Q:    This is a purely hypothetical question, but I am hoping your answer will encourage my husband to make a Will. Our marriage is a second one for both of us. I have a daughter from my first marriage, and we later had another daughter together. Both girls live with us. My husband seems to think that if anything happened to one of us, the surviving spouse would automatically inherit the estate of the deceased spouse and the girls would eventually inherit equally when the surviving spouse died. But my question is, what would happen if we died together in a car crash?

Q:    My widowed father is suffering from long covid and cannot look after himself. His age and the fact that he also suffered organ damage means it is unlikely that he will recover sufficiently to live independently in future. In one of his lucid moments, he said he wanted to sell his house as there is nobody nearby to keep an eye on things. It also needs to be sold to pay the fees if he goes into a care home. I could be his attorney, but what if there is an emergency and I cannot be there?

Q:    I work in retail. Due to COVID19 closures there have been cutbacks and we are having to reapply for our own jobs or other jobs within the organisation. I was unsuccessful when I applied for my old job, so I applied for a job in the women’s department. I didn’t get that either and although they didn’t say as much to my face, I have heard that I was considered unsuitable because I am a heterosexual male.

Q:    Two years ago, I witnessed my best friend dying after a lorry ploughed into her car whilst she was legally parked waiting for me. She was trapped in the wreckage for nearly two hours whilst I cradled her head and talked to her. She was screaming and kept asking me to help her until medics arrived and sedated her. Her screams and the picture of her terrible injuries have tortured me ever since. I am on anti-depressants and have had to give up work. A nurse friend thinks I have PTSD and that I should claim against the lorry insurance for compensation. Would I have a valid claim?

Q:    I have been mentally and physically abused by my husband for years, often in front of the children. I cannot take any more, but I have no money to get a solicitor and go to court for an injunction to stop him, or to leave him. Can you still get legal aid and if so, what do you have to do?

Q:     The COVID lockdown ended our marriage and I moved out and rented a room in a mate’s house. For the sake of the kids, I agreed I would not force a sale on the house that my ex and I own jointly, and I have carried on paying the mortgage, which is why I can only afford a room for myself. Now my ex has met someone online and wants him to move in. Should I make her sell up? Or can I charge him rent?

Q:    Early on in the coronavirus pandemic I was put on furlough, but I went back to work full time in March. Since then I have ended up being on call almost every weekend due to various colleagues having to self-isolate after coming into contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID. I have pointed this out to the boss and have also pointed out that I have not been paid any extra and it is contrary to what it says in my contract. He told me if I want to keep my job that’s how it is and that our contracts are going to be changed anyway.  Can they do that?

Q:    I had an x-ray at hospital for leg pain and was diagnosed with a small fracture in my foot. Over the next week, my symptoms worsened. The leg pain became severe, and I felt feverish. I went to A&E and had a further x-ray, which confirmed that I had fractured my foot. I was discharged and sent home.

Q:    When I visited an elderly friend in the nursing home where she has been since pre covid she was very distressed and said she wants to leave but is kept locked in. She claims staff say she cannot leave because of a ‘DOLS’, but she does not understand what that is. The staff would not talk to me about it due to data protection. Her son has died since she went into the home. How can I help her?

Q:    Last year I got a job working as a painter. During my first week I was told to attend a property to paint the exterior windows and soffit boards. Whilst I was setting up the ladders to access them, I fell from a height and suffered life changing injuries. After my accident, the Health and Safety Executive launched an investigation into what happened. My employer pleaded guilty to breaching Health and Safety laws and has been fined. I am paralysed from the waist down and I will never be able to return to work. I left school with no qualifications, and I have only ever done manual labour, so my options are very limited. I am only 35 years old, have 2 children to support and I am getting into serious debt. What can I do?