Where is your boundary: Can landowners rely on a Land Registry plan?

Landowners faced with disputes over their boundaries often point to the Land Registry plan for their land as evidence of what they own and their property boundaries. Unfortunately title plans are not definitive and will not necessarily show the precise location of the boundaries. Unless the owner of registered land has entered into a boundary agreement or had the boundary line determined by a Court or the Land Registry, the great majority of registered titles show only the ’general boundaries’; this means that the Land Registry plan gives an approximation of a property’s extent rather than an exact delineation. In the recent Court of Appeal decision of Clapham v Narga the Court confirmed that the Land Registry’s plan was ordinarily irrelevant in establishing where a boundary is located. This case was a long running dispute…

Martin House Make a Will during the month of March 2025

Leave your legacy to help us continue ours     If, like many other people you have been putting off writing your Will, this is your chance to put that right. Ware & Kay Solicitors has teamed up with Martin House to give you the opportunity to have your basic Will written for free. Legacies are vitally important to Martin House. In fact, they make up more than a quarter of our entire voluntary income, meaning the cost of caring for one in four of our children is covered by gifts left in Wills. Over half of UK adults have not made a Will. It's not always easy to think about what might happen when we die. But making a Will is an important step to ensuring the people and things you care about are taken care of after you're gone…

Debbie Gilpin, Deputy Head of Wills & Probate urges families to act now and plan ahead for upcoming changes to inheritance tax

Families in Yorkshire are being urged to take action to safeguard their financial future ahead of upcoming changes to inheritance tax (IHT) rules.  The latest budget announced a freeze on the IHT nil rate band and residence nil rate band thresholds until 2030, meaning more families are likely to be impacted as property values continue to rise. Changes to tax relief on certain assets and adjustments to pension rules will see more estates facing unexpected tax liabilities. Debbie Gilpin, Deputy Head of Wills & Probate at Ware & Kay in York warns that failing to plan ahead could result in significant financial losses for loved ones, with many unaware of the options available when it comes to planning to mitigate IHT. New research from The Association of Lifetime Lawyers, a membership body of expert…

Do you need an employment policy for AI use at work?

Rapid changes are underway in the world of work due to the increased use of increasingly sophisticated artificial intelligence (AI) products that are available to employees and contractors. As with any innovation, it can take a while to fully understand the benefits and the risks, and for policies and procedures to catch up. ‘Employers and recruitment agencies use AI in recruitment; and employees are making use of AI to carry out their jobs, sometimes on their own initiative,’ says Jessica Gowar, Head of Employment with Ware & Kay Solicitors. ‘While the advantages can be transformational, using AI is not without risk and now might be a good time to consider developing a policy on the use of AI by employees, and to check with your recruitment agencies how they use it’. Jessica highlights key areas…