Husband loses appeal to get more than £5m in divorce settlement

A court has ruled that a man’s will was valid even though it was signed by his sister who was the main beneficiary.

The case involved a man who made a new will shortly before he died, leaving a substantial part of his estate to his sister. He was too weak to sign the will himself so she guided his hand, effectively signing for him.

Following the man’s death, the will was challenged on the basis that he had not signed it himself.

The court held that the law was clear. A testator - a person making a will - could either sign it himself or direct another person to sign it on his behalf.

The judge considered the evidence in this case and concluded that the man had wanted to make the will and include his sister as a beneficiary. He had approved of its contents and attempted to sign it.

It was only when he proved too weak to sign that his sister stepped forward to help. He allowed her to sign and his conduct amounted to a direction that she should sign on his behalf.

The judge said that there was no statutory provision to say that a will could not be valid if signed by a beneficiary on the testator’s direction.

Please contact us if you would like more information about wills and probate.

A court has told a woman that she will have to undertake psychological therapy before she can resume contact with her daughter.

The woman was described as “emotionally fragile”. She had tried to commit suicide after separating from her partner, who was the father of her daughter.

The court granted an order saying that the daughter should live with her father.

The mother was granted supervised contact at a contact centre. Later, however, the centre refused to arrange any further meetings because of the mother’s aggressive and argumentative behaviour.

At a final court hearing, the father gave evidence that at several contact sessions, the mother had lost control of her emotions and had put her own needs above those of her daughter.

There was expert medical evidence that the mother was emotionally fragile and that her judgment became impaired during episodes of extreme anger.

There was also evidence from the child’s guardian recommending that contact should be suspended.

The judge said that the father had done everything he could to help mother and daughter to have contact. However, this could no longer continue because of the mother’s behaviour.

The court held that contact could not be resumed until the mother had successfully undertaken psychological therapy.

Please contact us if you would like more information about family law issues.

The economic downturn means many young people are finding it harder than ever to get jobs.

Many decide to work for nothing as interns just to get some experience which could help them find full time employment in the future.

However, this has led to some criticism that interns are being used as cheap labour.

The issue was highlighted in a recent case involving Keri Hudson who worked as an intern for a website company. She claimed that she was given considerable responsibility that went way beyond simply getting some work experience.

She felt she should be paid because she carried out “training and delegating tasks, collecting briefs, scheduling articles and even hiring new interns”.

However, the company refused to pay her as they considered her an intern.

Hudson took the case to an employment tribunal, which has ruled in her favour. It found that her workload meant that she should be regarded as employee even though she was treated as an intern and didn’t have a written contract of employment.

It meant that she should receive at least the minimum wage. The tribunal awarded her £913.22 in back pay and £111.76 in holiday pay.

Please contact us if you would like more information about the issues raised in this article or any aspect of employment law.

The Government wants to make more land available for people who want to build their own homes.

It also wants to cut red tape and remove other barriers that often prevent self-build projects getting off the ground.

Taken as group, self-builders account for one in five of Britain’s new homes each year. That means that collectively, they are already the country’s largest house builder. However, the UK still has a lower proportion of self-build homes than many other countries in Europe.

Ministers believe bureaucratic barriers are to blame. The Housing Minister Grant Shapps has announced plans to strip away some of the red tape that he believes has often thwarted the aspirations of people who want to build their own homes.

Mr Shapps said the Government will also make some publicly owned land available for self-build projects. He called on private investors, local authorities and housing associations to do the same and show their support.

The Government recently set up a working group, led by the National Self-build Association, to offer advice on what action is needed to reduce bureaucracy.

Mr Shapps said: "Self builders deliver affordable, greener and more innovatively-designed homes; and make a big contribution to the number of new homes built in this country, yet there is scope to significantly increase the number of self built homes in the UK - both for individual households and for community-driven projects.

"I want to turn around the fortunes of self-builders by cutting the red tape and bureaucracy they often face and make self build a reality for many more people.

“I'm encouraged by the ongoing work of our self-build working group, which is making good progress in developing an action plan to reduce the barriers that aspiring self-builders often face. These efforts will help bring self-build into the mainstream, and not simply be the preserve of the privileged few.”

Please contact us if you would like more information about buying and selling land or properties.

Husband loses appeal to get more than £5m in divorce settlement

A husband has lost his appeal to be awarded more than £5m as part of a clean break divorce settlement.

The case involved a couple who had been married for nearly 20 years and had three children.

The wife had inherited shares before the marriage and they were kept in her name. By the time the couple separated, the shares were worth £57m.

Neither the husband nor the wife worked during their marriage and lived off income from the shares. Despite the wife’s wealth, they lived modestly in an ordinary semi-detached house. They drove an ordinary car and no item in their home was worth more than £500.

When the wife decided to leave with her three children, she bought a similar modest house in the same area as the marital home.

The husband, however, wanted to move to a London property worth £2m, buy a second home abroad worth £450,000 and drive a new car worth £60,000.

His assets at the end of the marriage were £300,000. His wife offered £5m as part of a clean break divorce settlement. The husband wanted more but that was the figure awarded by the judge at the ancillary relief hearing.

The husband appealed saying that the judge had failed to make an assessment based on the sharing principle applied when couples divorce.

However, the Court of Appeal has upheld the award of £5m. Giving the lead judgment, Lord Justice Wilson said the award “went further than very generously to meet the husband’s needs”.

He added that equal division did not necessarily follow from the sharing principle when wealth accrued by one party before the marriage was involved, as in this case. In fact, it was not unusual for one party to receive no share at all of the non-matrimonial property.

Please contact us if you would like more information about the law relating to matrimonial and family issues.

There has been a sharp rise in the number of legal disputes involving trusts since the start of the recession, according to figures from the Ministry of Justice.

There were only three disputes involving trusts in the High Court in 2006. The figure had jumped to 44 by the end of 2009 – the latest date for which statistics are available.

The numbers may not seem large but the total figures are likely to be much higher because most trust cases are settled out of court.

It’s thought that falling incomes due to the recession may have made people more willing to take action if they feel that trusts are not being administered properly. Trustees are usually professionals such as solicitors, accountants and banks, but many are family members.

Sometimes people agree to act as trustees without being fully aware of the responsibilities involved and this can lead to difficulties and even legal action.

Meanwhile, the Government is working on the Trusts (Capital and Income) Bill which will reform the law relating to trusts.

The reforms are based on recommendations put forward by the Law Commission. The aim of the Bill is to “simplify and modernise trust law rules that create needless expense, litigation and difficulty for trustees of private and charitable trusts”.

We shall keep clients informed of developments. In the meantime, please contact us if you would like more information about the issues raised in this article or any aspects of setting up and managing trusts.

The Court of Appeal has ruled that a judge had been wrong to allow a father less restrictive contact with his son despite allegations of domestic abuse.

The case involved a couple who had a brief but stormy relationship which produced one son. During the relationship, the father had been violent to the mother.

Following their separation, she secured a non-molestation order against him together with an order preventing him from removing their son from her care. Another order was later made which allowed the father to see his son at a contact centre for two hours every fortnight.

A few months later, the father applied for a contact order allowing him to see his son under the supervision of the boy’s paternal grandmother.

The mother opposed the application on the grounds that the grandmother was not a suitable person to supervise contact and could not offer proper protection to the child. However, the judge held that there was no reason why the grandmother should not supervise contact and the father’s application was granted.

That decision has now been overturned by the Court of Appeal which held that the judge had failed to weigh up the relevant considerations adequately.

The Court held that where there was a history of domestic violence, the question arose as to whether allowing the father more contact would cause distress for the mother. This distress could indirectly be damaging to her son.

The judge had not addressed these issues adequately and had gone way beyond the boundaries of her discretion in allowing the grandmother to supervise contact.

Please contact us if you would like more information about family law issues.

A woman has been awarded £42,100 compensation after being knocked over by a dog.

The woman, who was 29 at the time of the incident and is now 31, sustained fractures to her leg and knee as she fell.

She had to undergo three operations involving bone grafts with the use of a plate and screws. Her treatment also involved eight months of physiotherapy. She was unable to drive for eight months and had to have four months off work.

A year after the incident happened, she was still unable to kneel, found it painful to walk upstairs and had to use a brace when out of the house for long periods. There is a 15% chance that she will eventually need a replacement knee.

The woman took legal action against the owner of the dog on the basis that he was negligent in failing to keep it under control. The owner admitted liability and compensation of £42,100 was agreed in an out-of-court settlement.

This was to cover the woman’s pain, suffering and loss of amenity.

Anyone who is injured as a result of someone else’s negligence is entitled to claim compensation.

Please contact us if you would like more information about making a personal injury claim.

IN THE MATTER OF C (A CHILD) sub nom AL v (1) JH (2) C (A CHILD BY HER GUARDIAN) (2011)

Husband loses appeal to get more than £5m in divorce settlement

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June 2011 news