Credit rating agencies play an important role in the field of consumer credit. A whole section of reported court cases concerned the potential impact on successful claimants of their records remaining unchanged in relation to a debt which was outstanding but unenforceable. Under the Data Protection Act 1998 credit rating agencies are subject to the principal that all data is accurate and kept up to date. If that principle is breached compensation may be payable if the data holder – in this case the credit rating agency – cannot prove it took reasonable steps to ensure the accuracy of the…
Credit rating agencies play an important role in the field of consumer credit. A whole section of reported court cases concerned the potential impact on successful claimants of their records remaining unchanged in relation to a debt which was outstanding but unenforceable. Under the Data Protection Act 1998 credit rating agencies are subject to the principal that all data is accurate and kept up to date. If that principle is breached compensation may be payable if the data holder – in this case the credit rating agency – cannot prove it took reasonable steps to ensure the accuracy of the…
The courts have been wary of allowing litigants in property disputes to import the principles set out in Jones in respect of cohabitation but this approach is not inflexible. The Supreme Court’s decision in Jones v Kernott received approval from many who hoped it would enable fairness and justice to be done in domestic property situations. It created a perception that the court’s discretion in property disputes had been widened by the introduction of a concept of fairness, borrowed from the family court’s approach towards financial remedies on divorce. The justices in Jones set out a number of principles for determining…
Rodney Hylton-Potts said Many people wrongly assume their rights are covered by common law marriage as a result of cohabitation, but there is no such thing as a common law wife. The law The orders available to spouses do not apply to cohabitants, who have normatively relied on strict contractual law and property law principles on relationship breakdown. Cohabitants have no right to claim maintenance for themselves; they are not automatically next of kin for one another and do not automatically inherit the other’s property when one dies intestate. However, steps can be taken by cohabitants during their relationship in…
Rodney Hylton- Potts, leading family lawyers said: Court rulings have seen an increased focus on needs as the prevailing factor when quantifying such payments. There has been a move towards term orders and away from joint lives orders. Statutory provision By section 25A of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, when making a final order, it is the duty of the judge to consider whether it would be appropriate to impose a clean break, as soon as it just and reasonable. Also judge shall consider whether those payments should be made for a limited term which would be sufficient for the…
The Daily Mail article attached is a salutary tale, but it’s real lesson is the conviction of the benefit cheat’s husband. Click to read: Benefits cheat given £135,000 because she was ‘too frail to open a bottle’ is caught scuba diving on holidays around the world A benefit fraudster is usually helped by a family member, typically a spouse or partner, who often is not prosecuted. The benefit fraud investigators are tightening up on this considerably, and as in this case, the two spouses or partners will be alongside each other in the dock charged with obtaining money by deception,…
My brother and I each hold 40 per cent of shares in the new company, with the remainder of the equity held by a family friend, who provided initial funding. We have trademarked the business name and just signed the lease on our new premises. The investor has asked to see a draft shareholders’ agreement. My brother thinks we don’t need one, as we are unlikely to fall out. Can you advise? Starting a business with family or friends does not negate the need for formal arrangements. Such relationships have been tested by the daily strain of running a business…
Rodney Hylton-Potts, leading family lawyer has warned that restrictions on cross-examination by litigants in person may be needed, if the family courts are to cope with the impact of 2013 legal aid cuts. He said judges were was likely to promote a new process for standard cases to help courts cope with a volume of previously represented parents”. ‘Judges will devise an inquisitorial environment within which most decisions will be made. Instead of parties cross-examining each other, judges will identify the issues they needed to explore in more depth and examine the parties themselves. It will be more akin to…
Rodney Hylton-Potts, leading family lawyer, outlines the key points to consider whether you are a relocating parent or the party opposing. Where a party is seeking to remove a child from their home, other parent, school, friends, family and established way of life, research on the impact such a move has on a child is fundamental. (i)If you are the parent who wishes to leave the jurisdiction, and you are dealing with the divorce and financial relief at the same time, inform the other side. Do not wait until the end of financial proceedings/settlement to announce a move. (ii) Capital…
Rodney Hylton-Potts, leading international divorce lawyer said today: The Tom Cruise/Katie Holmes custody announcements reveal far more on close examination. Katie was successful in “forum shopping” in choosing a New York judge who is more likely to raise serious concerns about Scientology than the more liberal, relaxed judges of Los Angeles. Any Prenuptial Agreement can to be set aside if there is serious misrepresentation. That is the risk Tom was taking if Katie could show he had withheld from her key information that could adversely affect the upbringing of their six-year-old daughter, Suri. His attachment to their military wing is…
