Private Client Articles

This week, the government launched a 12-week consultation into the modernisation of Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA’s). An LPA is a legal document that allows someone to make decisions about your finances, health, and care on your behalf, should you...

The Family Court has rejected a wife’s application to overturn a divorce obtained by her husband in China. It held that the husband had taken reasonable steps to notify her of the proceedings and she had had reasonable opportunity to take part but had...

The High Court has outlined some tests for mental capacity and whether a person may have had delusional beliefs when making a will. The issue arose following a family dispute involving a brother and sister. Their parents had divorced in 1980 when their...

A nurse who was dismissed for refusing to work weekends has won a landmark ruling that could affect thousands of women with children. Gemma Dobson was a community nurse with North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS. She had worked fixed days because she had three...

A mother who wrongfully removed her two sons from their home after separating from their father has been ordered to return them to Lanzarote. The two boys, referred to only as X and Y, were three years and 18 months old, respectively. The father was...

Two adult brothers have failed in their attempt to be given a share of their deceased father’s estate after being left out of his will. The High Court ruled that it was clear that the father had made provision for them while he was alive and did not...

The introduction of no-fault divorces, which was due to take place this autumn, has been postponed until next year. The courts minister Chris Philp made the announcement in response to a parliamentary question. He said the provisions of the Divorce,...

Two people who had separated after being in a relationship could still qualify as a "couple" for the purpose of applying to adopt a child. That was the decision of the Family Court in a case involving a same-sex couple who had never married or...

A divorcing wife has failed in her attempt to get her husband’s bankruptcy order annulled. She suspected that he had deliberately got himself into debt to avoid his financial obligations to her, but the court said there was no evidence to support such...

The High Court has clarified how shares in a man’s estate should be distributed when charities specified in his will no longer existed. The will gave several legacies before leaving the residue of the deceased's estate to ‘the British Racing...