My partner and I were together for twelve years. He had his own business and I gave up my job to help him grow it. I took no income and was reliant on him for financial support. We have no children, but he had a daughter from a previous relationship. In January my partner died suddenly. He never made a Will and now his former partner says I must leave the house, which was in his name, and the business will be closed down. She said his daughter will inherit everything under intestacy law and I have no right to anything because we weren’t married. Can I claim against his estate?

I am in dispute with a conservatory firm. After suffering months of disruption and mess there are already signs of movement. An independent surveyor’s report stated that the foundations are inadequate for the structure. I have written to the builder who dismissed the report, saying the surveyor was just trying to justify his fee. Is it worth me taking the builder to court, bearing in mind the reported court hearing delays of up to a year?

I need to write a letter of complaint to contractors who laid a new drive for me a few months ago, as it is already showing signs of sinkage. I have seen complaint letters that start with “Without Prejudice”. Is this something I need to start my letter with, and if so, what does it signify?

My wife and I have been married for eleven years. When we got married, I also took on her two-year old son, though I was not able to formally adopt him as his father is alive and occasionally bothers to see him. I did, however, take full financial responsibility for him. Sadly, things have not worked out between me and my wife and now we are going to separate. I have two questions regarding my step-son: firstly, will I still be responsible for him financially; secondly will I have any legal access rights to see him?

My wealthy neighbours, both in their nineties, made Wills years ago, leaving everything to each other and naming each other as sole executors. The husband had no children, but the wife had a granddaughter. The wife died recently, so her husband inherited everything and her granddaughter got nothing.

My wife and I bought our house eight years ago. I paid the deposit from the sale of a property I owned previously. Whilst the house and mortgage are in joint names, I have always paid the mortgage, with my wife contributing less than a third. For several years I worked overtime to pay cash for a large extension we built. We have no children and both have full time jobs and share running costs. Now we are going our separate ways, my question is - can I get more than 50% of the house as I put more money into it?

My widowed father-in-law has had a stroke which has left him without speech. He appears to know what is going on around him but as he cannot communicate, how can my husband and I get access to his bank account so that we can pay his bills etc?