Q:  My husband is a selfish verbal bully who always puts himself before me and our four children. I would like to divorce him but I don't have a job and I cannot see him giving up our beautiful house in order that he can put a roof over our heads somewhere else. My friend says he cannot make us homeless but I am not so sure. Where do I stand?

Q:  After getting divorced last year I got a new place to live and have had my children to stay every weekend since then. My ex-wife has been fine about the arrangement up until a few weeks ago when my new partner moved in with me. Now my ex-wife has taken objection is saying she will not let me see our children because she doesn't like my new partner. What should I do?.

Q:  I was walking along my local high street on a Monday lunchtime approximately 4 weeks ago to go and get something to eat during my lunch hour when I tripped and fell on a broken paving slab.  When I fell to the ground I put out my hands in front of me to break my fall and in doing so I broke my right wrist.   I am a secretary and have been unable to work for the last month.  Do I have a case against the council?  If I do have a case against the council can I reclaim any lost earnings?

Q:  An aunt of mine died earlier this year. In her Will she left everything to be split equally between her two daughters. Even though probate had not yet been granted, the sisters put their mother's house on the market. Before a buyer could be found and the money from the sale distributed, however, one of the sisters died. All of this has got me thinking about my own family situation and has made me wonder about a couple of points which I hope you can clarify. Firstly, is it correct that property in an estate can be sold before Probate is granted? And secondly, what happens to someone's share of an estate if they die before the Will is settled?

Q:  The company I work for is about to be taken over by a bigger company that is planning to move part of its operation onto our site. If they bring their own workers with them there will be too many people for the jobs and my colleagues and I are concerned that we will be the ones to be made redundant. We don't belong to a Union. What should we do?

Q:  I was a passenger in a friend's car which was involved in an accident two months ago. Although I suffered what paramedics described as minor injuries I didn't pursue a claim for damages at the time because I believed there was no permanent damage and it seemed disloyal to my friend. However, I have since developed quite severe neck pain which my GP thinks is accident related and has recommended physiotherapy. As the NHS waiting list is eight weeks or more and you are only allowed so many appointments in my area, I have decided to go privately, which I can ill-afford. Is it too late to pursue a claim?

Q:   My mother has Alzheimer's and is in a nursing home. Last week my aunt told me that my mother had promised to leave her a valuable piece of family jewellery in her Will, a piece which she herself had inherited from their mother. The problem is that my sister and I were unaware of this and as we have joint power of attorney over our mother's affairs we sold the piece of jewellery to help pay for her care. I fear my aunt could become extremely difficult about this when the time comes for our mother's Will to be read. What will happen if the jewellery is bequeathed to her and it is no longer in our mother's estate?

Q:  I believe my ex-wife is planning to emigrate to South Africa with her new partner and our twelve year old son. She has not discussed it with me, even though we both have parental responsibility. What should I do?

Q:  I have an elderly spinster aunt who after having a severe stroke has been in a nursing home for the past eighteen months and will spend the remainder of her days there. As her next of kin I was going to sell her home to pay for her care as her savings are diminishing at an alarming rate. However, someone has recently told me the NHS should be paying for her care as she requires nursing. Is this correct?

Q:  I engage a number of entertainers to work in my restaurant bar six nights a week. They work on a rota basis and are treated as part of the team, attending meetings etc., but they are all self-employed. One of them has let me down several times recently, and because I was unable to fill her slot in time I decided to terminate her contract and engage someone more reliable. Now she says she has made an appointment to see a solicitor about taking me to a tribunal for unfair dismissal because she had a valid reason to be off work. How can she do that when she is self-employed?