Personal Dispute Resolution

What can I do to prevent the neighbour carrying out works on the boundary line? / Can I work on the boundary line? There is a law known as the “Party Wall Act” which sets out a procedure for carrying out certain works at or near to a boundary. A surveyor can advise you if the Act is likely to apply – if so, it is important to comply with…

Personal Dispute: What is Professional Negligence? You may consider that you received bad advice or that you did not achieve what you set out to achieve. Professionals are duty bound to provide their services to a required standard. If you instructed a professional and they failed to fulfil their role to that required standard you may be able to bring a claim against them if you suffered a loss as…

Personal Dispute: What professionals can I make a claim against? A professional is a person who is considered to have particular expertise and skills in the services they provide.Examples of professionals you may be able to make a claim against include:- Accountants- Financial advisors- Solicitors- Barristers- Surveyors- Builders- Engineers- Architects- Insurance brokers- Professional trustees

Personal Dispute: How long do I have to make a Professional Negligence Claim? The usual limitation period and starting point in most professional negligence cases is six years from the date of the negligence.However, if you only became aware of the loss and damage at a later date this could be extended. In those cases the limitation period is three years from the date of knowledge of the facts which…

What do I have to prove when making a Professional Negligence Claim? In order to bring a successful Professional Negligence Claim you will need to demonstrate the following:- Duty of CareThat the professional had a Duty of Care. If there is a contract or retainer between you and the professional this is often easy to prove. Even if there is no contract it is still often easy to demonstrate that…

Protection for people who rent their homes is being extended while the Covid-19 restrictions continue to affect people’s livelihoods. Natalie Tatton, Solicitor in our Dispute Resolution team provides an update. The measures include a ban on evictions until 11 January 2021 at the earliest. The only exceptions to this will be the most egregious cases, including where tenants have demonstrated anti-social behaviour or are the perpetrator of domestic abuse in…

Rebecca Armstrong Solicitor in our will claims team reports on this recent case. Four siblings have succeeded in overturning their mother’s Will after the court agreed that she had not fully understood its consequences when she signed it. The case pitted the mother’s first four children against her youngest child, the defendant. In 2004, the mother and her husband had executed mirror Wills, which meant that if the husband died…

The High Court has upheld a vulnerable woman’s Will and rejected a claim by her daughter that she had been subjected to undue influence. By Rebecca Armstrong Solicitor The case involved two sisters, Teresa Ann Coles and Heather Christine Reynolds. In 2002, their mother made a Will leaving her estate to be divided equally between them. However, the relationship between the two sisters deteriorated in 2009. In 2012, the mother…

A LEADING legal firm is maximising its expertise by branching out to offer a specialist wills dispute service nationwide. Cartmell Shepherd Solicitors, the only legal firm in Cumbria to be a member of the innovative UK200Group, has launched a wills dispute resolution website. Peter Stafford, Cartmell Shepherd Solicitors’ managing director, explained why the firm, which has traditionally concentrated on mainly serving communities across Cumbria and Northumberland, has made the move…

A landowner has succeeded in getting a restrictive covenant modified to enable him to build a second house on a small plot. By Jonathan Carroll Director and Head of Agriculture Mr Neil Sheppard owned a detached house on a 1980s housing estate. He bought the property in 2010, subject to restrictions on the title imposed by a conveyance in 1985, made between the developer and the original buyer. The restrictions…