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Taxpayers who are unsure how to deal with any correspondence they receive from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) would be well advised to seek professional assistance, as was demonstrated by a recent case in which the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) refused a...
The Supreme Court has ruled in favour of a developer which had unsuccessfully applied to the local council for discharge of conditions attached to a grant of planning permission. The developer wished to build a mixed-use development that included 650...
The Court of Appeal has granted a wife leave to pursue an application for financial relief in England against her former husband, more than a decade after their Russian divorce. The couple were both Russian nationals and had lived in Russia throughout...
A man whose home suffered damage because of problems with its foundations has been awarded provisional damages of more than £423,000 from the housebuilder from which he bought the property. The four-bedroom detached house, which the man had...
The importance of being aware of the rules that apply to arbitration proceedings was highlighted by a recent High Court case in which an appeal against an arbitration award was struck out on the basis that it had been brought out of time. A seller had...
The High Court has refused to make a Deprivation of Liberty order sought by a local authority in respect of a 17-year-old boy. The boy was estranged from his parents and had been accommodated by the local authority since shortly after his 16th birthday....
With the Employment Rights Bill likely to become law shortly, the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) has published four consultations seeking views on how some of the Bill's provisions should be implemented. The DBT is seeking views on how the duty on...
Boys & Maughan is delighted to confirm that Zoe Hudd has been appointed as a trainee solicitor following an internal application process. Zoe will begin her training contract, which the Solicitors Regulation Authority refers to as Qualifying Work...
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have launched a tool to check whether a project involves Research and Development (R&D) for tax purposes. R&D tax reliefs support UK companies working on innovative projects in science and technology. For...
Although Multiple Dwellings Relief (MDR) from Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) was abolished with effect from 1 June 2024, cases dealing with its availability are still working their way through the courts. Recently, two purchasers of a house with an attached...
The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has upheld a woman's appeal against a decision that a colleague who had subjected her to sexual harassment had not been acting in the course of his employment for the purposes of Section 109 of the Equality Act 2010 ....
The Family Court has ruled that four children should continue to live with their father , in what it described as a very long-running dispute between him and the children's mother. The children, aged between eight and 13, had lived with their mother after...
The risks of rebranding without carrying out thorough clearance searches were amply illustrated by a recent ruling of the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (IPEC) on a trade mark dispute . A financial services company had begun to use the name 'Wise'...
Following the Law Commission’s nearly 500-page final report Modernising Wills , published in May 2025, the private client sector stands on the brink of transformative change. Kathleen Gray , Associate Partner at Boys & Maughan's...
Following the Law Commission’s nearly 500-page final report Modernising Wills , published in May 2025, the private client sector stands on the brink of transformative change. Kathleen Gray , Associate Partner at Boys & Maughan's...
Boys & Maughan’s family law expertise has once again earned national recognition, with the firm ranked in the UK The South section of Chambers and Partners – one of the UK’s most trusted and prestigious legal guides. The listing...
While the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) is in principle a 'no costs' jurisdiction, it may make an order in respect of costs if a person has acted unreasonably in bringing, defending or conducting proceedings. Recently, the Upper Tribunal (UT) upheld a...
Where the record of a property's title at the Land Registry contains a mistake, Paragraph 5(a) of Schedule 4 of the Land Registration Act 2002 allows the register to be altered to correct it. The First-tier Tribunal (FTT) recently granted a homeowner's...
The Employment Rights Bill is expected to become law in the near future. On 15 September 2025, the House of Commons considered the amendments made to the Bill by the House of Lords. The Bill has now returned to the Lords for further consideration. The...
It is essential to ensure that court orders are complied with during divorce proceedings. Recently, the Family Court refused a wife's application for relief from sanctions due to her failure to file and exchange her witness statement in accordance with a...
Supplies between companies in the same VAT group are disregarded for VAT purposes by virtue of Section 43(1)(a) of the Value Added Tax Act 1994 . The Supreme Court has handed down its judgment in a case concerning whether this disregard applies if the...
The First-tier Tribunal (FTT) has come to the aid of a taxpayer who claimed that he had been a victim of fraud in relation to claims for Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) relief, granting permission for him to make a late appeal against assessments and...
The High Court has upheld a woman's challenge to a will allegedly made by her late father, finding that the defendants had failed to establish on the balance of probabilities that it was genuine. The will had purportedly been executed in 2019, the year...
The Court of Appeal has upheld a supplier's appeal against a decision that a contract to supply orange juice pulp wash was partly unenforceable because the price paid for some of the supply was to be agreed at a later date. The ruling provides useful...
Boys & Maughan’s family and property litigation teams have again been recognised in The Legal 500 , featuring in the 2026 edition of the leading guide to the UK’s top lawyers and law firms. In family law, Jonathan da Costa continues to be...
In a guideline case, the Court of Protection has granted an application by an observer to a hearing for disclosure of the parties' position statements . The proceedings related to a patient who was suffering from a prolonged disorder of consciousness. The...
The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has found that, when rejecting a woman's claim because the name of the respondent on the claim form did not match the name of the employer on the early conciliation certificate, the Employment Tribunal (ET) erred in law...
In a case relating to the division of assets under a pre-nuptial agreement (PNA), the Family Court has ruled that a wife should be allowed to amend her case to formally plead conduct under Section 25(2)(g) of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 . It was common...
The Upper Tribunal (UT) has upheld a company's appeal against a £10,000 fine for managing or being in control of a house in multiple occupation (HMO), finding that there was no evidence that it was a person managing the property. The local authority...
It is wise to seek legal advice before making an application to the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) for a determination of liability to pay service charges. Recently, the FTT was unable to rule conclusively on whether the tenants of two flats were liable to...
The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has published guidance for organisations on the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 , which received Royal Assent on 19 June 2025. The Act makes changes to data protection law in order to promote innovation and...
It is important to ensure you fully understand the rules of any tax reliefs claimed and take advice if necessary. Recently, the Upper Tribunal (UT) dismissed an entrepreneur's appeal against a decision that the provision of a Director's Loan Account (DLA)...
The Employment Tribunal (ET) has ruled that a man who worked for a membership association which acted on behalf of free-range egg producers was an employee rather than a self-employed contractor ( Gooch v British Free Range Egg Producers Association and...
The High Court recently rejected a challenge to the will of a woman who had experienced memory issues prior to making it. The woman had made the will in 2008. She left her interest in her and her husband's house to her elder daughter. After bequests of...
A recent decision of the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) refusing permission to make late appeals against denials of 16 companies' claims for tax relief highlights the dangers of failing to appeal decisions made by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) in time. A...
A ‘property protection trust’ (PPT) also known as ‘asset protection trust’ are trust structures both for lifetime and Will trusts. It is quite unusual to have the circumstances that require one. Unfortunately, they are becoming more...
When considering issues relating to parental responsibility for children, one of the factors the courts will have regard to under Section 1(3) of the Children Act 1989 is the children's wishes and feelings, in the light of their age and understanding....
An award-winning saleswoman who was not allowed to return to her former role after taking maternity leave, resulting in a significant reduction in her earnings, has succeeded in her maternity discrimination claim before an Employment Tribunal (ET) ( Lindup...
The register of a property's title can be rectified if it contains a mistake. The question of what constitutes proof of a mistake was the subject of a recent case in which the Upper Tribunal (UT) allowed a homeowner's appeal against a decision that title...
Both landlords and tenants can apply to the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) for a determination of whether a service charge is payable. Recently, a landlord was successful in applying for a determination that a leaseholder was liable to pay it £11,371 in...
The Government has published its response to the final report of the Digitisation Taskforce . The Taskforce has been assessing how the UK can eliminate the use of paper share certificates for traded companies, which create inefficiencies and costs for...
The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has published new guidance to help organisations disclosing documents to the public to do so securely , minimising the risk of accidental breaches of personal information. Many organisations regularly need to...
When deciding what is in the best interests of a patient who lacks capacity to make decisions about their care, the courts will take into account any wishes and feelings expressed by the patient as well as the medical evidence. Recently, the Court of...
The Supreme Court has allowed an appeal against a Court of Appeal ruling that commissions paid by dealers to lenders in respect of car finance should be refunded to customers, in a decision which is likely to reduce the scope for similar claims going...
The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has upheld an HGV driver's appeal against the rejection of his constructive unfair dismissal claim, finding that the Employment Tribunal (ET) had misdirected itself on the proper approach to considering the 'last straw' (...
The best way to ensure that your estate will pass to those you wish is to make a will and ensure it is kept up to date. Having a will in place will also make it easier to administer your estate. Figures from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) show that the...
The Court of Appeal has allowed a husband's appeal against a High Court decision upholding the validity of a pre-nuptial agreement (PNA), ruling that the wife's failure to disclose a significant proportion of her assets rendered the PNA invalid. The...
Cases involving the extent of business interruption insurance cover for losses arising due to the COVID-19 pandemic continue to come before the courts. Recently, the High Court was called upon to determine whether the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) and...
All land in England ultimately belongs to the Crown. In a recent case which serves as something of a cautionary tale , a couple who were the directors and shareholders of a company that had owned a property when it was dissolved have been unsuccessful in...
A man who was not resident in the UK for tax purposes has failed to persuade the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) that he was not liable to pay Income Tax on the profits of three limited liability partnerships (LLPs) of which he was a member. The LLPs would...
