Former Maharaja’s Family Wins Control Of £16bn Kerala Temple
A former royal family in India last week won its struggle with the state government of Kerala in a long-running dispute over control of a famous temple and its treasures, following a ruling by the country’s supreme court. The Hindu sacred site, located in Kerala’s capital city Thiruvananthapuram, is renowned for its vast collections of […]
Not All Funeral Plans Are Created Equal
A funeral plan is a promise to delivery a funeral in the future. However, not all funeral plan providers, or funeral plans, are created equal. Our experience Dignity is long established within the funeral industry. Their caring and compassionate funeral directors have been helping families across the country for generations. The company’s oldest funeral director […]
Law Society Round Tables To Address BAME Progression
With figures showing that 25% of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) solicitors make partner compared to 35% of their white counterparts, the Law Society of England and Wales is launching a series of virtual round table discussions to explore why this group is under-represented at the senior level. The Society’s Ethnic Minority Lawyers Division […]
Guidance On The Legalisation Of Video Will Witnessing
Following the announcement that the Ministry of Justice has moved to legalise wills witnessed by video leading industry figures have warned of important nuances that practitioners need to be aware of to ensure their processes are legal. Writing on LinkedIn this morning, Chair of The Law Society Wills & Equity Committee and Head Of Trusts […]
MoJ Announces Video Witnessing Of Wills Due To Be Made Legal During Coronavirus
The Ministry of Justice has announced that video witnessed Wills will be made legal during the coronavirus pandemic. The planned changes to the law, which will be backdated to 31 January 2020, will allow Wills to be witnessed virtually in England and Wales. The move will allow people to legally record their final wishes, during […]
Print, Bind & Send – A New Service For WillSuite Users
During the lockdown, we launched a new service to help our clients and their business to run more effectively by launching a new document printing, binding and send service. If you would like or need some additional back-office support, then we’re on hand. WillSuite is beginning to see rising numbers of Wills being created on […]
Coronavirus And Our Desire For Certainty
Most people will have been affected by Coronavirus in some way during this pandemic. For some it’s been a very terrifying experience physically and for many more it’s been mentally and emotionally exhausting. Our daily lives and routines have been disrupted like never before including our schools, our work, our relationships and what is to […]
The Return To “Normality” – What Does The Future Hold?
Following on from our previous sentiment surveys there seems to be a more optimistic mood around a return to “business as usual”. Clearly there are concerns around client welfare and the risk of a second wave; this “new normal” will continue to challenge us all. This time our sentiment survey takes a slightly different approach, […]
The British Wills And Probate Awards 2020 Shortlist Is Coming
We are pleased to announce that the first shortlisters for the British Wills and Probate Awards 2020 will be announced in the Today’s Wills & Probate weekly newsletter next Friday 31 July. Individual categories in the shortlist will be revealed daily with the full list published on the 7 August. The awards are brought to you […]
Government Response On 5AMLD & Trust Registration Rules
The Government has published the outcome of its technical consultation on implementation of the EU Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (5AMLD) and its impact on trust registration. STEP has been working with the Treasury to ensure that any concessions agreed regarding the transposition of 5AMLD worked well. For example, prior to this consultation, the regulations stipulated […]
Witnessing Wills In A Covid-19 World
As the legal profession is aware, under current UK law, for a will to be valid it must be signed by the testator in the presence of two independent adults. However, there are a number of discussions taking place looking at the way in which the rules around wills should be interpreted due to the […]
Ombudsman Takes Too Long To Respond
The Office for Legal Complaints (OLC) has published its annual report for 2019/20, and shown that complainants are still waiting too long for the Ombudsman to reply to their issues. The report demonstrated that throughout the year, improvements were seen with regards to time taken to investigate complains and people weren’t waiting too long for […]
Updated Financial Abuse Guidance
The Law Society has updated it’s guidance for solicitors and other professionals who advise clients who are or may be at risk of financial abuse. In the guidance it outlines: What financial abuse is How to identify adults who are vulnerable to abuse How to identify and assess capacity How to take action to prevent […]
There’s Light At The End Of The Tunnel
Though lockdown is beginning to ease, the business landscape will not return to normality in an instant. Many businesses have suffered a blow to their revenue as customers became accustomed to a new way of living. New attitudes adopted by consumers means that revenue uncertainty is set to linger for the months to come. There […]
The Light Bulb Moment
Many amazing businesses have been created with the help of drinks and friends. Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, found his entrepreneurial spirit after a few drinks. Both UBER and Tinder began with a chat over drinks, as did our new business, Tower Street Finance. I was enjoying a cold beer with Martin Holdsworth, founder of […]
Information Security Review Forum – Watch Online Now
The final event in the current series of UKLTA (www.uklta.org.uk) online forums took place yesterday, where our expert panel shared their top tips for information and cyber security, considering how practices have adapted during lockdown and how technology can help. Chaired by Heather Anson (Anson Evaluate), our panellists Peter Wright (Digital Law UK), Jen Williams […]
Anticipation Grows As Sector Awaits MoJ Announcement
It is anticipated that the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) will make an announcement legalizing Wills that have been witnessed via video calls. It is thought people will be able to use video platforms like Zoom or Skype to sign their wills in the ‘virtual’ presence of two witnesses. The MoJ will this week unveil its […]
Free Mentoring Offered To Firms To Help Develop Equality, Diversity And Inclusion
A new scheme launched this week that will give law firms the opportunity to develop their approaches to equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) with 12 months of free support from firms recognised as leaders in the field of EDI. The scheme aims to create more inclusive workplaces and businesses which will help benefit not only […]
Law Society Releases Annotated Probate Forms
Working together with HMCTS, the Law Society has released annotated probate forms as well as an FAQ that will help people when applying for probate. The forms, PA1P and PA1A, have been annotated with the registrar’s comments so that when using paper forms, the person applying can have a clearer understanding of what each section […]
Webinar: The 3 Biggest Challenges With DIY Probate
On Wednesday 29th July at 1pm, Kings Court Trust’s Technical Manager, Nigel Merchant, will be hosting an informative webinar to discuss the challenges associated with do-it-yourself (DIY) probate. In just 15 minutes, Nigel will answer the following questions: What is probate? • When is it required? • Why can it be challenging for Personal Representatives to […]
