Why switch to cloud-based legal practice management software?
The pandemic profoundly impacted the way wills and probate practitioners work. Face-to-face client meetings were replaced by video calls, office chats happened on messaging services instead of at the watercooler, and work took place at the kitchen table rather than the boardroom. What’s the common thread in all these scenarios? Cloud-based software. Cloud-based software can […]
SRA: views wanted on pre-paid funeral plans
Solicitors involved in pre-paid funeral plan work – and the wider public – are being asked for their views to help shape the approach of the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) in dealing with new rules in this area. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will be introducing new rules concerning pre-paid funeral plans from July […]
Industry writes open letter to OPG over “failing” service and increasing delays
A new industry body representing estate planners, the BEST Foundation, has organised and written an open letter to the OPG relating to problems within the service, particularly around delays to LPA registrations. The BEST Foundation has written an open letter to the OPG on behalf of several industry practitioners to highlight problems within the service […]
Safe Hands Plans: administrators warn customers will not be repaid
Administrators acting for the failed funeral plans provider Safe Hands Plans has revealed that it is not in a position to repay the £64m it needs to customers. FRP, the administrator acting for the Wakefield-based Safe Hands Plans, says that its 47,000 customers should not expect payments and will instead be left with worthless plans […]
HMRC confirms £22 million in overpaid pensions withdrawal tax
Time to simplify the system as pensioners reclaim £22 million in overpaid tax from HMRC. Latest HMRC statistics show that between 1st January 2022 and 31st March 2022, it paid out £22,317,529 to people who overpaid tax when they accessed their pensions flexibly. Due to the current system, anyone accessing a pension flexibly is taxed […]
Thousands could risk pension poverty after divorce
Latest figures from the ONS show that in 2020, there were 103,592 divorces granted in England and Wales, but with the new no fault divorce law that came into force on the 6th April, this figure is likely to increase in the coming years. Thinking about family finances may be the last thing couples want […]
House price growth creates almost £800bn of potential equity
Almost £800 billion of equity was available for release in UK homes in Q1 2022, an increase of over £19bn in three months and the first time it has exceeded this milestone. The figures, based on the latest Halifax quarterly regional house price index and analysed by Canada Life, reveal that the total amount of […]
22% of wills made through legal advisers include charitable bequest
New figures released today show that solicitors and Will-writers are playing an increasingly important role in charitable Will-writing, with more than 1 in 5 Wills handled by UK legal advisers (22%) now including a donation to charity. The Savanta Will-writing survey, commissioned by Remember A Charity, reveals that 7 in 10 solicitors and Will-writers (71%) always or sometimes alert clients to the Inheritance Tax […]
