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Claims to non-UK residency for tax purposes are a political and fiscal hot potato and HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) are, to say the least, reluctant to accept them. In an exceptional case, however, the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) backed a hard-pressed...

There will always be some people who believe that making your own will represents a sensible economy. However, as a High Court ruling strikingly showed , saving the modest expense of having your will professionally drafted may come at a frightful emotional...

Vindictive bloggers who hide behind a cloak of anonymity may feel that they can use the internet to subject innocent people to abuse with complete impunity. However, in coming to the aid of an academic falsely accused of being a sexual predator, the High...

Freehold owners of land generally believe that, subject to planning permission, they can develop their properties in whatever way they wish. However, as a High Court ruling strikingly showed, that is by no means always the case. Two men wished to build...

It is obviously right that fathers should pick up a fair share of the tab for raising their offspring, but exactly how deep into their pockets should they be made to dig? The High Court tackled that issue in considering whether a wealthy father should be...

Couples generally either own their homes as joint tenants or as tenants in common. The distinction between the two may not be widely understood but, as a High Court ruling in an inheritance case showed , it can matter very much indeed. The case concerned a...

At what point can it be said that an embryonic business has begun to trade? A tax tribunal pondered that fundamental issue in a case concerning a claim for entrepreneurs' relief on the sale of a nascent business asset. An investor sold his minority stake...

Pre- and post-nuptial agreements that do not fairly meet the reasonable needs of one divorcing party or the other are unlikely to be worth the paper they are written on. The High Court made that point in refusing to hold a wife to the disadvantageous terms ...

Failing to make a professionally drafted will positively invites disputes between your loved ones that can take on the proportions of an ancient Greek tragedy. As a High Court case showed, such discord can even extend to the disposal of your body. The case...

When lending money to friends, acquaintances or anyone else, the terms on which sums are advanced may be entirely clear to you in your own mind. However, as a High Court ruling showed , the absence of a professionally drafted loan agreement is a positive...