Wet Signatures No Longer Required For IHT Forms
HM Revenue and Customs Trusts and Estates have revealed they’ve relaxed the processes surrounding wet signatures being needed on inheritance tax (IHT) forms, during the coronavirus pandemic. In the most recent newsletter, HMRC Trusts and Estate said: “We recognise that it’s difficult for personal representatives or trustees to physically sign forms IHT400, IHT100 and IHT205 […]
Potential IHT And Fraud Implications Thanks To Bank Handout
It has been revealed that banks are handing out tens of thousands of pounds to bereaved families before going through the probate process. The money, some lawyers believe is being handed to relatives who have no legal authority over the deceased’s finances. According to Solicitors for the Elderly (SFE), banks, building societies and other financial […]
Law Society Launches Consultation on PC Fee
Last week, the Law Society has launched their annual consultation with solicitors about their Practising Certificate (PC) Fee. The Law Society has announced that it has reduced it’s share of the fee by 10%, resulting in them receiving less than 30%. This has been driven by the challenges faced by solicitors and firms as a […]
Relief From The Forfeiture Rule: Sally Challen And The Importance Of Her Case
On 27 May 2020, his Honour Judge Matthews in the Chancery Division of the High Court ruled that Sally Challen, who had killed her husband after years of abuse, was entitled to his estate (Challen v Challen & Anor [2020] EWHC 330 (Ch)). This judgment resulted in a media-driven frenzy with many outlets exclaiming that […]
Focusing On Vulnerable Clients
A recent report by Key Partnership revealed that over a third of mortgage intermediaries had either reviewed or increased the checks they made on older customers to ensure that they were not vulnerable. It was also found that one in five wealth managers were treating all customers as vulnerable during the coronavirus crisis. The research […]
Why Do Probate Disputes Appear To Be On The Rise?
In recent weeks there have been a number of high profile news items detailing how families have contested Wills and the probate process. Recent stories include the family of the Watership Down Author successfully disputing issues with a film director, a daughter contesting her mother’s Will so the estate didn’t go primarily to her brother, […]
Unique beneficiary product to access inheritance sooner
Tower Street Finance has introduced a unique product which the probate sector, executors and beneficiaries have been crying out for. Inheritance Advance enables beneficiaries to access a proportion of their money sooner, without having to wait for the probate process to complete, or worry about their credit history. Others claim to be the first to […]
Remote Working Will Continue Long After Lockdown
It may not be a huge surprise that remote working could be here to stay for the foreseeable future, as the legal sector has quickly adapted to the lockdown restrictions imposed to reduce the spread of the coronavirus. In DPS’s report ‘How COVID-19 has affected the UK Legal Industry‘, it reveals that UK law firms […]
Calls For Changes To Wills Amid Pandemic
It is no surprise that the pandemic has brought to the attention of many that they need to make provisions should the worst happen. Firms have seen increases in the demand for will writing services but this has brought problems so that they may be compliant with section 9 of the Wills Act 1837. Many […]
Interview with the Society of Will Writers
This interview was recorded before the sad death of Brian McMillan was announced. In an interview with Today’s Wills & Probate, Marketing Director Anthony Belcher discusses the challenges the will writing sector faces, and what the Society of Will Writers is doing to support members and the sector in general. Given the reported surge […]
Today’s Training; Online Training For Practitioners
The Practical Vision Network, which incorporates Lawyer Checker and Solve Legal Marketing, the publishers of the popular Today’s news sites, are piloting a new online training programme aimed at practitioners. Today’s Training draws on the experience and expertise of readers and contributors to provide expert guidance around the practicalities of challenges faced by practitioner. The […]
Explaining Probate To Clients
The death of a loved one is classed as one of the most stressful things a person can go through in their lifetime. Whilst getting to grips with the grieving process and beginning to settle the estate, probate may quite possibly be a word that people haven’t heard of, and don’t know what it is. […]
Movers and Shakers – 12 June 2020
Here at Today’s Wills and Probate, we wanted to share with you the good news we’ve had within in the industry of professionals joining firms and those who have moved up the promotional ladder. This week we’ve seen the following announcements with regards to appointments and promotions: Neil Newman – appointed as Director of Development […]
HMCTS Release FAQs For Probate Professionals
Today saw the release of a useful FAQ document by HMCTS in relation to Probate for professionals. The document, described as a working document that will have more responses added as new questions come in. Subscribers to TWP who are members of SFE, STEP, ICAEW or Law Society can share questions with those organisations who […]
Free Will Registration Month Concludes On Thursday 18th June
Law firms have until Thursday 18th June to register their Will Bank on The National Will Register free of charge. For over a decade, Certainty the National Will Register has built a significant National Will Register and Will Search service that protects law firms, testators, executors and beneficiaries each and every day. Thousands of solicitors […]
Professor Stephen Mayson Releases Reform Review
Today, Thursday 11th June 2020, Professor Stephen Mayson, Honorary Professor of Law at the University College of London (UCL) has released an independent review entitled ‘Reforming Legal Services: Regulation beyond the echo chambers‘. You can get access to the report here. Introducing the report on his website, Professor Mayson wrote: “In 2016, the Competition & […]
Dispensing Powers: Do We Need A ‘Making a Will’ Emoji?
There appears to be no imminent likelihood that Parliament will move forward with the proposals in the Law Commission’s 2017 Report on Will-making but, as inheritance dispute solicitor Stephanie Kerr of Brabners LLP explores, there is much dialogue amongst private client practitioners as to whether the existing legislation needs to be amended or relaxed to […]
Court of Appeal Finds Summary Dismissal Rejected Too Abruptly
A claim brought against a trust corporation by a beneficiary has been given a second chance in his claim that the trustee had acted dishonestly. Beneficiary Robert Sofer, is attempting to recover sums amounting to $19.2m from trust corporation Swissindependent, that were allegedly paid out to the settlor, Sofer’s father Hyman, during his father’s lifetime. […]
SRA To Expand Its AML Visits To Continue Competence
In its business plan draft for 2020/2021, the SRA has revealed that in an effort to continue competence, it will be increasing its monitoring of firms’ anti-money laundering (AML) policies. Following a review of its annual business plan, which followed on from the recent publication of its corporate strategy for 2020-2023, the regulator has unveiled […]
The Challenges Of Dying Tidily
Please note: this was first published in the Law Gazette run by The Law Society The coronavirus pandemic has brought many challenges to the country. As a profession, solicitors adjusted to home-working and a life of video conferencing with clients and online court procedures. As the country moved into lockdown, it seemed that very few […]
