ABS Solicitors LLP

18/06/2026

A landmark High Court ruling is reshaping how families handle surrogacy in historic trust arrangements. Trustees can now protect beneficiaries born via surrogacy, ensuring fair access to inheritance under complex family deeds. This decision highlights how modern family realities are influencing centuries-old legal structures.

Modern estate planning is often at odds with centuries-old trust frameworks, requiring equity to adapt to the realities of contemporary life. A clear illustration of this evolution may be found in a recent High Court decision concerning the historic Longleat family settlements. This ruling offers in...

17/06/2026

Breaking: A new court ruling confirms that simply having an option to renew a commercial lease doesn't guarantee you'll keep your tenancy. This means tenants can't be forced into unfair rent hikes based on contract clauses alone.

Commercial landlords often look for creative ways to navigate the strict renewal protections of the Landlord and Tenant Act (LTA) 1954. However, a recent Court of Appeal (CoA) decision clarifies that contract manoeuvres cannot subtly strip tenants of their statutory security. In this appeal from the...

16/06/2026

New legal ruling firmly blocks birth parents from accessing sensitive reports about prospective adopters in adoption challenges. This upholds strict confidentiality to protect children and adoptive families.

The Family Court has reinforced the strict wall of confidentiality protecting prospective adopters, making it clear that birth parents do not have any automatic right of access to highly sensitive assessment reports at the preliminary stages of an adoption challenge.

08/06/2026

Adoption orders aren't always set in stone. When key facts go undisclosed, courts can reverse even the most serious decisions to protect a child's welfare.

In the architecture of family law, no legal decree carries more permanence than a child adoption order, or AO. It does not merely alter a child’s living arrangements; it fundamentally extinguishes their existing legal identity and creates a new one. Because of the lifelong gravitas of these orders...

04/06/2026

We are back and sponsoring the event. Looking forward to seeing you all there. Save the date 5th July 2026

03/06/2026

A legal twist over a simple word in a will has split an estate between two daughters instead of one.

A common nightmare for executors and families is the discovery of a "slip of the pen" in a final will. In a significant legal clarification, the Court recently tackled a case in which a deceased man left his entire estate to "the daughter" of his cousin. The complication was as simple as it was prob...

01/06/2026

A recent High Court ruling has set a clear boundary on international child relocation disputes. Once a lawful move abroad happens, later appeals rarely undo it. For parents caught in cross-border legal battles, understanding this is key. Read on to see what this means for relocation cases.

In the tangled world of international family law, the speed of travel inevitably outpaces that of the legal system. A recent and significant High Court ruling has clarified the high stakes of "wrongful retention" claims under the Hague Convention 1980 (HCCH), specifically in relation to cases where....

28/05/2026

When a loved one passes away, the legal assumption is that the family will act in harmony to provide a dignified farewell. However, where deep-seated animosity replaces cooperation, the state must intervene. In a recent judgement, the High Court highlights the distressing reality of what happens when siblings cannot agree on the disposal of their parents’ remains. For over five months, the body of Michael Godwin remained in a Leeds mortuary as his two sons, William and Jason, fought a bitter legal battle over whether he should be buried in France or cremated in England. The case serves as a sombre reminder that, without a clear, undisputed executor, the final wishes of the deceased are often left to the mercy of a judge’s assessment of "decency and respect".

When a loved one passes away, the legal assumption is that the family will act in harmony to provide a dignified farewell. However, where deep-seated animosity replaces cooperation, the state must intervene. In a recent judgement, the High Court highlights the distressing reality of what happens whe...

27/05/2026

Property licensing has become a cornerstone of local government efforts to regulate the private rental sector. For landlords, the consequences of non-compliance are severe and may even include Rent Repayment Orders (RROs) that require the return of thousands of pounds in rent to tenants. However, a significant legal question has emerged: what happens when a landlord tries to comply, but the technology of the local authority (LA) prevents them from doing so? A recent appeal in the Upper Tribunal (UT) addressed this exact scenario, providing a landmark ruling on the "reasonable excuse" defence and the limits of landlord liability when faced with administrative failure.

Property licensing has become a cornerstone of local government efforts to regulate the private rental sector. For landlords, the consequences of non-compliance are severe and may even include Rent Repayment Orders (RROs) that require the return of thousands of pounds in rent to tenants. However, a....

26/05/2026

Warning for anyone trying to freeze your ex's solicitor accounts: make sure those funds actually exist, or you could face a hefty bill. Legal battles get costly fast if assumptions don't check out.

Enforcing financial orders in divorce proceedings can feel like an uphill battle when a spouse decides to ignore a court’s authority. However, a recent judgement from the family court serves as a stark reminder that, even when faced with blatant non-compliance, the procedural path to recovery is p...