Month: August 2019

Entries Are Now Open For The 2020 National Paralegal Awards

The National Paralegal Awards are back, with entries now open to find the Best Paralegals in the UK and businesses that support the industry.  Rita Leat, Managing Director of The Professional Paralegal Register who host the awards said: “We are delighted to host these annual awards to showcase and reward the work of Paralegals across […]

The 2019 Shortlist for the British Wills and Probate Awards Is Announced

The long-awaited shortlist for the second upcoming prestigious British Wills and Probate Awards is finally announced.  The awards are brought to you by Today’s Wills and Probate, alongside headline sponsor, Arken.legal (UK) Ltd, a leader in software solutions for the legal services industry. Today’s Wills and Probate are pleased to announce the shortlist for the […]

Kings Court Trust Launch New Probate and Estate Administration Website

Kings Court Trust are pleased to introduce their brand new website: www.kctrust.co.uk. It presents an improved experience for professionals and families looking to find out more about Kings Court Trust – one of the UK’s leading probate and estate administration providers. The upgraded website is clean, contemporary and in line with modern viewing expectations.  What’s […]

Retirees Increasingly Reliant On Equity Release To Pay Debts

Retirees are increasingly shackled and fettered to their debt according to an equity release advice specialist. According to research carried out by equity release experts Key, over half of over-55s are using equity release products to pay off their outstanding debts. Overall, a third (30%) are using the money from the equity built up in […]

Pension System Baffles Over Half Of UK Population

Over half of the UK population does not understand how pensions work, when they can access their money and how their money would be paid to them. According to recent research by MoneySavingHeroes.co.uk, 56% of the UK is unaware of how the pension system works at a time when people are paying in too little […]

Bereaved Families Charged Extra IHT Due To Court Delays

Grieving families have endured punitive rates of interest on their Inheritance tax (IHT) bills through no fault of their own. Due to massive delays in courts, families have been required to pay extra death duties because of late IHT payments. Because of overdue IHT, it has meant people are having to pay interest rates in […]

Law Society Keeps Pressure On HMCTS Over Probate Service Issues

Probate service issues continue to be top of the agenda as Ian Bond, Chair of The Law Society’s ‘Wills and Equity Committee’ will attend a follow-up meeting next month to keep the pressure on HMCTS to resolve the probate problems. With the continuous delays over the last few months greatly affecting grieving families, The Law […]

Experts Discuss The Cowan V Foreman Landmark Case

A landmark decision to refuse a widow’s request to contest the Will and Trust of her late husband’s estate because the request was made after the six-month deadline has been overturned by the Court of Appeal. Judge Justice Mostyn’s original assessment during the High Court’s ruling of the Cowan v Foreman case was disapproved on […]

Cowan v Foreman – [2019] EWCA Civ 1336 – Time limits In Claims Under The Inheritance Act 1975

Vlad Macdonald-Munteanu, Associate, and Oliver Black, Solicitor, discuss the Court of Appeal judgement handed down on 30 July 2019 in Cowan v Foreman as well as the implications for parties facing out of time Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 claims. Background This case concerns a claim brought by Mary Cowan against the estate […]

Hand Writing Expert Enters Aretha Franklin Will Saga

Following the discovery of a number of hand written Wills found stuffed into the cushion covers of Aretha Franklin’s plush sofa in one of her luxurious mansions, a Michigan based judge has allowed a hand writing expert to examine the alleged Wills. This story is rumbling on, epitomising  the disharmony that can be created when […]

Cancer Research UK Teams Up With Leading Online Will Provider

The world’s largest charity dedicated to saving lives through research, Cancer Research UK, has collaborated with a leading online digital will writing service, Farewill. Cancer Research, which receives the largest amount of legacies in the country has launched a free online Will service with Farewill. The unregulated Will writers Farewill, which has enjoyed significant growth […]

Webinar: Certainty Expert present: A Practical Introduction To Mental Health & Well-Being In The Workplace

Join us on Tuesday 20th August at 12.00pm where we will be joined by Central Law Training and our presenters, Lubna Gem Arielle and Elizabeth Rimmer, who will be presenting our next instalment of Certainty Expert Webinars. Mental health and well-being, and the positive steps firms can take to promote it, has been a hot […]

Is Your Business Fighting A Constant Battle With Staff Training?

In this tug of war you’ll always win with Countrywide Legacy! Do you find that your businesses legal documents are often completed to differing standards as a result of information being misinterpreted by staff, or perhaps as a result of a lack of knowledge and experience? We understand that training staff can be a very […]

Probate Fees – An Update

This has been a challenging year for probate solicitors and executors, with uncertainty caused by the proposed changes to probate fees, and long delays at the probate registry.  It is important for probate solicitors and executors to keep abreast of what is happening, as all parties involved in an estate will need to be kept […]

More Robust Monitoring Processes Needed To Prevent Pension Fraud

Over £2 billion was pilfered from the pension savings of innocent contributors by unscrupulous advisers in a single year. According to a joint committee’s research into ‘Pension costs and transparency’, too many fraudster masquerading as pension advisers are exploiting older people looking to stretch their pension through investments. Unfortunately, too many pension fraudsters have successfully […]

Government Set To Earn £5.35 Billion In Death Costs Without Probate Fee Increases

The Government is set to accrue over £5.35 billion from death related taxes and fees in 2019/20, the largest amount ever recorded. According to ‘The Cost of Death‘ report, carried out by The Taxpayers’ Alliance, the government are on course to rinse more money out of deceased estates than ever before – even if the […]

Grieving Families Charged Because Of Governmental Probate Backlog

Excessive delays within the probate registry is leading to many families being forced to pay unreasonable rates of interest on the deceased’s inheritance tax (IHT) obligations. Currently, following the death of donor, families and executors of a deceased person have six months to apply for probate, receive the grant of probate, assess the estate’s liabilities […]

How to grow your Will Writing business – 7 simple steps

Fortis Law are a relatively new business when it comes to our brand but we’re made up of 19 experienced industry professionals. Many members of our team have been involved in estate planning for many years and between the management team alone we have nearly 100 years’ experience. We’ve joined forces at Fortis to grow […]

Wills And Probate Experts Branch Out

Shropshire law firm is extending their Wills and probate services to cover a wider area to give elderly and vulnerable clients easier access to their services. The professionals from one of the largest legal firms practising in the Midlands region, Martin Kaye Solicitors, will be widening their specialist service by operating out of the firm’s […]

Charities Lose Millions To Fraud

A UK national fraud reporting centre reveals a breath-taking figure of almost £8m lost by charities to fraud. The staggering figures were exposed after Accountancy firm RSM retrieved the data following a freedom of information request to Action Fraud. Broken down, UK charities had submitted 1,057 reports of fraud which totalled £7.85m in the year […]