DUE to unforeseen circumstances a couple of years ago I did not keep up monthly payments and received a council tax demand to pay within seven days which I did not do.

I received a summary warrant. I did manage to pay the council tax by the end of the tax year but did not pay the additional 10 per cent.

I am now being asked after two years by a debt recovery agency to pay the £74.03, must I pay this as I thought if the bill was settled before the new tax year I would be ok?

IF the summary warrant including the 10% surcharge was issued before payment, the whole thing must be paid no matter when.

I don’t know whether it is worthwhile me making a will.

I AM married and don’t intend to have children. Surely my wife would just inherit everything.

TO some extent you are right - the surviving spouse gets the house, contents and money up to £89,000, but if your estate is more than the intestacy limits provide for, the rest is divided between the spouse and wider family, including parents and siblings.

So it does not necessarily all go to your wife.

The actual division depends on the make-up of the family, but the message is this – if you are married, make sure you’ve both checked with a solicitor how your estates would be divided on death, as you might be surprised, and then almost certainly go ahead to make wills!

I LIVE in a private housing estate and the deeds state that no commercial vehicles may be parked in the estate overnight.

If it is a company van, does the typical transit sized van fall into this category? If it does who enforces the law on this? The problem is the vans severely restrict views into the road and there is an accident waiting to happen.

YOU have the right as a proprietor to take enforcement action (by way of a sheriff court interdict and costs) and yes, this sort of van is in the category of a commercial vehicle.

You should start with asking them politely, but if you’ve tried that or don’t feel able to, a lawyer’s letter may help to avoid court action

I WAS a passenger in a bus that was hit by a car driven by a youth.

I assume he had no insurance or had stolen the car as I have been contacted by police to give a statement as to what I saw.

But I do not want to get involved, and don’t want to attend court or have my address read out.

YOU must co-operate with the police and then the Procurator fiscal if it does go to court.

You must attend court as witness if cited, failure to do so is contempt of court and could lead to conviction and a fine or worse, but your address can be given as c/o the police office and your own home not disclosed if you ask.