UK’s Largest Legal Report Shines Light On Sector
Two thirds (64%) of UK adults have faced a legal issues over the past four years with over half (53%) of issues considered contentious. According to a joint report commissioned by The Law Society and The Legal Services Board, the main reasons people sought legal advice between 2016 and the end of 2019 were defective […]
Cyber Essentials – What’s Changing?
Webinar: Cyber Essentials vs Cyber Essentials PLUS Date: Tuesday 4th February 2020 Time: 10am __________________ From April 2020 the IASME Consortium will take over the full responsibility for Cyber Essentials delivery. Why is this relevant to you? The legal sector is under attack. In the first 6 months of 2019, law firms reported a loss of £731,250 of […]
LSB Launch Legal Professional Competency Consultation
The Legal Services Board (LSB) has launched a call for evidence to examine how regulators should ensure the law firms and the legal service providers they regulate remain competent and up to date with changes to the legal sector. The LSB is looking for respondents to consider four main themes when making their comments. Firstly, […]
Stressed Legal Professionals Increasingly Seeking Support
Legal professionals are increasingly turning to support frameworks because of the stresses in their work lives. The number of legal professionals asking LawCare for help and advice in 2019 increased by 8%. In total, the charity received over 900 contacts and dealt with 6,777 people asking for help in 2019. A quarter (26%) of all […]
BSB Face Rise In Complaints
On 21st January 2020, the Bar Standards Board (BSB) released their annual Enforcement Report, which has resulted in some grim reading. The report revealed that the BSB is struggling to cope with the rise in complaints from members of the public (external complaints). These complaints have risen for the second year running, rising to 359 […]
‘Fit For Law’ Resource To Combat Stress
LawCare, the legal mental health and well being charity has teamed up with academics from the University of Sheffield and The Open University to launch the free ‘Fit For Law’ course. ‘Fit For Law’ is a free online resource which is aimed at promoting a psychologically and emotionally healthier way of working within the legal […]
The Passing Of A Best Friend Who Married To Avoid Inheritance Tax
Michael O’Sullivan and Matt Murphy, close friends for over 30 years, married in 2017 in a bid to avoid the inheritance tax that would be payable on Matt’s home. Several years prior to their marriage, Matt had made the decision that he wanted his home in Stoneybatter, North Dublin, to be inherited by Michael when […]
The Stress of Christmas Blamed For Increase In Will Re-Writes For January
Law firm Stephensons Solicitors LLP have reported a 114% increase in inheritance claims and will re-writes. Blaming the ‘fallout from festive fights’, the firm saw a huge spike of enquiries in January 2019, with double the amount of calls to the firm’s wills and probate team. Tensions over Christmas are well known to most families, […]
‘The Probies’ Back For Second Year
The second UK Probate Research Awards is set to take place on Thursday 6th February 2020 at The De Vere Grand Connaught Rooms in London. Known in the industry as ‘The Probies’, the ceremony will celebrate the achievements and example of excellence across forensic genealogy. Sponsored by the National Association of Licensed Paralegals (NALP) and […]
Will Digital Onboarding Become The Norm In 2020?
Webinar:Source of Funds – let technology remove the risk Date: 16th January Time: 10.00am __________________ Technology advances regardless of which sector people work in. It’s true that some sectors move a lot quicker than others and embrace technology but will 2020 be the year that the legal sector begins to open its mind to what’s out there. On […]
Ensuring Client’s Will Is Accessible
In October 2019, Lloyd’s Banking Group discovered roughly 9,000 wills of deceased customers. Stored away as part of the ‘safe custody’ service that had been closed in 2011, the undistributed wills have caused an inheritance mess for hundreds of bereaved families. Although the group has stated that for most cases, there will have been no adverse consequences due […]
Free Webinar: What To Expect In 2020
Title Research are starting the new year with an informative look at what 2020 has to offer. Hosted by Simon Barber, Technical Manager at Title Research, the webinar will discuss probate fees and whether the increase is back on the horizon, the Lloyds bank Wills blunder and of course, Brexit. Simon will also talk about […]
Could You Spot A Fake Or Modified Email?
Register for our upcoming webinar: OnDMARC: The questions law firms want answering Email redirection fraud was a lucrative tool in the criminal underworld accruing £123.7 million from UK account holders in 2018 alone, according to a UK Finance report. Of the 7,544 malicious redirection scams completed, over 9,000 payments were made with an average individual loss of […]
SRA Ditch PII Cut Proposals
The news that the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) decided to abandon proposal plans to lower the levels of professional Indemnity cover (PII) was welcomed by the Law Society. Back in March 2018, the SRA proposed to reduce the minimum level of PII to improve the balance of cost and access to legal services for consumers […]
UK Pays More IHT Than EU Counterparts
New research has revealed that inheritance tax (IHT) rates in the UK are more than double the EU average. Advisors have labelled IHT rates as a “contentious subject” and a reoccurring “hot potato”, as on average individuals in the UK pay 23.9% (£564,523) in inheritance tax when passing on an estate worth £2.4m to their beneficiary. In comparison, individuals in the EU pay […]
Third Of Brits Ill-Equipped In Future Financial Planning
Many UK adults have not prepared for their financial futures, according to a new study by UK’s leading price comparison website. MoneySuperMarket surveyed the British public to determine UK savings and find out how they are preparing for the future – and revealed that a third (33%) of UK adults have no idea how much […]
What Does 2020 Hold For Your Law Firm?
In this article we look at what some of the predictions and analysis from analyst, accountancy and consumer organisations. Technology Gartner expects that IT spending in EMEA will begin to recover in 2020 after three consecutive years of decline. During 2019 we suffered a period when local prices rose for technology hardware due to the […]
Social Care Investment Needs To Consider Appropriate Elderly Housing
400,000 ‘lifetime homes’ are desperately needed to provide the elderly with accessible and appropriate accommodation. Lord Best, Chair of the Parliamentary Group on Housing and Care for Older People, has suggested that a current lack of provision for older residents will cause an unforeseen housing crisis in the future. Despite the need increasing, few homes […]
Pensions Gender Gap Ever-Widening
The number of women who have not enrolled into a pension continues to dramatically widen. There has always been a big gender gap in UK retirement incomes as last year research revealed that the gender gap almost trebled over the past ten years, according to the Royal London’s analysis. Meanwhile, last month research from Aegon found that the number of women […]
Mother Loses Huge Inheritance Following Court Of Appeal Decision
Following a Court of Appeal ruling, Hilary Harrison-Morgan has been forced to repay millions from an inheritance offered from ex-partner and cohabitant, Dr Rainer Kahrmann. Having left his Swiss wife in 1991, rich banker, Dr Kahrmann, started a relationship which developed in cohabiting with Ms Harrison-Morgan. During the relationship, the pair conceived and raised twin sons in […]
