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At the end of October 2013, the Cohabitation Rights Bill 2013 started its progress through Parliament. The Private Member’s Bill aims to give long-term cohabitants rights more akin to those enjoyed by married couples and those in civil partnerships. ...

The Government is proposing to improve protection for consumers who purchase goods or services (including those supplied in electronic form) from businesses. Under the Consumer Rights Bill, consumers will have new rights with regard to goods that are not of...

A recent decision in which the court ruled that a landlord was obliged to repay to its tenant rent paid in advance for a period after the break date on the lease will go to appeal. The case arose because the break date fell during a period for which rent...

A taxpayer has succeeded in persuading the First-tier Tribunal that an information notice issued by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) should be set aside. The man had submitted a return for the 2008/2009 tax year on the basis that he was not resident, and not...

In a case which proves that even corporate minnows can successfully fight off trade mark infringement actions brought by much larger operators, a small party gaming company has inflicted a stinging defeat on the owners of the world-renowned Casino de Monte...

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) are to launch a nationwide campaign to recover an estimated £2.5 billion in tax being evaded by private sector landlords. Although the average tax per rented property is not significant, the total hole in the tax take is...

Homeowners may be breathing a sigh of relief following the widely publicised reports that ‘chancel repair liability’ (CRL) must now be registered to be effective – but the risk still remains for some. CRL can arise where a parish has the...

It is common for couples to make what are called ‘mirror wills’ – in which both wills contain essentially the same clauses. These wills are often in the form of ‘all to other’, whereby the whole of the estate of the first to die...

In the context of a bitter building dispute that was characterised by confusion over the identity of one of the contracting parties, the High Court has emphasised that an adjudicator’s decision, if made with jurisdiction, is enforceable even if...

There are no hard and fast rules over the division of assets in divorce cases. In particular, an equal partition of assets is not always appropriate, as was illustrated by the Court of Appeal’s upholding of a judge’s decision to award 70 per...