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The Employment Rights Bill has now received Royal Assent, becoming the Employment Rights Act 2025 . The changes will be introduced in phases over a two-year period, ensuring that employees and employers have time to plan and prepare. The majority of the...
If a UK domain name owned by someone else is similar to a business's own name or trading style, the business can seek to have the domain name transferred to it by making a complaint to Nominet UK through its Dispute Resolution Service (DRS). To succeed in a...
The Upper Tribunal (UT) has granted a landowner's application to modify a restrictive covenant to allow a small bungalow to be constructed in place of a workshop. The landowner had sold land near his house to a local developer in 1999. The developer built...
The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal against the High Court's rejection of a challenge to a grant of planning permission for an energy recovery facility, finding that the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government had complied...
The manager of a care home has been sentenced to five and a half years in prison for forging the will of an elderly woman who lived in the home. The woman had moved into the home in 2020 after becoming ill. She was described by the judge as 'particularly...
A taxpayer has successfully argued before the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) that a company's purchase of shares he owned in it was wholly or mainly for the purpose of benefiting its trade under Section 1033 of the Corporation Tax Act 2010 . The consideration...
The government is seeking responses to a working paper on options for reform of non-compete clauses in employment contracts. According to previous analysis, around 5 million employees in Great Britain work under contracts that contains non-compete clauses,...
Under Schedule 1 of the Children Act 1989 , an unmarried parent can apply for financial provision for their child from the other parent. The Family Court recently granted a mother's application for interim relief in Schedule 1 proceedings, ordering the...
The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal by a casino company against a ruling that it had failed to show that apportioning VAT on overhead costs by reference to floor space gave rise to a fairer and more reasonable result than the standard,...
The Upper Tribunal (UT) has allowed a landowner's appeal against the rejection of his application to be registered as the proprietor of a parcel of land on the basis of adverse possession. The landowner and the owner of adjoining land both carried on...
The High Court has rejected a son's claim that he was entitled to inherit his father's farm based on promises his father had made during his lifetime. The son's claim that his father's last two wills were invalid was also rejected. The father had died in...
The Court of Appeal has dismissed a supermarket chain's appeal against a decision of the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (IPEC) upholding the validity of a trade mark it was alleged to have infringed. The mark was registered for goods and services...
The government has announced the rates of the National Living Wage (NLW) and National Minimum Wage (NMW) which will take effect from 1 April 2026. In announcing these increases, the government has accepted in full the recommendations made by the Low Pay...
The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) have fined a self-employed lead generator £200,000 for sending unsolicited text messages regarding debt reduction schemes and energy saving grants. The lead generator had previously come to the ICO's...
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 the patient has previously expressed, as well as the medical evidence. Recently, the ...
The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has found that the Employment Tribunal (ET) did not err in law in rejecting a postman's complaints of discrimination because of something arising in consequence of disability and unfair dismissal ( Kirby v Royal Mail...
From 1 December 2025, the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) deposit protection limit is increasing from £85,000 to £120,000. If you hold deposits or savings with a UK-authorised bank, building society or credit union and it goes out...
Under Section 168 of the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 , a landlord under a long lease may not serve a notice of forfeiture on a tenant in respect of a breach of covenant unless the tenant has admitted, or the appropriate court or tribunal has...
From January this year, new reporting provisions were introduced in family courts in England and Wales, following a successful pilot scheme. The government has published guidance on the new regime for parents and family members involved in family court...
The Court of Appeal has dismissed an umbrella company's appeal against determinations issued by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) in respect of Income Tax (IT) and National Insurance Contributions (NICs), finding that the company did not have overarching...
A homeowner has succeeded in his application for a boundary determination after his neighbours extended their driveway and built a fence in front of his window. The homeowner had bought his house in 2021. A few months later, the neighbours had dug up part...
The High Court has upheld the validity of a codicil to a woman's will which left the family farm to her two daughters and dismissed claims by her grandsons that she had promised the farm to them. The woman had passed away in 2020 at the age of 96. A will...
If a UK domain name held by someone else is similar to your own name or trading style, you can seek to have it transferred to you by making a complaint to Nominet UK through its Dispute Resolution Service (DRS). To succeed in a DRS complaint, however, it is...
A woman who was dismissed from her job at a company that provided accountancy services has been awarded £14,120 in compensation after the Employment Tribunal (ET) found that she had been unfairly dismissed ( Lanuszka v Accountancy MK Services Limited ...
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...
