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Court and tribunal hearings usually take place in public, as part of the principle of open justice. However, a judge can decide to hold a hearing in private if it is deemed necessary for the proper administration of justice. Recently, the Court of...

The High Court recently upheld a claim that an elderly man's final will was invalid on the grounds that he lacked testamentary capacity. The man and his wife had made mirror wills in 1985. After their eldest son sadly died in 2007, they made new mirror...

The Family Court recently considered an application by the parents of a 15-year-old boy for authorisation to accept a gift of a share in a property on his behalf, in exercise of their parental responsibility. The boy's father owned a property in...

A homeowner has successfully argued before the Upper Tribunal (UT) that an application by the owner of adjoining land to modify a restrictive covenant should be refused . A small cottage had originally stood on the adjoining land, but had been badly...

A man who let a house to a company which in turn let rooms in it to tenants has succeeded in his appeal against a rent repayment order after the Upper Tribunal (UT) concluded that he was not the tenants' immediate landlord and therefore no such order could...

When deciding whether it is in a patient's best interests to continue life-sustaining treatment, the courts will look to the patient's views and beliefs, where known, as well as the medical evidence. In a sad case concerning a 66-year-old man in a state of...

The High Court has recently ruled that a man is entitled to benefit under a family trust despite finding that he was not the biological child of the settlor. The trust had been set up by a businessman in 2003 and included as its beneficiaries 'the...

A pre-nuptial agreement (PNA) will be taken into account when a couple divorces, as long as it has been freely entered into and it is fair to hold the parties to it. Recently, the Family Court was called upon to decide how the terms of a PNA affected the...

When prospective tenants are asked to pay a holding deposit, they should ensure that they disclose any information that might affect a landlord's decision whether to offer them a tenancy. Recently, the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) dealt with an application for...

Unmarried couples who hope to have children together via fertility treatment must comply with a number of requirements in order for both partners to be legally recognised as parents, but if a mistake is made in the documentation, the courts can often assist....