Popular Articles
Fixed-fee divorce services popular with long-term separated
Wednesday, May 1st, 2013In recent months Holmes & Hills’ team of divorce solicitors in Essex has seen a significant increase in the number of long-term separated couples seeking to formally divorce. Since launching a range of fixed-fee divorce services late last year, divorce solicitors at Holmes & Hills have been dealing with enquiries from a large number of
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Where there’s blame: damages claims against property professionals
Wednesday, March 13th, 2013Property and development professionals are being reminded of the importance of having tightly drafted contracts and terms of business following a decision by the Court of Appeal to uphold a claim for damages made by a developer against a consulting engineer. In the recent case of John Grimes Partnership Ltd (JGP Ltd) v Gubbins [2013]
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Drawing the line on title plans
Wednesday, March 13th, 2013It is often assumed that the title plans of a property registered with the Land Registry determine the exact boundary of that property. However, this is unfortunately not the case and property owners often only come to realise this when a dispute arises, usually centring around a boundary with an adjoining piece of land. The
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Treatment of business assets in a divorce settlement
Wednesday, January 30th, 2013Following a recent court decision businessmen and women may be able to protect assets from being included in a divorce settlement by holding them as property of their limited liability company. Individuals going through a divorce, in particular those in a better financial position than their partner, often attempt to separate personal assets from
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Are you exercising properly?
Tuesday, December 18th, 2012Further case law has shown that a tenant must have his ducks in a row when attempting to exercise a break clause validly. PCE Investments Ltd was a tenant. As is common, the lease required the tenant to pay rent in advance on the usual quarter dates. Whilst the lease contained a break provision, valid
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I give you my word (verbal agreements in boundary disputes)
Tuesday, December 18th, 2012In a recent decision the courts have clarified the position in boundary disputes where a verbal agreement has previously been reached between the parties. The case of Yeates and Yeates v Line and Field [2012] EWHC 3085 (Ch) concerned an application by Mr and Mrs Yeates to be registered as title holders of a plot
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Small businesses spend 130 hours recovering debts
Friday, August 3rd, 2012Research conducted by RBS Invoice Finance found that on average small businesses spend 130 hours chasing late payments by creditors and have to wait an additional 30 days over and above the agreed terms of their invoice before receiving or recovering payment. For many small business owners and managers these findings will not come as
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Construction Law: using Adjudication to get paid
Monday, July 23rd, 2012In our experience, Adjudication is still used surprisingly infrequently by rank and file contractors and sub-contractors. Hopefully this is because you are dealing with tried and tested contacts and you are resolving any problems amicably. However, always bear in mind that Adjudication is a mechanism that is intended to provide interim payment awards to keep
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Challenging a will
Tuesday, June 19th, 2012Losing a loved one is often difficult enough, but it can be particularly distressing where the contents of the person’s will and the way they have asked for their assets to be distributed come as a surprise to those they leave behind. Once it has become clear who will be receiving what from the person’s
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Consumers get stronger rights over defective goods
Wednesday, May 30th, 2012Recent decisions by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) have added significant weight to consumers’ rights concerning the repair and replacement of faulty goods by retailers. Current laws protecting consumers, as set out in the Sale of Goods Act 1979, offer UK consumers a range of remedies for dealing with faulty goods beyond the traditional
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