I am one of a number of beneficiaries of a relative who died 4 years ago. Probate was granted 3 years ago and the estate has still not been finalised. The estate is being administered by a firm of solicitors and one of the partners is the sole executor. The estate was about £1.5 million gross before IHT. The numerous letters emails and telephone calls have in the main elicited excuses due to...

A friend of mine (let us call him Johnny) attended an Incapacity Benefit Medical Assessment recently. Today he received a letter telling him that "to qualify for benefit you need to score a minimum of 15 points in your Personal Capability Assessment. As you scored 8 points we have decided that from 22/05/08 you are not entitled to Incapacity Benefit."

How does one go about establishing/quantifying/claiming for loss of amenity/loss of use? A water company trashed my allotment in March. There was a project going on to bore underneath and install a sewer pipe that way with minimal disruption, but that method failed. They then brought in a massive (16t) digger which destroyed the entire allotment in one day, turning the whole place into something...

Hi All, Earlier in the year I signed a "Memorandum - Extension of Tenancy Agreement" which states It is hereby agreed between the Landlord and the Tenant that the Agreement shall be extended for a further 12 months on the same terms and conditions except that: Rent - (a clause about increasing the rent)

I need to have a copy of my passport notarised or officially witnessed so that I can send it to a foreign bank. Does anyone know how to do this and how much it might cost. I'm not sure whether the average solicitor can act as a notary or whether I can get an official stamp somewhere. I tried my local Police Station but they said they don't do that sort of thing although I thought that...

Item ordered by internet, delivered & seen to be faulty, immediately returned by post to online retailer. They sent replacement but now refuse to re-imburse for postage cost of returning faulty item. Is this legal under SOGA?

We own a Chippy in Manchester, two doors away, the Butchers shop is applying for change of use to a Takeaway. And to install an extractor fan at the rear A1 to A5 classification. Help please on the best way to object, phrases to use etc. TIA

Hi everyone. How's the summer up there? Ha. If a husband who is divorced from his wife finds out by DNA testing that "their" child is not his, is he able to sue in tort for deceit in the UK? For economic loss, or for upset and distress? Assuming that the wife had suspicions as to who was the father at the time of birth, and that the wife also remained silent when the child registration forms...

Hi, I had two bathrooms fitted by a builder three years ago. They have both developed faults (cracked wood etc). The manufacturer claims to offer a 5+ year warranty, but is refusing to honour it because I cannot produce the original invoice. They do accept that the faults would be covered under the warranty (if I could produce the magic piece of paper). However I never had the invoice since...

Hi all I have been served with a very loose initial S 20 notice by a (generally lazy and inefficient) housing association for major works. It is clearly a generic notice which they use across their whole portfolio. It talks about loft insulation (there is no loft), cavity wall insulation (there are no cavity walls) a replacement intercom (the entry phone system is only 5 years old!!) pointing...

If a company confirm an order, AND take full payment, can they then turn round a week later and tell me the item is no longer available? I ordered a pram for our new baby and paid for it in full (on April 24th) and now they've told me it's not available. The original pram we ordered is still listed on their web site as is the same one at a much higher price (over £150 more). I assume they just...

Some years ago a young friend was left a few acres of land by his Grandfather. 11 years ago he, along with adjacent landowners, was approached by one of the big house builders who wanted to buy an option to build. The option was to be for 10 years. He employed a solicitor to deal with the matter for him and the 10 years is now up. Big builder does not want to build now because of the credit...

Hi Folks, I first posted a message on this NG in December 2007 http://tinyurl.com/6armj4 after a friend of mine was suffering from poor performance from he's electricity supplier. Further to my message and your replies he again contacted "Powergen" who was he's supplier at the time requesting a refund for all monies paid to Seeboard (not he's fault). Powrgen wanted proof but still held him to...

I took a chance on love and brought an asian girl back to canada as my partner with expectations of getting married and helping her apply for permanent resident status. She went off the deep end over the next year while living with me in Canada so I didn't officially marry her or follow through with the immigration application (i would have to be her sponsor). When she saw that I wasn't going...

Hello, When I was being considered for a seat on one of the government's stakeholder panels, another government agency (with an ax to grind) provided a highly damaging and disreputable reference. This caused my application to be refused. Am I entitled to a JR if some of the information provided was false and disreputable? Thanks.

I recently got another letter from the Council claiming I owed them Council Tax during my PhD thesis write up period. I have attended court after receiving a summons over the amount, and the Council withdrew their summons at the last moment outside court before we went before the Magistrate. However the Council worker made an "error" in the signed document stating that CT exemption was granted...

Hi, I'm just wondering what type of people post in this group?

guys, any constructive advise would be appreciated. i will be going for a blood test at the end of the month to regain my driving licence (2 bans in ten years) will they only be checking for alcohol?

This is a matter obviously for the future, but as my widowed father is very poorly, it has to be looked at. My younger sister and myself are named as joint executors in his will.It is an uncomplicated will, there is no property to be sold, just building society account, divided equally between the two of us, to date, it will be £12,000 total. She lives a hundred miles from us, (father in a...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7389280.stm I assume the BBC are reporting some briefing they've had, since the story doesn't quite match the speech, but still: Does the law allow people to be "harried and harassed"? I was under the impression we were supposed to have a court system to determine guilt and pass sentence.