Private Client Articles

Intestacy refers to the law of inheritance which determines how an estate is distributed upon death. Intestacy occurs when someone dies without leaving a valid Will or a partial intestacy can arise when someone has left a valid Will which disposes some but...

What is a Personal Representative? A Personal Representative (PR) is someone who sort outs the deceased’s affairs which includes managing and protecting their assets and distributing the estate. Where there is a Will, the ‘Executor’ will...

The government has announced a temporary change to probate applications until a controversial new fee structure comes fully into effect. Probate is the process by which a person’s will is administered after their death. Currently there is a flat fee...

The government has confirmed that it will introduce new legislation to end the blame game for divorcing couples. It’s hoped the new approach will help reduce family conflict. The move follows a public consultation where family justice professionals...

The High Court has set aside a transaction in which an 85-year-old sold her house at a considerable undervalue to a man 45 years her junior. The judge held that she did not fully understand what she was doing when she agreed to the sale. Ann Sybil Gurney...

Judges will not allow parents to make numerous contact applications spanning several years if the process could be detrimental to their children, as illustrated in a recent case before the Court of Appeal. The case involved a couple who had separated when...

A Royal Mail employee was unfairly dismissed after he stored ‘obscene material’ on his online work account. That was the decision of the Employment Appeal Tribunal, which ruled that Royal Mail’s internal appeals policy shouldn’t have...

The Land Registry says its commitment to developing new digital services is making the process of buying a home simpler and quicker. One of its main innovations is a system allowing homeowners to re-mortgage their property by signing their mortgage deeds...

Prenups are becoming increasingly popular and although they are not legally binding automatically, they are now usually upheld by the courts if they are fair to both sides. If they are not fair, it’s possible that they will be overturned, as happened...

The leader of the political group, the Christian People’s Alliance, has lost a court battle with his sister over their mother’s will. Sidney Cordle gained national prominence in 2014 while campaigning against same-sex marriage. He also stood for...