It is unfortunately not possible to prevent someone from contesting a will. However, both at the will preparation stage and in the early stages of being faced with the prospect of a dispute after death, there are various steps that can be taken to protect against it.

With no clear path yet determined for our exit from the European Union, many commercial tenants could have been forgiven for watching the dispute between the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and its landlord, Canary Wharf, with their fingers crossed.

In a recent dispute between European Professional Club Rugby, the governing body and organiser of two European premier club rugby union competitions, and sports media broadcaster, RDA Television LLP, the High Court allowed for the lawful termination of a contract due to COVID-19 on the grounds of force majeure.

A mother and son created a trading farm partnership which did not include the land. The agreement provided for dissolution of the partnership in the event of one of the partners becoming permanently incapacitated. In her last will, the mother left her share and interest in the partnership to her son but after her death, a dispute arose over whether her share and interest in the partnership was hers to give due to capacity issues.

The High Court has recently reminded everyone that parties’ conduct can alter their legal relationship even if the contract contains an “entire agreement” clause. The case arose from a payment dispute between a housing association and a private sector housing maintenance contractor and provides a warning about starting work without implementing functional systems, leading to a compromise that actually ends up binding the parties.

For many people, finding love starts with a dating app. More than 10% of UK adults that use the internet participate in online dating. Online dating is big business and brand strategy is a key aspect of obtaining a share of this lucrative market. Given the value of branding, brand protection is a vital component of protecting a business’ investment as well as its reputation and market share. These were all issues in the dispute that recently concluded in the Court of Appeal between a dominant player in the online dating market, Match Group LLC (Match) and Muzmatch, a disruptive innovator.

Learn what freezing orders (Mareva injunctions) are, when they apply, and how they protect your business in commercial disputes.

Robyn Hey, Senior Contracts Manager in our Commercial team discusses the importance of well drafted agreements to mitigate future disputes.

When shareholder disputes lead to actions to oust investors or wrestle control from individuals, appealing to court for an unfair prejudice remedy may be the only route available to those adversely affected.

With the increased use of the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal (LVT) to settle an increasing number of landlord and tenant disputes, we thought it would be helpful to provide you with an overview of what exactly the LVT is and what it can do.