Toilet or not toilet – that is the question!

Some of you may have seen that I was out celebrating this week – given that I'm often seen with a glass in my hand, you may not have realised that I had a good reason for it this time!  So I'm pleased to report that we had a big success in Court and we're all very happy.
 
In brief, we were arguing over the location of a septic tank (I get all the interesting cases).  Our side owned a house in a remote area with no access to mains drainage.  For over 40 years the house had been serviced by a septic tank on the land belonging to a neighbour, under a deal done between the respective owners at the time, for which good payment had been made.  The neighbour wanted the tank to be removed (despite having bought the house knowing that this was their obligation) and threatened to disconnect the tank, rendering our side's house uninhabitable and therefore of little value.  A drainage expert confirmed that it was not possible to put the tank on our side's land (which is why it was put on the neighbouring land in the first place) but the neighbour refused to agree.  We therefore had no choice but to go to court for an order that the tank had to remain, knowing that if we were unsuccessful, our losses were more than just the cost of the litigation but would involve the occupiers of the house keeping their legs crossed on a regular basis!
 
Fortunately good sense prevailed and the Judge confirmed that the neighbour must honour the original agreement and let the tank be on his land.  If he didn't like it, he shouldn't have bought the house in the first place.  What's more, the Judge gave a penal notice (ie the neighbour could end up in jail if he interferes with the tank) and awarded a very high level of costs (which is an indication that he was disappointed with the neighbour's behaviour).
 
So if you need a solicitor who knows her way around the law on rights of way as well as she knows her way around a wine bar, drop me a line at stephanie@kleymansolicitors.com.   We'll do our best to make sure you end up smelling of roses and not knee deep in something smelly!
 
Kleyman & Co Solicitors.  The full service law firm.  The right way.