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CVC NEWS

CVC continue to invest in providing expert legal advice locally with their staff continuing to obtain qualifications and increase the availability of local lawyers within West Cornwall. 

Alison James is now a fully qualified member of the Institute of Legal Executives (F.Inst.L.Ex) and is specialising in Family matters. Alison is available for appointments at Penzance, St Ives and Hayle offices of CVC Solicitors.

Lesley Woon has also fully qualified as a member of the Institute of Legal Executives (F.Inst.L.Ex) and is specialising in Wills and Probate matters. Lesley is available for appointments at all three offices of CVC Solicitors.

Oliver Thorp has recently qualified as a Solicitor, having undertaken his training with CVC Solicitors.

Anita Crewdson  has now joined CVC Solicitors and will working in the Family department based at Penzance. Anita will also be available for appointments at all CVC Offices.

Tony Sheridan has recently passed his exams on his penultimate stage before qualifying as a Solicitor. Tony is on schedule to qualify in February 2010 when he completes the Law Society qualification.

Property News

Prue Willday has a court of appeal decision in a case involving children. The Court of Appeal in January Ruled for the grandmother who had been granted Residence  Order after 10 days of hearing in London. The children's Guardian Appealed and lost and the order for Residence was upheld. The major issue was the grandmother's age, she was 70. The parents were drug addicts and there was also a half sibling who was placed in Care. The grandmother had had difficulties with the Local Authority from the start and the LA and CG had taken against her and used her age a one of the major planks against her. They  did not accept the expert report we obtained on her. The Court of Appeal felt that her age was not a bar and that the other issues raised were also not enough for her to be refused a Residence order and  felt she had been poorly treated.

Lisa Robinson recently pursued an important point of law which resulted in a decision which will have ongoing affects on the rights of people in protecting their interests in matrimonial proceedings.

Anyone who becomes caught up in divorce proceedings because they have an interest in property owned by a divorcing couple needs to take specialist legal advice following a landmark case in the Court of Appeal brought by CVC Solicitors.   

The complex legal position on the issue of legal fees means that there is a real risk that  you may end up paying your own fees and possibly the other party’s fees as well, just to protect your own share in a property and/or your right to live there.

The divorcing couple may be entitled to protection by the Family Proceedings Rules but the Judge has no such restriction when making third parties/interveners pay the legal costs.

This case will affect anyone who shares ownership of  property with a married couple such as parents who help their children purchase property, granny flats and children who assisting their parents when they re-marry. 

The Court of Appeal acknowledged that CVC were right to bring the case as until now the situation had been extremely unclear.  The appeal court decided that the two  Judges who dealt with the previous  hearings had applied the law incorrectly.

Lisa Robinson of CVC Solicitors represented her client throughout the proceedings and details of the case an be found at http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2009/1162.html .  She is a civil litigation solicitor who has been with CVC ever since she qualified in 2006.   She specialises in property/boundary disputes, housing and personal injury claims.

Anyone who thinks they may be affected by this issue should feel free to contact Lisa Robinson on 01736 356907.

Mostyn Evans is currently pursuing one of the first appeals to the Upper Tier Tribunals of the Mental Health Review Tribunal.

Solicitor leads way with landmark case

Anyone who becomes caught up in divorce proceedings because they have an interest in property owned by a divorcing couple needs to take specialist legal advice following a landmark case in the Court of Appeal brought by CVC Solicitors.   

The complex legal position on the issue of legal fees means that there is a real risk that  you may end up paying your own fees and possibly the other party’s fees as well, just to protect your own share in a property and/or your right to live there.

The  divorcing couple may be entitled to protection by the Family Proceedings Rules but the Judge has no such restriction when making third parties/interveners pay the legal costs.

This case will affect anyone who shares ownership of  property with a married couple such as parents who help their children purchase property, granny flats and children who assisting their parents when they re-marry. 

The Court of Appeal acknowledged that CVC were right to bring the case as until now the situation had been extremely unclear. The appeal court decided that the two  Judges who dealt with the previous  hearings had applied the law incorrectly.

Lisa Robinson of CVC Solicitors represented her client throughout the proceedings and details of the case an be found at http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2009/1162.html .  She is a civil litigation solicitor who has been with CVC ever since she qualified in 2006.   She specialises in property/boundary disputes, housing and personal injury claims.

Anyone who thinks they may be affected by this issue should feel free to contact Lisa Robinson on 01736 356907.

Lisa is based at CVC’s Penzance office but is also happy to travel to their Hayle or St. Ives offices to see new clients.  CVC Solicitors are able to grant legal aid to those on a low income who require legal advice or representation.

Don't suffer in silence

Domestic Violence is abuse within a home or relationship that is:

·         physical,

·        sexual,

·        psychological,

·        financial or

·        emotional

Statistics estimate:

• One incident is reported to the police every minute

• It accounts for 16% of all violent crime

• On average two women are killed every week as a result

• It has more repeat victims than any other crime

• on average there will have been 35 incidents before a victim calls the police

• It will affect 1 in 4 women and 1 in 6 men in their lifetime

For many the family home is a dangerous and frightening place.

CVC Solicitors offer confidential advice and expertise in representing clients at Court.

Anyone breaking a court order may face not only a criminal record but also a term of imprisonment.

CVC Solicitors family team includes

• Solicitors Prue Willday and Nichola Whitehead both specialise in family law only.

• Prue is a Director of the firm and has run domestic violence law training for Police and other professionals.

• Alison James is an experienced member of the family team and works closely with the Police and Women’s Aid.  She also provides specialist advice and training to professionals. 

CVC Solicitors have offices in Penzance, St Ives and Hayle and offer assistance to both private clients and those needing Legal Aid. Call us on 01736 362 362 or visit us at www.cvc-solicitors.co.uk

Love Thy Neighbour?

Disputes with neighbours are becoming increasingly common and can cause home owners a huge amount of distress.   Such disputes  often result in people being made to feel uncomfortable in their own homes or gardens. This can have  a huge impact upon people’s lives because what often starts as a minor dispute is  blown out of proportion, resulting in feuds which can last months, or even years.   In some cases people are forced to sell their home to escape the “neighbour from hell”.  

In English law, plots of land are conveyed by reference to plans.  More often than not the plans are not to scale and do not specify measurements.  The land is sometimes outlined by a fat red felt pen which makes things more difficult.  

As the value of land in England has steadily increased, this has lead to a huge number of disputes as land owners are keen to try to maximise their usage of the land they own by building right up to the boundary.

So whose boundary is it?   In relation to garden fences, the general rule is that where the Title Deeds have a plan and there is a T mark on one side of the fence, if this falls on your side, then you are the owner.  If there is no plan or no T mark then there is a general presumption that you own the fence if the supporting posts are on your land.  If there is a man made ditch at the end of your garden which is not marked on any plan the law assumes that the boundary runs up to the near side of the ditch.  These rules are not binding and can be overridden if evidence is produced to the contrary.

There are various ways to resolve disputes:

·            informally

·            by meeting (sometimes referred to as ADR)

·            arbitration

·            court hearings.

The further down the list you go the more expensive things become.  It is important that people seek legal advice at an early stage in the hope that matters can be resolved by agreement, before emotions interfere and relations become strained. 

Lisa Robinson, is a litigation solicitor at CVC solicitors.  She  is experienced in all areas with regard to   property rights and associated disputes.  She offers clear, practical legal advice on a wide range of issues such as boundary disputes, trespass, high hedges, nuisance and rights of way.

Put your mind at rest, contact Lisa on 01736 362362

Court Success for Boscaswell man in garden land dispute

David Weddle (58) from The Old Barn, Lower Boscaswell yesterday successfully defended a claim by his neighbours Mr and Mrs. Weller for possession of part of his garden.

 After six days Court hearing Mr Weddle proved that he had occupied the land for 19 years, and was given the freehold title by Recorder Richard Mawhinney at Truro County Court.

 The judge was so convinced of the strength of Mr Weddle’s claim to the land that he ordered Mr and Mrs. Weller to pay all of Mr Weddle's legal fees and directed the Land Registry to register Mr Weddle as the freehold owner of the property.

 David Weddle, who suffered a heart-attack and underwent surgery during the course of the case, said "this is such a relief.  I never doubted that the claim was misguided, but I could not have succeeded without my solicitors CVC of Penzance, and in particular Lisa Robinson. I have nothing but praise for the whole team".

picture: Lisa Robinson(CVC), Mr Weddle, Diana Williams(CVC)

© CVC Solicitor 2008