I have my polling card for the referendum on Scottish independence from last year (didn't vote).

I am intending presently to sell it to a person overseas. Am I committing an offence , notwithstanding that the election is past?

Putting to one side the odd attitude you have to this matter - most responsible citizens would have used the card for its proper purpose i.e. to vote in this important democratic exercise - your legal question is interesting but difficult. Indeed I have carried out a little research but do not have a definitive answer, possibly because Parliament has never imagined anyone would do something as frankly unusual as you intend. However, going back to first principles, the polling card is not probably your property but that of the state - perhaps in the person of Her Majesty or a specific arm of government, so you cannot sell or grant title to what you do not own. You duty is probably to return it to the local authority that sent it to you.

I have a son who has a parking ticket which he refuses to pay. I don't want any letters addressed to me, as we have the same name. How do I redress this problem with the council?

If a letter does come, do your won reply to them to explain the issue. Their data from DVLA will give your son's details which will be different from yours re the likes do date of birth. But it was you who gave him the name when he was born, so if there is some hassle involved you'll just have to accept it - but be proactive, don't ignore any letters even if he does.

We are pursuing a PPI claim through a firm using no win no fee. They have had it since August 2007, it then went to the Financial Ombudsman last August 2010. We don't seem to be getting anywhere with the firm as they don't keep us informed. We tried phoning the Financial Ombudsman and they just say its at the final stages. Could you tell me how long a case should really take - surely not as long as four years?

I don't think that is remotely good enough. Check what the contract with the firm says - there ought to be some kind of quality of service standard. Also see what the termination conditions are. Ideally you would like to walk away and perhaps go to a proper solicitor instead, but there may be penalties for leaving. At very least make a real nuisance of yourself with the firm's senior partner or managing director, and phone the Ombudsman every week.

I have never made a will but don't think I have enough to leave when I die anyway. I don't have any close family, and so far as I am concerned I would rather a charity has it than second cousins I don't know, but someone said to me that if I don't make a will, the government gets it.

Relatives, even distant ones, take precedence over the Queens and Lord Treasurer's Remembrancer, to give the Crown its formal title. If you don't have relatives, then the government will indeed inherit as final survivor, and the money will go to the Crown. You have more or less answered your own questions - a one-page simple will can ensure your favoured charity/ies will inherit. and though you are not well-off just now, no-one knows what they will have when they die - maybe you'll be on the telly on Red or Black and get it right all the way.