event that you lose the capacity to do so yourself. However, an LPA must comply...

Under Section 20 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 , landlords must consult with leaseholders before carrying out works on a building that will cost any one leaseholder more than £250, or risk being unable to recover any costs above that amount....

The Right to Manage (RTM) is a method by which leasehold property owners can take over the management of the building they live in. However, an RTM company is bound by the terms of leases that existed before it was set up, as demonstrated by a recent case ...

An HGV driver's unfair dismissal claim has been rejected after the Employment Tribunal (ET) found that his employment contract had already been brought to an end by his resignation ( White v Eddis Transport (Consett) Ltd ). After he was observed to have...

Those responsible for administering an estate are generally entitled to recover the costs properly incurred in doing so from the estate. Recently, the High Court ruled on whether costs concerning a dispute over a will and an application to remove the...

In a recent intellectual property case with wider implications in terms of directors' liability , the Supreme Court ruled that two directors of a wholesaler of clothing, footwear and headgear that infringed another clothing business's trade marks were not...

A recent decision of the Court of Appeal in a big money divorce case clarified how the sharing principle should be applied and when assets are subject to it. The couple had married in 2005. The husband had had a successful career in financial services...

The Upper Tribunal (UT) has upheld a decision of the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) that 'Mega Marshmallows' are not confectionery and are therefore zero-rated for VAT. A wholesaler of American sweets and treats which supplied Mega Marshmallows was issued with...

Those who fall victim to anonymous fraudsters may think there is nothing that can be done once their money has disappeared, but the courts have powers at their disposal which may assist. In a recent case involving bitcoin fraud , the High Court granted a...

Following recent changes to the law and a consultation last year, the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) has updated its statutory Code of Practice on requests for flexible working, replacing the previous version published in June 2014. ...

Tenants who are faced with unexpected demands in respect of repair costs would be well advised to seek legal advice. In a recent case, leaseholders of units of student accommodation successfully argued that they were not liable to pay service charges in...

The Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 gives qualifying leaseholders the right to join together to buy the freehold of their properties – a process known as collective enfranchisement. A recent case demonstrated that this right...

There are times when it is incumbent on an Employment Tribunal (ET) to consider a point of its own accord if the parties in the case have not raised it. In a recent case, a postal worker successfully argued before the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) that...