My wife and I are getting divorced. Everything is perfectly amicable as we have just drifted apart due to work commitments, different interests etc, and have virtually been living separate lives for the past two years. We plan to sell our home and just split everything down the middle, but my brother says we should still get a formal financial order from the court. Is this really necessary?

I recently read in the answer to a question in one of your legal Q&A columns about a ‘substitute beneficiary’. Please can you explain what this in more detail and tell me whether it is something I should consider putting in my Will when I update it?

My aunt always told me she had left me ‘a good sum’ in her Will. I was her only niece, and we were extremely close as my mum, her sister, died when I was five. She had no children of her own and I spent every school holiday and many weekends with her. Her first husband died leaving her well provided for. Then she met a man on a cruise seven years ago and quickly married him. I never liked him and I felt he’d married her for her money. Now she has died and I have been left nothing in her Will, which was made recently and leaves everything to her husband. I am sure this is not what she intended. Can I challenge the Will?

My wife of 20 years has recently died. She did not leave a Will, but as we held all our accounts jointly, her estate passed to me. When she was alive, my wife and I endlessly discussed what we wanted to happen at our funerals, and when she died, I made sure that her/our wishes were specifically followed. When my time comes, I want my funeral to replicate hers as much as possible. The problem is that when my wife died, I was able to oversee her funeral arrangements, but as we do not have children or any close relatives, how can I be sure my funeral will be held in accordance with my wishes. Is there anything I can do?

My marriage has broken down. My husband wants a divorce and has joined several dating agencies although he denies this. We have two children aged seven and nine who live amid daily arguments. Last weekend my husband refused my parents entry into our house after a trip out with the children. He says I am not entitled to keep the house if we divorce, as I don’t work, and don’t contribute towards the mortgage etc. But I am a good wife and mother and have done nothing to give him grounds for divorce. He says that is irrelevant under today’s divorce laws. Do spouses still need to prove one party has done something wrong?

My husband was viewing a second-hand car in a garage in May. He had just looked in the boot when the salesman pressed the button to close the boot lid before my husband was fully clear and the lid hit his head. The salesman apologised and my husband said: “it’s ok, no damage done”. Back home a few hours later, however, he developed a headache and said he felt weak. Then he became confused and lost consciousness. I called the paramedics who took him to hospital where he was diagnosed with a subdural hematoma, almost certainly caused by the boot lid hitting his head. He needed surgery and is still in rehab and having therapy, so he cannot work. Could he claim compensation from the garage?

My mother has died. I am her executor and in her Will she left everything to me and my three sons in equal shares, but one of my sons died four years ago. However, six weeks before he died his then girlfriend persuaded him to marry her. I believe she coerced him into the marriage to secure her financial future but have no proof. Is she entitled to my deceased son’s share of my mother’s estate?

Last weekend we visited a local restaurant with friends. The weather was hot and double doors that are normally closed were open, and two metal ramps had been placed side by side from the pavement to the top of a steep step. The ramps were not joined together, and we watched several people stumble as they moved when people stepped onto them. A waiter also dropped a tray of cocktails he was carrying for the same reason. On leaving we were cautious, but my wife stepped too near the edge of one ramp and it tipped up. She ended up in hospital and has broken her shoulder and collar bone. I contacted the restaurant owner and he apologised, but I feel we should take the matter further and my wife should get compensation. What should we do?

We are a small family-run manufacturing business. Recently we have had an issue with an employee who regularly fails to attend work after a ‘heavy’ weekend in the pub but always claims to be suffering a migraine. We have gone through the formal disciplinary procedure to no avail and now need to dismiss him. However, we suspect that he will try and take us to a tribunal.

On Friday 26 June 2026, colleagues from across GHP Legal came together at the wonderful Wynnstay Hotel & Spa, Oswestry, for our annual Summer Event.