The National Will Register – First Ever Free Will Registration Month
May 2019 sees the launch of the first ever Free Will Registration Month. Providing law firms with the opportunity to register their Will Bank with Certainty the National Will Register completely free of charge, which provides many benefits to a law firm and their clients. For over a decade, Certainty the National Will Register has […]
The Impact Of Stress In Wills And Estate Planning Sector
Two thirds (66%) of solicitors are currently experiencing high levels of stress, according to the latest findings from the Bellwether Report 2019 titled ‘Stress in the Legal Profession: Problematic or Inevitable’, published by LexisNexis UK. It highlights that stress is an endemic issue in the legal profession but most solicitors working for law firms are […]
Using Technology To Improve Efficiency And Expertise In Estate Planning
When we think back to Y2K and the irrational fears concerning the millennium bug, even the most technologically minded individuals would have struggled to predict the rapid journey over the past nineteen years. Social media has exploded and become a fundamental tool connecting businesses, individuals and communities; the internet has grown and cloud storage offers […]
The Old Will, The New Will, The Old Way, The New Way
Prior to Certainty the National Will Register, searching for a Will to prove the last Will being used to distribute an estate or to establish whether an unknown Will existed was at best time consuming, costly and usually inaccurate. In fact, for most solicitors, the old way to achieve this was never really an option […]
Boost Your Brand Exposure By Sponsoring Our Awards
The prestigious British Wills and Probate Awards, which is 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, has remaining sponsorship opportunities that can boost your brand exposure throughout 2019 and into 2020. With 276 people set to attend, sponsoring […]
Dishonest Probate Paralegal Damages Trust In Profession
Earlier this month, a dishonest probate paralegal was jailed for three years after she disgracefully stole from a number of deceased clients’ estates. In total, Lucy Gunton stole in excess of £70,000 by exploiting her position of trust, accessing sensitive data attached to the estates and using the information to her advantage to deceive both […]
61% Of Firms Breached In The Past Year
Three in every five global firms have reported a serious data breach in the past year. The Cyber Readiness Report 2019, conducted by insurer Hiscox, found that 61% of firms have been breached in the past year; a huge jump from the 45% that reported a breach in 2018. In the UK alone, this figure […]
Over-55s Over Reliant On Home Equity In Financing Their Retirement
Almost a quarter of women over the age of 55-years-old are massively unprepared for financing their retirement. A recent report of 1,000 people over the age of 55, carried out by Sunlife, has found that one in four (24%) women over 55-years, who own their home, do not have a private pension set up in […]
Are You Drowning In Paperwork?
Many companies continue to use paper systems to run their business but using paper is not only becoming an increasing problem for profits and turnaround time, it also has a huge impact on client satisfaction. How would your business measure up if you viewed it from a client perspective? Customer satisfaction plays a decisive role […]
IPW Southern Regional Meeting A Huge Success
Tony Cohen, Director of Nsure Estate Planning Services, hosted his first Institute of Professional Willwriters regional meeting on Tuesday 16th April since being appointed southern regional coordinator for the IPW. The well attended event was held in Worthing at Nsure headquarters in their own conference suite. The meeting consisted of three speakers, Nigel Merchant from […]
‘How To Avoid Pitfalls, Guarantee Performance and Build a Partnership With Your ICT Provider’ event
When the consumer is increasingly sensitive to price, choosing the perfect external partner to manage IT and communications support within a law firm has never been so important to ensure the first impression your firm offers the consumer is memorable. It is vital to create a partnership as opposed to a mere formal business relationship. […]
Prince’s Heirs Dispute Exorbitant Fees Charged By Professional Administrators
Three years after the legendary ‘Purple Rain’ singer’s death, the estate of Prince remains in dispute, unsettled and haemorrhaging vast amounts of money to professional administrators. In a bid to take more control over the perceived excessive outgoings from the estate, all six of Prince’s siblings have unified, locking themselves in a legal battle with […]
Poor Password Protection Leaves Legal Service Providers Vulnerable
Millions of people across the globe continue to use hack-able passwords, underestimating the importance of creating a unique password to protect themselves, their business and clients from cyber criminality. The inaugural UK Cyber Survey, released by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), has found that over 23 million people are still using ‘123456’ as their […]
Forfeiture Rule Modified In Assisted Suicide Case
Are we ‘living’ longer or merely being kept alive well beyond our individual natural expiry date? As modern medicine continues to improve, death and old age is rapidly becoming viewed as almost an act of personal negligence. The medical profession and those struck down with illness are encouraged to ‘keep fighting’, sometimes long after disease […]
Fraudsters Target Magic Circle Law Firm’s Managing Partner
The Magic Circle law firm Clifford Chance’s UK managing partner and solicitor, Michael Bates, has been impersonated by scammers in a bid to con unsuspecting members of the public. The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) have now warned law firms after the emails sent had misused the name of Clifford Chance and Michael Bates by inviting […]
Elderly Exposed To Thousands Of Spam Calls Selling Funeral Plans
The Information Commissioner’s Office continue to flex their increased powers by fining Avalon Direct Ltd £80,000 for making unlawful marketing calls concerning funeral plans to elderly and vulnerable people ‘who had made it explicitly clear they didn’t want to receive them.’ The ICO started an initial investigation in Plan My Funeral Avalon Ltd, based in […]
Personal Allegations Slung In Zaha Hadid Court Hearing
The feud between executors of Zaha Hadid’s estate has developed and built momentum like a heavyweight boxing bout. The acrimonious and bitter events will reach their climax today as they head to High Court. Whilst the High Court heard the legal arguments brought forward by claimant, Patrik Schumacher, in January. Recent testimony heard prior to […]
Experts Share Views On Will Study Research
A law firm, Winckworth Sherwood, commissioned a YouGov study which revealed that 44% of over-50s have changed their Will several times due to the complexities of modern family relationships. Winckworth Sherwood found that people typically changed their Will because of either specific life events or sudden changes in life circumstances. Examples of life events which […]
Welcoming Back Ian Floyed To The Judging Panel
We are delighted that founder of both MyHomeMove and Profile Pensions, Ian Floyed, is returning to the judging panel for the second upcoming prestigious British Wills and Probate Awards, which is 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. In […]
Creating Differentiated Approaches For Clients’ Increasingly Diverse Needs
Recent research has highlighted the importance of Willwriters and Estate Planners being equipped to offer their clients appropriate later life products and services which will help protect their family after they die. Over the past twenty years, the world has seen a monumental shift in how the family is perceived. The most recent statistical data […]
