Send us your Christmas and festive pictures
According to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Christmas 2020 is a time to be ‘jolly careful’, as we continue to battle the coronavirus. Here at Today’s Wills and Probate we’d like to spread some Christmas cheer and share your festive photos on our social media channels. You can send your photo to press@todayswillsandprobate.co.uk. We hope you […]
Women in Wills celebrate with their final meeting of the year
The Women in Wills group joined together to meet for the final time this year to celebrate with a festive themed event. The group, which has been growing in number throughout lockdown, shared some fun stories, heard some positive news stories from Emily Chalke of Ella’s charity, while enjoying a festive themed pet competition – […]
Communication is KEY
Good communication is key to having a successful business and so how we choose to communicate with our clients is vital. Recently, at Countrywide Tax & Trust Corporation Ltd we wanted to build a new, safe, compliant and efficient method for a 2- way communication system between ourselves and our clients. We needed to partner with […]
Free webinar: 2020 in review
Kings Court Trust’s last webinar of the year, taking place on Wednesday 16th December at 1pm, will be hosted by Technical Manager, Nigel Merchant, who will discuss interesting industry updates from 2020. Nigel will explore remote Will witnessing, COVID-19’s impact on the Wills and probate industry, Inheritance Tax receipts, and more. Nigel will also talk […]
Protect yourself, your firm and client by conducting a Certainty Will Search
Conducting a Certainty Will Search ensures that you have done everything you could to locate the last valid Will of the deceased. It is important to not take the risk by continuing to distribute an estate on the assumption that you are in possession of the last Will and to safeguard this by advising that […]
Embracing the digital era
2020 has seen the most significant innovation in the wills and probate sector for many years, such is the impact of the global pandemic. In recent months, the trickle of digitisation has built up a head of steam with many documents such as deeds and discharges executed online, the launch of my HMCTS digitising some […]
SFE Online Conference shares industry insights
The Solicitors for the Elderly (SFE), held their annual conference on the virtual stage this week, and helped delegates hope for the best whilst preparing for the worst. Michael Culver, Chair of the Board at SFE welcomed all of the delegates to the event, and thanked them for opting to attend a virtual event rather […]
Extension for paper probate applications until new year
Paper probate applications will now be accepted into the new year, as some practitioners are struggling to sign up to the new MyHMCTS online system. On 1 December, a letter was sent to three professional bodies in which HMCTS acknowledged that they needed more time to resolve some of the issues, and as such is […]
Looking ahead to 2021
Elizabeth Rimmer is CEO at LawCare It’s been a very difficult and challenging year for all of us. No-one has remained unaffected by the fall out of the global pandemic and its impact on our health, our relationships, our livelihoods and our mental health. For most of us this has been the most significant event […]
Children cut out of father’s Will
A woman cut her step-children out of their late father’s Will, going against his wishes that they all inherit equally both his wealth and that of their late grandmother, a sum of £300,000. Lulu Jones, was Roger Jones’ second wife. Roger had four children from a previous marriage and Lulu had two children. All of […]
Number of estates liable for IHT set to rise by 20 per cent
Alongside the Chancellor’s spending review in late November, the Office for Budget Responsibility predicted that the number of estates subject to Inheritance Tax (IHT) was predicted to rise to 30,400 in 2020/21 – that’s up from 25,200 in 2019/20. The increase is due to the number of deaths relating to Covid-19 and as many of […]
LSB invites contributions to a new strategy for the legal service sector
The Legal Services Board (LSB) has today launched a consultation on a draft strategy for the legal services sector and is inviting others to say how they will also contribute to reshaping legal services to better meet the needs of society. The strategy follows the publication of LSB’s State of Legal Services 2020 report last […]
Will Maradona’s legacy be contested as no Will reported?
Diego Maradona wasn’t far from controversy on the football pitch, and now it appears his legacy could become another hot topic of discussion. The football icon passed away last week, aged 60. However, there have been reports that Maradona didn’t make a Will, the complexities of Argentinian Probate law and the question over whose children […]
Join the Women in Wills Christmas Meet Up
Women in Wills invites you to join our Christmas meet on Thursday 10th December. The overall objective of Women in Wills is to encourage and facilitate relationships and collaboration between practitioners, bringing us together in an informal and hopefully enjoyable environment. Date: 10th December 2020 Venue: Zoom Time: 5.00pm – 6.30pm At our Christmas meet […]
Exizent appoints former Nationwide Non-Executive Director Mitchel Lenson as Chairman
Exizent, the Glasgow-based technology firm whose innovative platform is transforming bereavement by connecting legal services firms with banks and the wider financial services community, has announced the appointment of Mitchel Lenson as Non-Executive Chairman. Mitchel brings extensive financial services and technology innovation experience to the Board, gained through both his executive and non-executive careers. Mitchel […]
Probate delays hit the Parsons’ family
11 months on from the death of radio legend Nicholas Parsons, aged 96, his family are still waiting for probate. The Parsons family spoke to Sebastian Shakespeare, from The Daily Mail to share their frustration. Suzy, one of Nicholas’ daughters told the journalist that the wait was “shocking and really upsetting”, echoing the sentiments of so many […]
Hoping for the best whilst preparing for the worst – SFE annual conference
The annual SFE (Solicitors for the Elderly) Conference is taking place online tomorrow. This year the programme looks at what clients need to prepare for as they move into later life and the need for care. The event will cover the key changes and challenges facing all legal professionals who support older and vulnerable clients. […]
Law Society Wills research show many are still unprotected
Despite an increase in will-making during the first UK-wide coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown, many people have still not put their affairs in order, according to latest Law Society study. New research unveiled by the Law Society showed 7% of respondents made or updated their will during the first lockdown but over half (59%) of those surveyed […]
Kings Court Trust’s latest blog examines Caroline Flack’s intestacy and reminds us of the importance of leaving a well-written Will
In February 2020, the heartbreaking news broke that Caroline Flack, the popular TV and radio presenter, best known for presenting Love Island, sadly took her life at the age of 40. In their latest blog, Kings Court Trust take a closer look at how Flack’s £2 million estate is being administered, after it was revealed […]
Price Transparency; about as clear as mud
Following the SRA’s recent announcement that it is back on the case with pricing transparency Today’s Wills and Probate caught up with pricing expert Nigel Haddon to talk about the do’s and don’ts of pricing, and what you need to know about the SRA’s Price Transparency regulations. The frustration from my point of view is […]
