Do You Work From Home?
If you often work from home away from the office or are self-employed from home, here are some tips about working from home that you should know.
Retired Carpenter Asbestosis Victim Aged 81 Wins Right to Compensation
Asbestosis is a terrible disease that blights thousands of lives and is, perhaps, made all the worse by the fact that it can take decades to develop. In a High Court case on point, an 81-year-old retired carpenter won the right to compensation more than 40 years after he was exposed to asbestos dust at work. The pensioner said that
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Trusts – Court Relieves Family of Severe Tax Consequences of Drafting Error
Trusts are delicate and often complex legal instruments and any flaws in the wording of documents relating to them can have grave tax and other consequences. As a High Court case showed, however, inadvertent drafting errors can be corrected. The case concerned two trusts of which a widow and her son, her only child, were trustees and beneficiaries. They contained
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Murderer Attacked by Fellow Prisoner Awarded £85,000 in Compensation
It is a mark of a civilised society that, save for the loss of their liberty, prisoners enjoy the same rights as any other citizen. A judge made that point in awarding substantial damages to a killer who was attacked and gravely injured by a fellow prisoner who was known to pose a serious risk to others. Both the victim
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DIY Householders Fall Foul of Strict VAT Rebate Rules
The law encourages so-called DIY housebuilders by enabling them to reclaim VAT paid on materials used in the construction of their homes. As one couple found out to their cost, however, the rules of the scheme are strict and HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) tend to take a hard-line approach to enforcing them. The couple, aged in their 70s, obtained
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Court of Appeal Rejects Tangential Attack on Will Dispute Judgment
Judges are wary of those who attempt to pull the wool over their eyes but, if a court judgment is obtained by fraud, it is very unlikely to survive an appeal. As a Court of Appeal ruling in the context of a bitter will dispute showed, however, allegations that justice has miscarried are easier to make than they are to
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Missing Backpacker’s Tireless Mother Granted Declaration of Death
When people go missing and are not heard from for years, there has to be a point where the law recognises that they have died. The High Court performed that sad task in the case of a much-loved young man who vanished without trace over 30 years ago whilst on a backpacking trip to Canada. After the 20-year-old travelled to
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Concerned About Squatters’ Rights? It’s a Case of ‘Use It or Lose It’
The law relating to squatters’ rights is not straightforward and concerned landowners should always seek legal advice. As an Upper Tribunal (UT) ruling showed, however, they can give themselves at least some protection by following a simple rule: use it or lose it. The case concerned a narrow strip of land that once formed part of a railway track that
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Tourist Victim of Holiday Island Fall Guaranteed Substantial Compensation
Obtaining just compensation for holidaymakers injured abroad can be a demanding task in legal terms. However, a case concerning a serious accident at a hotel on the Spanish island of Tenerife showed that specialist lawyers are well up to meeting the challenge. A recently married English tourist in her 50s was on the third day of her trip when disaster
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Judges and Lawyers are Sadly Not Exempt from Murphy’s Law
As Murphy’s law gloomily states, anything that can go wrong will go wrong. Lawyers and judges are certainly not immune from making basic mistakes but, as a High Court ruling in a divorce case showed, they can usually be put right. The case concerned a couple who were married for almost 29 years and had three children prior to their
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Financial Fraud – Banks Under No Duty to Play Detective, High Court Rules
To what extent, if any, are banks under an investigatory duty to protect their clients from fraud? The High Court considered that critical issue in a case concerning a woman who lost £700,000 after falling victim to a sophisticated scam. The woman made international payments from her bank account after a fraudster convinced her that her money would be safe
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Unconventional NHS Job Interview Infected by Discrimination, ET Rules
Many employers understandably prefer an informal atmosphere when interviewing job candidates. However, as an Employment Tribunal (ET) ruling showed, there is always a risk that such an approach may leave room for bias or discrimination to creep unintentionally into the selection process. The case concerned a man of mature years who applied to an NHS trust for a post as
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