by johnireland | Legal Spotlight
In Brinner v Brinner & Ors [2026] EWHC 1462 (Ch), handed down on 16 June 2026, the High Court removed an eldest son as executor of his father’s estate and appointed an independent administrator. The father’s widow believed he still held hidden...
by johnireland | Articles
You sell the family house, move somewhere smaller near the sea, and put the difference in the bank. Sensible. But a question follows you home: does the estate lose the extra Inheritance Tax allowance that was attached to that house? The short answer is no — not...
by johnireland | Estate Planning Essentials
Downsizing does not have to lose you the £175,000 residence nil-rate band. If you sold, gifted or moved to a less valuable home on or after 8 July 2015, the estate can claim a downsizing addition to replace the allowance lost on the move. The former home must have...
by johnireland | Articles
There is a number in Oliver Burkeman’s Four Thousand Weeks that lands harder than any tax figure I deal with in a working week. If you live to eighty, you get about four thousand weeks. That is the whole allocation. Not four thousand weeks of good health, or of...
by johnireland | Articles
There is a quiet piece of admin sitting in the diary of almost every company in the country, and it has a hard edge to it. Since 18 November 2025, verifying your identity with Companies House has been a legal requirement rather than a nice idea. For existing...
