Private Client Solicitors in Margate, Canterbury, Broadstairs, Ramsgate and Birchington, Kent

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HMRC Stick to Limited Period for CGT Payment on Residential Property Gains Despite strong representations from the professional community, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have decided that they will stick with a 30-day initial payment requirement for Capital Gains Tax (CGT) on residential property gains for disposals after April...
Good News for Airline Passengers as 'In Writing' Clause Overcome Almost everyone who has flown much has a story (or more than one) about lost or damaged luggage, and holiday insurance claims regarding these are commonplace. A Finnish man who took a holiday to Malaga found that some items went missing from his luggage on...
Inconsistent Residential Planning Permission Overturned If you are faced with an unwelcome proposal for development nearby, a recent case shows how tenaciousness and a knowledge of past planning history can help to prevent it. Consistency of decision making is a fundamental principle of planning law and local...
Wife Seeking Divorce Fails to Prove English Domicile London has gained a reputation as 'the divorce capital of the world' because settlements reached are, by international standards, very generous towards women. It is no surprise, therefore, that the courts in this country are a very popular choice of venue...
Boys & Maughan makes the ESTAS shortlist for third consecutive year We are delighted to announce that we have once again been recognised for our outstanding customer service to clients by the largest award scheme in the UK residential property industry. The ESTAS Group, which highlights the best firms for customer...
Attorney Pays for Lack of Attention If you accept appointment under a power of attorney, it is essential to understand the responsibilities this entails. A recent case shows what can happen if a less than thorough approach is taken. It dealt with arrangements made by a 95-year-old widower...
New Guidance on Care Home Charges After Death It is a stressful and unhappy enough time when a loved one dies, but the anguish of those mourning the loss can be compounded when there are complications over payments to care homes which seem excessive. Recently, the Competition and Markets Authority...
Planning Application Restricted to Preserve View On our densely populated island, there is a pressing need for available land to be put to sensible use and, where restrictive covenants lurking in title deeds prevent that happening, they can be modified. In a case on point, a man's desire to provide a...
Unmarried Partners and Widowed Parent's Allowance - Supreme Court Rules A decision of the Supreme Court announced today has important implications for unmarried partners of people who have died. The case involved a woman from Northern Ireland who was denied Widowed Parent's Allowance (WPA) after her partner of 23 years passed...
Financial Claim Based on Support After Divorce Fails The usual course of events on divorce is that there is a financial settlement which divides up the family assets as they are at that point in time. This takes into account the expected future income and need for income of the couple who have split up, based...
Landowners' Duties and Highway Visibility - Court of Appeal Test Case If landowners allow vegetation to grow so that it affects visibility on adjacent highways, should they be held liable if accidents occur? In a decision that broke new legal ground, the Court of Appeal has answered that question with a resounding 'no' . The...
Farmer Acts to Protect Family Promise Farming families appear regularly in the courts these days, as more and more cases arise that feature undocumented promises that have been made (or are alleged to have been made) by parents but not kept. The law will only enforce such informal arrangements...
Tenants Must Bear Cost of Safety Improvements Following the Grenfell disaster in 2017, cladding has come under close scrutiny with surveys being carried out as a priority in buildings across the UK. The failure to comply with Building Regulations (Part L1A 2010), which provides a framework for ensuring...
Possible Separation From Mother Intolerable, Rules Court Relationships that start on the Internet are already leading to some interesting situations. A recent family case involved a British woman who had met a Pakistani man online and married him in the USA, where the couple had two children. Her husband had...
Hacking Episode a 'Reasonable Excuse' for Late Filing of Tax Returns Taxpayers are personally responsible for filing their tax returns on time, and failing to do so can lead to stiff financial penalties. However, in one case, the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) ruled that a self-employed website developer whose accountants lost all...
Money in a Bank Account Is Not Property - Guideline Court of Appeal Ruling Money in a bank account represents the debt due from the bank to the account holder and is not 'property' in the eyes of the law. The Court of Appeal made that point in quashing the convictions of a woman who was accused of abusing her position as a senior...
Disappointed Children Fail to Overturn Will When a will is made late in life which materially changes how an estate is to be distributed (especially when the new will favours one of a number of children), a dispute following the death is almost inevitable. So it was when an 85-year-old woman made a...
Pre-Nup Upheld When Implications Understood Family judges will approach pre-nuptial agreements with greater respect following a landmark Court of Appeal ruling in a 'big money' divorce case . The Court agreed with Lord Phillips' opinion in Radmacher v Granatino that failing to honour such...
What Seems Reasonable to You... It is a common term in a lease for the tenants to have to seek permission from the landlord if they want to do something new to or with the premises they let. Typically, such clauses specify that permission will not be 'unreasonably withheld'. However, what...
A Little Too Much Knowledge Can Be a Dangerous Thing There are special rules for people working in the UK on short-term secondment from employers based abroad. Many do not become taxpayers under the UK tax system. When one such person contacted HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to clarify his position, he was...
Unnecessary Risk-Taking Means Tour Operator Not Liable for Accident With the holiday season upon us, a recent case shows that there are limits to the liability of tour operators when accidents occur, especially when they are the result of rash behaviour. The case involved a man who fell from the balcony of his hotel in...
Witnesses Save the Day for Widow in Will Argument A divorced man who remarried in his late 50s made a new will in 1998, one year after the marriage, which left his entire estate to his new wife. After he died, a home-made will was discovered, made shortly before his death. This left virtually his entire...
Jail for Husband Who Flouted Court Ruling Court orders have to be obeyed and those who defy them can ultimately be sent to prison. Exactly that happened in one 'big money' divorce case in which an 83-year-old businessman repeatedly tried to thwart his ex-wife. Following the end of the former...
Inheritance Tax - 'Hope Value' Relevant to Property Valuations When valuing a property for Inheritance Tax (IHT) purposes, is it legitimate to take into account its potential for enlargement or improvement – so-called 'hope value'? In a guideline ruling, the Upper Tribunal (UT) has answered that question in the...
Siblings Pay High Price for Dishonest Assistance to Bankrupt Brother If family members or friends are facing bankruptcy, it may be tempting to assist them in keeping their assets away from the clutches of creditors. The folly of such conduct was, however, strikingly revealed by a Court of Appeal case concerning a family...
Will Wishes Rescinded by Court One powerful reason why you should always seek legal advice before making your will is to ensure you meet your responsibilities to those who depend on you financially. In one case on point, the High Court effectively rewrote the will of a wealthy landowner ...
Future Earning Capacity Not a Matrimonial Asset The Court of Appeal has made an important decision in a divorce case in which the main argument was over the availability of future income to fund maintenance payments in divorce settlements. The couple involved are both accountants and the husband is at...
Council Tax to Bite on Empty Property In 2017, 205,293 dwellings in England were left empty for six months or more. With the housing shortage never far from the news agenda, steps to bring unoccupied houses back into use are being taken by the Government. Under the Rating (Property in Common...
Confidentiality - Don't Give In to Threats If you are facing menacing demands for money, you should take legal advice straight away. In a recent case, the High Court came to the aid of a wealthy married businessman who claimed to have been subjected to blackmail following a brief affair with a work...
Under Financial Pressure? Don't Fall Into Dodgy Lenders' Arms! Financial pressure can easily lead the unwary into the arms of unscrupulous lenders. One High Court case, in which numerous borrowers found themselves in legal limbo , shows how unwise it is to enter into such transactions without professional advice. A...
Trust Variation for Minors - High Court Holds Sway Setting up family trusts with minors or those with mental incapacities as beneficiaries is by no means uncommon and it sometimes occurs that such trusts need to be varied for one reason or another. The mechanism for this is the Variation of Trusts Act 1958...
Pre-Nuptial Agreement Receives Court Backing The validity of pre-nuptial agreements depends on legal advice being taken on both sides, equal bargaining positions and overall fairness. In one case, the High Court found that a wife in a big money divorce case was bound by such an agreement and awarded...
Harassment Order Given Against Unknown Abuser Harassment is very unpleasant and, when a person is subject to a campaign of abuse, it can prove extremely upsetting. Furthermore, it is often quite possible for the abuser to preserve their anonymity. In such circumstances, it might seem that there is...
Be Careful Who You Trust With Your Finances Giving someone else power of attorney over your finances can be a useful means of ensuring that your affairs will be properly managed if you lose the capacity to do so yourself. However, one case in which a war veteran's money was plundered by a man he...
Understanding Between Couple Regarding Work Done Creates Legal Obligation Legal arguments between cohabitants who break up are commonplace. However, a recent case dealt with a lengthy legal dispute between the surviving partner of a gay couple and his deceased partner's family. The couple lived in a property that was owned by...
Changing Circumstances Lead to Divorce Settlement Dispute When a wealthy construction business owner and his wife divorced in 2011, a 'clean break' agreement was made to include the sale of the two properties they owned – the family home in the UK and one in Spain. In the event that neither had been sold, the...
Working From Home? Do You Have the Right? Although they may not know it, many householders are banned by restrictions in their title deeds from using their properties for commercial purposes. Recently, a man who converted his garage into a dog grooming parlour discovered why he should have sought...
Email Address Not Enough for Serving Claim You may think that because a firm has an email address, you can serve a writ or other legal document on them by sending it via email…and so you can, but not unless the firm has agreed to that. It took a visit to the Supreme Court to resolve the...
High Street Store Will Invalid, Rules Court The dangers inherent in adopting a casual approach to one's will were starkly illustrated in a case that considered the validity of three 'templated' wills written by an elderly woman within a period of four years. The woman had three children and two...
Judge Criticises Council and DWP for Usurping Attorney's Powers When a person is not capable of looking after themselves, the Secretary of State has the power to appoint someone else to do so. A recent court case shows that failing to do so in a balanced way can have adverse consequences and saw a judge condemn the...
Supreme Court Supports Mother Who Changed Mind Over Return to Australia Divorces where there is an international dimension often present specific issues, and a recent case involving a couple who had been living in Australia before they separated is no exception, leading ultimately to a hearing in the Supreme Court . The...
What is a divorce strategist? You might have heard of Suzy Miller. Suzy describes herself as the UK’s unique ‘Alternative Divorce Guide’, A Divorce Strategist, Public Speaker and Trainer. She has featured on Radio 4 Women’s Hour, in the Daily Mail and...
Flats Development 'No Pets' Policy Passes High Court Test If your tenancy agreement contains a 'no pets' policy, the fact that your pet does not cause any issues for other tenants will not prevent your landlord from enforcing its removal. In a recent case, the High Court ruled that a couple had been lawfully...
Failure to Take Advice Stops Legal Action Cold Litigating without using a qualified solicitor to assist you is strictly for the foolhardy. The point could hardly have been more clearly made than by a case in which a man who wished to have his criminal record erased from the Internet sued the wrong...
Psychiatrist Approves Marriage for Alzheimer's Patient Remarriages are a common source of disagreement and acrimony among family members and dementia is an increasingly prevalent issue, so it is unsurprising that when both were present, the result was a legal dispute in which the Court of Protection had to...
Who Owns the Balance on the Joint Account? Sometimes, what seem to be quite simple questions have to be decided in court. In a recent case, the issue was who owned the money in a joint bank account when one of the account holders died. Simple question or not, it was argued all the way to the Court...
Everyone Has a Right to Know Who Their Parents Are - DNA Test Case In a ground-breaking decision that prioritised the rights of the living over those of the dead, the Court of Appeal has opened the way for genetic testing of DNA extracted from a sample taken from a cancer victim before his death in order to clarify the...
Planning Law - Take Advice Before You Act The planning system is very far from straightforward and sensible landowners seek legal advice before tackling it. The point was underlined by one case in which a farmer ended up with a part-built barn and at risk of enforcement action if he completed the...
Government to Review Law to Wipe Out Trolling The finding that more than a third of users of the Internet in the UK have been 'trolled' or been the subject of harassment or 'cyber-bullying', sometimes with severe effects on those singled out for online abuse, has led the Government to commission an...
High Court Focuses on Essentials to Resolve Family Trust Dispute Even the most careful drafting cannot always succeed in dispelling ambiguity or in making provision for all future eventualities. As a High Court case concerning a family trust showed, however, the courts are always there to act as a neutral umpire in...
Reliance on Accountant Shows Reasonable Care If you rely on your accountant's advice regarding a tax issue, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) will now regard you as having taken 'reasonable care' to get things right and will not impose a penalty. On 14 February, HMRC issued new guidance relating to the...
Premature Contract Signature Proves Expensive Signing a contract before you are sure you are willing to complete it can be a huge mistake: judges do not flinch from enforcing valid contracts, as a recent case shows . It involved a man who reneged on a deal to buy a family home for £5 million. He...
Direct Contact With Both Parents Best Promotes Child Welfare Family judges know that children normally do best when they have direct contact with both parents. The Court of Appeal underlined that point in a case concerning five ultra-Orthodox Jewish children whose transgender father had been ostracised by the close...
Victim of Hotel Jewellery Theft Wins Substantial Compensation Thefts from hotel rooms are thankfully not an everyday occurrence, but when such a crime is committed, who, if anyone, is liable to pay compensation can become an issue, especially as the perpetrators, even if caught, frequently turn out to be penniless. In...
Mistaken Belief Overturns Estate Split Agreement When the male partner of a cohabiting couple died, apparently without leaving a will, after they had lived together for more than 40 years, his estate was administered according to the laws of intestacy, with the result that no provision was made for his...
Non-Residents Beware - Ignorance of UK Tax Law is No Excuse About 900,000 UK citizens are long-term residents abroad, and it is no particular surprise that they may be less careful about managing their UK tax affairs than those who live in the UK. Many foreign residents retain UK properties, and when these are sold a...
No Pay, No Passport? In a consultation paper published just before the December holiday season , the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), which is the Government department that deals with child maintenance payment arrangements, outlined significant powers that would enable...
DIY Approach to Property Purchase Proves Costly You might think that something as seemingly simple as buying a pitch for a caravan is straightforward enough to do yourself, but a recent example shows why no sensible person would consider entering into a property transaction without employing a specialist...
Air Travel Woes May Lead to Compensation After a ghastly year for flight delays, with British Airways suffering two major IT failures, Ryanair's problems with aircrew rotas and air traffic control disputes, a recent report reveals that nearly £400 million in claims could have been made for...
Reasonable Provision May Not Mean What You Think When a person is excluded from the will of someone on whom they were 'dependent', the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 provides that the dependent person can apply for 'reasonable financial provision' to be made for their...
What Do Points Make? Tax Penalties The automatic penalties attaching to late filing of tax returns have long been an unpopular issue for taxpayers. The system involves fixed penalties for missing deadlines and these are rigorously applied. Filing a tax return online just seconds after the...
Trust is No Replacement for Legal Advice Sadly, not all relationships that get off to a good start last, and it is vital to seek legal advice before entering into any financial arrangements, even with those who are closest to you. That point was clearly made by a case in which a woman attempted to...
Boys & Maughan offices closed from 3pm on Friday 2 March 2018 We are closing all our offices at 3pm today, Friday 2 March, to enable our staff to travel home safely. We will re-open at 9am on Monday 5 March, 2018. Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience this causes. ...
Court Approval Not Needed to Withdraw Treatment Situations where patients in an unconscious or minimally conscious state are being kept alive only because of intervention by medical technology are relatively commonplace. A recent case dealt with the issue of whether the approval of the court is...
Onerous Leasehold Terms to be Banned Following an outcry over the terms that apply to the purchase of new leasehold properties in some circumstances, the Government conducted a public consultation. This has now reported and legislation is expected soon to deal with the abuses identified. ...
Placing Trust in a Family Member Proves Unwise (Again) Even the most apparently trustworthy people can sometimes turn out to be anything but and that is one good reason why it is sensible to appoint a solicitor as executor of your will. In one case that proved the point, an ex-police officer took advantage of...
ISAs in Estates to be Tax Exempt One of the issues that proves difficult for executors of deceased persons who have Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs) is that the interest on them is taxable once the owner has died. Many of these accounts are small and, given that interest rates have been...
Cohabitants Entitled to Bereavement Damages The legal implications of cohabitation are often poorly understood by those who choose to live together outside of marriage or civil partnership, and the lack of protection for cohabitants often comes as an unpleasant surprise to many, especially when a...
Victims of Crime and Compensation It is normal for victims of crime to think that the conviction and punishment of the criminal marks the end of the process entirely. However, that is not always the case as, when appropriate, compensation can be sought from the criminal. A good example is a...
Service Standards Must Be Appropriate for Properties Owning a share of the freehold is often cited as a selling point to flat buyers – but tenant democracy is no panacea and there is little advantage to it if residents do not get on. In one case, a dispute between wealthy apartment dwellers over cuts to...
Do You Still Believe in the 90-Day UK Tax Residency Myth? Read This! It is an enduringly popular misconception that all you need to do in order to establish that you are not UK resident for tax purposes is spend fewer than 90 days per year in this country. However, the true position is much more nuanced than that, as one...
Family Attachment a Critical Factor in Adoption When the Family Court was asked to consider an application for an adoption order made by a couple, two factors proved crucial in deciding whether it should be granted. The first was that the boy's natural parents could not reasonably be considered able to...
Regulation of probate research companies Did you know that there is regulation available to the probate genealogy industry? The International Association of Professional Probate Researchers ( IAPPR ) was set up in 2016 and its aim is to provide reassurance for companies, organisations and members...
Power of Attorney registration fee refunds You could be due a refund of up to £54 if you registered a Power of Attorney in England or Wales between April 2013 and March 2017. Under a new Government scheme announced on 2 February 2018, those who paid a registration fee for a Lasting Power of...
Casting Aspersions to Change Inheritance Proves Unsuccessful Wills made or varied just before death are a frequent source of dispute and court appearances, and it was just such an occurrence that led to a High Court hearing recently . The case concerned the estate of a woman who died in 2014, two days after making a...
Ripped Off By a Rogue Trader? You Can Be Compensated! Elderly people and those who are vulnerable are sadly prime targets for rogue traders, but the law is not powerless when it comes to helping those affected. The successful prosecution of a rogue builder promises more than £200,000 in compensation for...
Court Bypasses Wife's Attempts to Stymie Sale One of the potential disadvantages of having more than one owner of a property is what to do when they take different views of whether it should be sold. In a recent case, a husband went to court to force the sale of a property he owned with his wife (she...
Tax Net to Loosen for Trusts, Tighten for Offshore Affairs In the recent Budget, the Government committed itself to a review of the operation of trust taxation in the UK. Since reforms were introduced in 2006 to counter what appear to have been little-used tax avoidance schemes, trusts have been used less often...
Advocate-in-training Ebun Adeniran scores the winning point Ebun Adeniran has won the final of the inaugural Boys & Maughan Solicitors Civil Advocacy Competition, which took place in the University of Kent’s Law School Mooting Chamber on 18 January 2018. Ebun is in her final year of study at the...
Certain Inheritance Can Be Financial Resource in Divorce Settlement Under English law, a person is able (within limits) to decide absolutely to whom their estate should pass. However, many countries have 'forced heirship' laws, under which a deceased person's estate must pass in specified proportions to a particular person...
Informal Wills on the Way? We have written on numerous occasions of the danger of either failing to leave a will or of not taking professional advice when making your will. Among the difficulties that can arise with DIY wills are challenges by family members who have been excluded...
Solicitors Are Under a Lifelong Duty to Guard Client Confidentiality One of the advantages of placing your trust in solicitors is that they owe a lifelong duty to maintain the confidentiality of any information you give them. That point was underlined by a High Court case in which a solicitor was banned from taking...
Minor Drafting Error Corrected - £1 Million Saved Under Inheritance Tax (IHT) law, certain types of trust have a ten-yearly charge to IHT on the value of the trust assets. The legislation, which imposes IHT of 6 per cent on the 'relevant property' in the trust settlement, was introduced in 2006 and applied...
Council Must Consider Planning Application People who seek advantage by going beyond the bounds of planning permission they are given can expect to be taught a very expensive lesson by the courts. However, the law does guarantee the right of a person to have a planning application considered, as was...
Judge Sees Through Attempt to Hide Assets When a couple divorced in 2014, the ex-husband was ordered to pay his ex-wife periodical payments of £120,000 per year after he was found to have used a variety of stratagems to make himself appear worse off than he really was. A mere three months...
Business Tycoon's Wife Well Served by Lawyers Who Drafted Her Will A solicitor's primary duty when drafting a will is to follow faithfully their client's instructions after giving accurate and level-headed advice. In a professional negligence case triggered by the early death of a business tycoon's wife, the High Court...
Libel by Internal Email Proves Expensive Many people think that for a libel to occur, the statement made has to be both false and made in public, but in fact that is not so, as a recent libel case confirms . The libellous comments were made by a care worker at a hospital about a colleague in an...
Boys & Maughan Christmas 2017 opening hours Here are our 2017 Christmas opening hours: Friday 22 December 9am to 12.30pm, except our Canterbury office which will close at 12pm Closed Saturday 23 December to 1 January 2018 Re-opening Tuesday 2 January 9am to 5pm We would...
Planning to Participate in a Tax Avoidance Scheme? Read This First! Anyone tempted to participate in a tax avoidance scheme would be wise to take note of one case in which a businessman complained in vain that he had been subject to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) inquiries for almost seven years, with no end in sight. The...
Facing Compulsory Purchase of Your Home? Home ownership is generally regarded as providing safety and long-term security, but this is not always the case as properties can be compulsorily purchased by public authorities to make way for socially beneficial developments. Any householders affected are...
Take Care When Appointing a Non-Lawyer as Your Executor When you appoint a solicitor to be the executor of your will, you can be assured that they will understand their duties and can be relied upon to comply with them. However, as a High Court case showed, the same sadly cannot always be said of friends or...
Court Corrects Parenthood Bungle When a same-sex couple undertook fertility treatment which led to the birth of a baby girl, the intention was that both would be listed as her legal parents. However, due to mistakes made in processing the necessary forms, only one of the couple was shown as...
HMRC Fail in IHT Challenge on Livery HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have challenged a number of property-based trading businesses, seeking to deprive them of the Inheritance Tax (IHT) and Capital Gains Tax advantages that are normally available. In a recent case, HMRC sought to persuade the...
Flat Tenants - Taking Over Management Can Be a Legal Minefield Most leaseholders would like to obtain the right to manage their own premises. However, as one tribunal case shows , there are many potential pitfalls, so seeking professional legal advice is always a wise precaution. The four qualifying tenants of a block...
Failure to Use Solicitor for Will Leads to Challenge Charities are generally thought of as being mild and benevolent organisations and in many ways they are, but some can also be very aggressive when they are expecting to receive money from an estate and their hopes are dashed. The extent to which some will...
Insurance Extension on the Cards? Under UK law, it is compulsory for all vehicles that are used on public roads to be insured, and third-party liability insurance, which covers accidental injury to others, is the legal minimum. There is even a compensation scheme, funded by UK insurance...
Government Must Prove its Case to Obtain Deportation Marriages of convenience are normally entered into in order to give one of the spouses the right to remain in the UK. At present, EU citizens normally have the right to remain in the UK. However, that right can be removed if it is shown that it has been...
Mis-Sold an Interest Rate Hedging Product? Don't Miss the Time Limit for a Claim Mis-selling of interest rate hedging products (IRHPs) by lenders has caused acute financial pain to a great many businesses and individuals and, as one High Court case shows , you should contact us immediately if you have the slightest suspicion that you...
Change of Use Over Time Leads to Four-Day Court Battle Rights of way over land are a constant source of dispute and, because the law relating to land is complex, such disputes all too frequently end up in avoidable court proceedings. A recent case heard by Bristol County Court was brought by a man who claimed...
Ignoring Advice Not Path to Success There really is little point in instructing lawyers to represent you if you do not then listen to their advice. In one case which illustrates this , two women dispensed with the services of not just one but two legal teams, after they were advised to...
But I Wrote a Cheque It is not often that the facts about how much of a mortgage was repaid are a matter of dispute, but in a recent case that was what happened and the decision led to a judge being criticised for her unorthodox approach to the evaluation of evidence. A couple...
HMRC Aren't Always Right According to the Government's GOV.UK website, if you are a company director, you have to file a tax return every year. It says that every UK company director must send in a personal self-assessment tax return annually, and that this must be done even without...
Take Extra Care When Buying Abroad It is estimated that more than 800,000 Britons now own property abroad. What used to be highly exceptional may now seem rather commonplace, but that is no reason why buyers should relax their vigilance over the process. In particular, it is absolutely vital...
Executors and Taxes An executor of an estate is personally responsible for his or her actions, so as well as there being significant duties, on occasions the role can also involve significant risks. One example of this would be where an executor completes the estate...
Family Proceedings - Anonymity Orders v Freedom of Expression Family courts routinely grant anonymity to children involved in care proceedings, but that inevitably has an effect on parents and others who might wish to publicise their objections to judicial orders. Exactly that issue arose in one case in which a...
Power of Attorney or Deputyship? In the same week that a former policeman was convicted of stealing a house and £200,000 from his disabled cousin by abusing a power of attorney in his favour, a judge advanced the case for using a court-appointed deputy to manage the affairs of a...
Boys & Maughan wins five trophies in national conveyancing awards We won no fewer than five trophies at the ESTAS Conveyancing Awards on Friday 20 October 2017. Presented by TV property expert Phil Spencer at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London, Boys & Maughan won: Best Local Group, 2-5 branches (national)...
Couple May Lose House After Denying Neighbour Access to Meter Disputes between neighbours can blight the lives of all concerned and it is always wise to seek legal advice before matters get out of hand. In one case, an elderly couple face losing their home under the weight of legal bills following a long-running row...
Tax Domicile - HMRC Upping the Ante? With an increasingly peripatetic workforce, more and more people are finding that the issue of their fiscal residence has a significant effect on their tax position. The response to this in the UK has been that tax legislation surrounding residence has been...
Denied Divorce Case Heading to Supreme Court It has been revealed that the widely reported case last March in which a wife was not granted a divorce from her husband because she could not demonstrate that his behaviour had been unreasonable will be decided by the Supreme Court. Under English law,...
Mutual Will Voids Thirteen Later Wills Although a worryingly high proportion of the population never make a will, a fairly large number of those who do make more than one. It is sensible to make a new will or add codicils to an existing will if your circumstances change significantly. However,...
Only Gifts Without Reservation Are Effective in Minimising IHT Giving away your assets to the next generation before your death can be an effective means of minimising Inheritance Tax (IHT) liabilities. However, as one tribunal case showed , such gifts have to be absolute and bring you no personal benefit in order to...
Don't Delay in Completing 'Formalities' There is a tendency to think that procedural matters are mere formalities and there is no need to be in a rush to dot the i's and cross the t's, but sometimes failing to deal with them promptly can cause significant problems, as a recent case involving a...
Parenthood is Not a Trump Card to Avoid Imprisonment Imprisoning parents is inevitably traumatic for their children, and striking a balance between child welfare and appropriate punishment of criminals is a dilemma confronted by judges every day. However, a Court of Appeal ruling has emphasised that parenthood...
Estranged Daughter Gains Share of Late Father's Estate The dangers of concluding that estranged children who have been disinherited will have no claim against a deceased person's estate were made very clear after a widely reported case decided last year. They have again been highlighted in a recent case in...
Everyone Has a Civic Duty to Assist Judges in Resolving Disputes It is a civic duty to assist the courts in the resolution of disputes, and judges have the power to compel reluctant witnesses to give evidence. Exactly that happened in one case in which a solicitor was required to attend court to testify in respect of a...
What is an 'Existing Building'? - Tax Tribunal Clarifies the Law A property owner who demolishes an existing dwelling house and replaces it with an entirely new one is entitled to reclaim VAT on the costs of construction – but what happens if part of the original building is retained? A tribunal considered that...
Boys & Maughan makes the 2017 ESTAS shortlist We are delighted to announce that we have once again been recognised for our outstanding customer service to clients by the biggest award scheme in the UK residential property industry. The ESTAS Group, which highlights the best firms for customer service...
Equality of Division of Assets on Divorce Abolished? Hardly The popular press has made a great deal of a recent Court of Appeal case , reporting that there had been a significant departure from the general principle that the assets built up by a couple during their marriage are to be split more or less equally on...
Court Upholds Restrictions on Holiday Homes The old adage that 'an Englishman's home is his castle' is only partially true and the impact of planning law on a property owner's rights can be far-reaching – even extending to limiting the right of occupation. This is particularly an issue in areas...
Commercial lease renewals - reasonable modernisation and the effect of the Energy Act 2011 Tenants who have a business lease that is about to come to an end do not necessarily have to leave their premises and may well be entitled to negotiate a new deal on better terms. The occasion also presents opportunities for landlords. Here Laura Cobb gives...
High Court Dementia Ruling - Judge Acts to Protect Widow Amidst an ageing population, the role of judges in protecting the weak, vulnerable and infirm is of ever increasing importance. In one case that proves the point, the High Court stepped in to set aside land transfers made by an elderly farmer with dementia...
Private Investors - Beware of Wolves in Sheep's Clothing! There have always been wolves in sheep's clothing ready to take unfair advantage of private investors and they can be difficult to spot without professional advice. In one case, a company that participated in the sale of coloured diamonds to the public at...
Using Fansites? Take Care What You Say Among football fans it is very well known that the owners and supporters of Blackpool FC are not on good terms. It is also common knowledge that comments on fan websites can be very immoderate at times. However, a recent case shows that no matter how deep...
Court Unsympathetic When Mum Takes Law Into Own Hands No matter how much you may be tempted, taking the law into your own hands is not a good idea. When a mother who was divorcing her husband in Hawaii obtained the agreement of the US court to take the couple's children, aged 9 and 11, back to the UK for a...
You Can Make Your Council Tidy Up Bad Housing Unoccupied and decaying properties can have a serious impact on the neighbourhood and can become a focus for vandalism and anti-social behaviour. However, as one case showed , local authorities have a range of powers to deal with such eyesores, even if...
Don't Litigate Without a Lawyer to Tell You When You're Wrong! One reason why it is rarely advisable to represent yourself in litigation is that you need a good lawyer to tell you when you are wrong. That point could hardly have been more clearly made than by a case in which a widower claimed that his sister had made...
India House Margate Heritage Open Day 2017 We are opening the doors of India House to the public on Saturday 9 September to mark its 250th anniversary as part of Margate's Heritage Open Day events. Grade II* listed, India House is one of the finest and most unusual buildings in...
Small Pension Pots - Planning Possibilities People aged over 55 who have only a small (less than £30,000) pension pot in a defined benefit (final salary) scheme or in some instances in a defined contribution scheme paying only a small pension – but not where the pension pot has been used...
Insurer Must Pay Missing Driver Claim When a person has an accident involving a car and a claim results, it is usually dealt with by the insurer of the driver concerned. If the driver is not insured or is untraced, a procedure exists to ensure a claim can still go ahead, only in this case the...
Skulduggery in Divorce Proceedings Will Do You No Good Resorting to skulduggery in divorce proceedings is sadly common but almost never does either side any good. That was certainly so in one case in which a man surreptitiously took documents from his ex-wife's home and sought – unsuccessfully – to...
Court Rejects Rerun Argument in Property Dispute Problems with covenants affecting land are common and sometimes a dispute can resurface years after it seems to have been settled. In a recent instance, a landowner was successful in reopening the battle over a covenant after persuading the court it was...
HMRC's Tough Approach to Penalty Rejected by Tribunal Just how tough HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) can be was illustrated by a recent case in which they imposed a penalty of £1,300 for the late filing of a tax return by a businesswoman who, as well as running her own business, was also caring for her...
Court Rejects Will in a Crisp Packet Unfulfilled hopes of substantial inheritance are commonplace, both in fact and fiction, but not often do they lead to such ham-fisted attempts at forgery as that shown by a disappointed widow after her husband left her just £25,000 of his...
Mired In Debt? Get Professional Advice You Can Rely On The position of those in debt is normally far from hopeless and much can be done to save them from penury. However, they are particularly vulnerable and, as a decision of the Upper Tribunal (UT) showed , the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) tries its...
Mothers Denied Child Residence Orders When a couple split up, it is very common for one of them to wish to move away, often to the area where they grew up or have family. This can create significant issues as far as the children are concerned and disputes in such cases are common. In a recent...
High Court Blocks 'Super-Basement' Extension Plans Basement extensions are increasingly popular, particularly in areas where property prices are high, but are not always looked upon favourably by neighbours. In one case, an objector obtained legal advice and succeeded in blocking plans for a three-storey...
HMRC Provide Calculator for New IHT Relief Like many pieces of tax legislation, the 'additional threshold' (AT) for Inheritance Tax (IHT) – which, in simple terms, limits the potential IHT charge on high-value residential properties – is a lot more complicated than it looks at first...
Managing the Affairs of Missing People Law Passed With the general election hogging the headlines, the passing of the Guardianship (Missing Persons) Act 2017 , which received Royal Assent on 27 April 2017, went almost unreported. Although the date on which the Act will come into force has not yet been...
Sale of Goods Law Provides Route to Compensation for Holidaymakers An interesting use of the law relating to the sale of goods helped a couple whose all-inclusive holiday was ruined by gastroenteritis claim compensation from travel group First Choice recently. They claimed damages under the Supply of Goods and Services...
Court Unwilling to Force Family Home Sale Taking legal advice when borrowing for any purpose is important, as a recent case in which a wife faced the possibility of the sale of her home when her husband was made bankrupt shows. When he faced financial difficulties in 2005, the husband raised a...
Your Right to Claim Tax Relief on Losses Dies With You You can claim tax relief if assets that you have acquired become worthless or loans that you have advanced prove to be irrecoverable. However, in a case that will be required reading for tax professionals, the Upper Tribunal (UT) has ruled that the right...
Car Bonnet Will is Valid, Rules Court There are a number of requirements that must be met for a will to be valid and one of these is that the signing of the will must be witnessed by two people who are not beneficiaries. A recent case before the High Court turned on that point. It was brought...
Couple Ordered to Demolish House Built Without Planning Permission Planning laws are complex and before starting any building work it is always wise to seek professional advice. In one case that proves this point, a couple who almost doubled the size of their country cottage without planning permission were ordered to...
Put it in Writing It is astonishing how often disputes over the beneficial ownership of assets become the subject of lengthy court proceedings. In a case decided in March, an argument about the ownership of a property ended up (at huge cost to the loser) in the Court of...
Birchington solicitors appoint conveyancer to meet property demand We have appointed Licensed Conveyancer Lucy Allen to our Birchington office . Stephanie Power , Partner at Boys & Maughan Birchington (pictured left) explained: “Our work volumes are growing steadily as people move into the area and...
Failure to Take Advice Proves Costly in Family Arrangement No matter how much you may trust relatives or close friends, you should never sign important documents without independent legal advice. In one case that proves the point, a man put his name to a deed that was put before him by his brother but which...
Have You Checked Your Investment Adviser's Credentials? Investment advice is best obtained from authorised professionals and it is unwise to rely on friends' recommendations, no matter how trustworthy they may appear. In one case that proved the point, a currency trader who turned to fraud and lost £500,000...
Power of Attorney Fees Fall With the recent furore over the Government's proposed increase in the cost of obtaining probate on larger estates, currently on ice owing to lack of parliamentary time in the run up to the General Election, it is nice to see that the direction of change in...
High Court Enforcement Officers: can't pay, can they take it away? All you have to do is turn on your television, skip a few channels and you will almost certainly find a program that is following High Court Enforcement Officers (“HCEO”) recovering unpaid debts for people who have gone to court and obtained a...