Who Gives You Advice is Important
When a financial services company went into administration and came under investigation by the Financial Services Authority (FSA), the emails of one of its directors were copied by the FSA, which wished to use them in evidence. The FSA sought…
Lotto Win Not Part of Family Assets
A court ruling that a spouse’s lottery winnings were not ‘matrimonial property’ so were not subject to the usual rule of equal division between the spouses when the marriage broke up received much publicity recently. The normal rule on divorce…
Landlords Lazy Over Cost Control
According to a recent ‘Which?’ report, landlords are lazy when it comes to making sure that costs such as insurance premiums and the like, that are passed on to their tenants, represent good value for money. In some cases, it…
Buyer Beware Principle Still Applies
A recent case in the Court of Appeal shows that ‘buyer beware’ is still a valid principle. Just because someone is paid for introducing you to someone else does not necessarily impose on them a duty to inform you of…
Beware What You Say on the Web!
The laws relating to defamation apply just as much to material posted on the Internet as they do to articles in newspapers and magazines. It is therefore risky to post comments that can be construed as defamatory on the Internet…
Expertise Critical to Avoid Negligence
A recent case shows the lack of wisdom of undertaking expert work unless you have the necessary expertise. It is generally accepted that property valuation is an imprecise science. Accordingly, when the accuracy of a valuation is in dispute, the…
Prison for Man Who Took Child Abroad
When a man decided to leave his partner and take their child (aged four) to his native Pakistan, he may not have known that he was committing a criminal offence, but he became well aware of the fact on his…
Are Benevolent Funds Charitable?
A benevolent fund is a fund that exists to benefit people who are linked together in a specific way – normally through a relationship with a particular company or person. Recently, the Upper Tribunal (the senior court for ruling on…
DFA Law awarded Quality Mark
The focus on customer care, professional standards and excellent client service by the Property team at DFA Law has been officially recognised by accreditation under the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme and entitlement to use the scheme's kite-mark. Effective Client…