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24 May 2024 / David Burrows
Issue: 8072 / Categories: Features , Family , Property , Wills & Probate
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Family law: land grab on the farm?

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174025
David Burrows reflects on the tangled legacies we leave behind
  • How does the court define what is to be paid out where an issue arises between family members as to how family property should be divided up or sold?
  • A family farm owned by parents and a son: who owns the farm on the parents’ death; and how does that affect the rights of other surviving siblings?
  • How much ‘undue influence’ on a parent, and the signing of her will, is needed to make the will invalid?

Cases on the varied circumstances of family breakdown, family partnership and property distribution are relatively rare; then in ten weeks, four cases arrived from the Court of Appeal, all looking at different points. First were Savage v Savage [2024] EWCA Civ 49, [2024] All ER (D) 07 (Feb) and Williams v Williams & ors [2024] EWCA Civ 42, [2024] 4 WLR 10, [2024] All ER (D) 21 (Feb), where judgments were handed down on the same day (1 February

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NLJ this week: Divorce ‘nuclear weapon’ freezes assets but entangles outsiders
Freezing orders in divorce proceedings can unexpectedly ensnare third parties and disrupt businesses. In NLJ this week, Lucy James of Trowers & Hamlins explains how these orders—dubbed a ‘nuclear weapon’—preserve assets but can extend far beyond spouses to companies and business partners 
NLJ this week: What counts as ‘rent’? Court says labour alone won’t do
A Court of Appeal ruling has clarified that ‘rent’ must be monetary—excluding tenants paid in labour from statutory protection. In this week's NLJ, James Naylor explains Garraway v Phillips, where a tenant worked two days a week instead of paying rent
NLJ this week: Freed but failed—justice system leaves the innocent empty-handed
Three men wrongly imprisoned for a combined 77 years have been released—yet received ‘not a penny’ in compensation, exposing deep flaws in the justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Jon Robins reports on Justin Plummer, Oliver Campbell and Peter Sullivan, whose convictions collapsed amid discredited forensics, ‘oppressive’ police interviews and unreliable ‘cell confessions’
NLJ this week: Clarity on whistleblowing, settlements and tribunal limits
A quiet month for employment cases still delivers key legal clarifications. In his latest Employment Law Brief for NLJ, Ian Smith reports that whistleblowing protection remains intact even where disclosures are partly self-serving, provided the worker reasonably believes they serve the ‘public interest’ 
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Family law must shift from conflict-driven litigation to child-centred problem-solving, according to a major new report. Writing in NLJ this week, Caroline Bowden of Anthony Gold outlines findings showing overwhelming support for reform, with 92% agreeing lawyers owe duties to children as well as clients
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