On 1 March 2016 the Supreme Court granted three charities permission to appeal an inheritance dispute. The Court of Appeal decision in 2015 attracted a significant media response and no...
With many people living longer and the younger generation unlikely to be as well off as their parents, helping our children and grandchildren financially is increasingly common. Concerns about inheritance...
Unusually, the Will of recently deceased American author Harper Lee, the writer of To Kill A Mockingbird, is to be kept private after an Alabama Judge ordered the record sealed. ...
The second reading of the ‘No Fault’ Divorce Private Members Bill is due in Parliament on 11 March 2016. At the moment, to apply for a divorce in England and...
A legal dispute spanning three countries and involving an estimated $1bn fortune went before the High Court recently. The key issue involves access to tissue samples from the oligarch’s body,...
Debenhams Ottaway is one of only four Hertfordshire law firms ranked in the top 50 of The Hertfordshire Power 100. Each week, local business publication Hertfordshire Business Independent reports The Hertfordshire...
Team Cohesion, a group of students from St Albans Girls School led by their Dragon, Alex Neale, litigation lawyer at Debenhams Ottaway was triumphant at the Dragons’ Apprentice St Albans...
Why save and nurture my finances only for them to be used to pay for my care? The Care Act 2014 was to be introduced in April 2016 to cap...
The number of deaths registered in England and Wales in January 2016 was recorded as 47,426 according to figures recently released by the Office of National Statistics. Despite the fact...
The term ‘battle of the forms’ has been coined to describe situations where parties have reached an agreement negotiated on two different sets of standard terms, and it is uncertain...
Half of all couples who divorce have children under 16 and in full time education. Whatever problems existed to trigger the relationship breakdown will inevitably intensify if one parent moves out of...
In the recent case of Barbulescu v Romania, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has ruled that the employee’s right to privacy under the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR)...
The Wills made by the great and the good, famous or important individuals often spark interest and curiosity when in the document comes into the public realm. Of course infamous...
Debenhams Ottaway had a great end to 2015 and the New Year is looking equally as promising. With the private wealth team winning the Law Society’s Excellence in Private Client...
Post Christmas and New Year, many newly engaged couples will be starting to plan their big day – set the date, find the venue, book the caterers – the list...
The start of a new year is a good time to both reflect and plan ahead. Considering whether buy-to-let properties are still a worthwhile investment in view of recent changes...
To obtain a divorce in England and Wales, married couples have to prove to the court that their marriage has irretrievably broken down. The person asking for a divorce has...
With Christmas on the horizon, the reality of spending Christmas as a newly separated family can trigger anxieties. Strong feelings about the breakdown of any relationship can be intensified by...
A recent case has confirmed that the Agency Worker Regulations 2010 (AWR) do not entitle agency workers to equal treatment in being considered for directly employed vacancies. The end user...
It can be extremely difficult for someone to appeal against a consent order or challenge its continuance. A consent order is made by the court with the agreement of the...
