Consumer
Most contracts are made long before anything is signed
Enforceability turns on what the parties agreed and when, and in most systems the written document is…
· 4 min read
Julien Perrot
Consumer editor, What's Your Case
Julien writes the explanatory pieces on consumer, housing, work and prefers a plain explanation to a clever one.
15 articles
Housing
A landlord’s right to enter is narrower than most people expect
Letting a property usually transfers possession, not just use, and that is why access is generally…
· 4 min read
Family & Estates
Probate is permission to act, not a hearing about the estate
The process most people call probate is largely an administrative confirmation of authority, and…
· 4 min read
Consumer
A signature does not rescue a term the law will not enforce
Many systems now examine what a standard clause actually does, so whether it binds depends far more on its…
· 4 min read
Work
Discrimination is a legal category, not a description of rudeness
Most systems protect a defined list of characteristics and recognise particular forms of unequal treatment…
· 4 min read
Family & Estates
Naming a guardian is a wish with legal weight, not a transfer of a child
A parent can record who should care for their children, and most systems treat that record seriously…
· 3 min read
Courts
A court can make allowances for someone without a lawyer, but only so far
Procedural rules apply to everybody, and the help a judge may properly give an unrepresented party stops…
· 4 min read
Family & Estates
A modest estate often does not need the full process
Most systems provide a lighter route where what someone left is small or simply structured, and knowing…
· 4 min read
Courts
Suing the wrong entity is a mistake that can cost the whole claim
The name above a shop, on a van or on an invoice is frequently not the legal person responsible, and…
· 4 min read
Consumer
Remedies for a faulty item usually arrive in an order
Most systems give a buyer a sequence rather than a menu, and a real argument about a defective purchase is…
· 4 min read
Housing
Belongings left behind do not become the landlord’s property
Possessions remaining after an occupier leaves put the property owner in an awkward legal position, with…
· 4 min read
Work
Hours of work are regulated as a safety matter, not as a pay matter
Limits on working time and entitlements to rest exist because fatigue is treated as a hazard, which is why…
· 4 min read
Family & Estates
When no attorney was appointed, somebody has to be appointed by a court
Where an adult can no longer make decisions and nothing was arranged in advance, most systems provide a…
· 4 min read
Family & Estates
A joint account raises the question of whose money it ever was
The bank’s rules about who may withdraw are not the same as the law’s answer about who owns the balance…
· 4 min read
Family & Estates
Systems divide property on separation in two very different ways
Some jurisdictions apply a fixed property regime chosen at the start of a relationship, while others give a…
· 3 min read