Nightingale Courts to remain open for further year
A total of 24 temporary courtrooms, which were set up to boost capacity during the pandemic, will remain open in 2023 to allow more cases to be heard. The government is investing £477 million over next three years to tackle the Crown Court backlog which significantly increased because of the pandemic. This includes allowing courts […]
Majority of consumers remain happy to witness will remotely
New research has revealed that, despite the pandemic being firmly in the rear-view mirror, the majority of consumers remain happy to accept video witnessing of a will. The government’s Covid-era legislation permitting the video witnessing of wills has been extended until at least January 2024. When asked by IRN Legal in November 2022 whether they […]
Average wait for grant of probate soars to over 10 weeks
New data released by HM Courts and Tribunals Service has revealed the average wait between submission and grant issue for all probate applications reached over 10 weeks in December 2022. While the average timeliness of a grant threatened to surpass the 10-week threshold on several occasions throughout 2022, it had not reached higher than 9.4 […]
LawCare reports huge rise in legal professionals with career concerns
New research from LawCare has revealed a “dramatic increase” in the number of legal professionals reporting feeling concerned about their career. The mental health charity for legal professionals in the UK’s 2022 impact report shows that nearly a quarter (22%) of people contacting them for support were primarily concerned about their career in the law. […]
Charity Commission launches “5-minute guides” to boost awareness of core trustee duties
The Charity Commission has intensified its campaign to raise awareness of core trustee duties and boost take-up of the guidance available to charities. The Commission has developed a collection of short and engaging five-minute guides on issues ranging from safeguarding people to managing conflicts of interest. The collection serves as a basic toolkit for trustees […]
OPG publishes refreshed set of deputy standards
The Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) has published a new set of standards to help court appointed deputies in delivering their duties. This comes as previous standards were described as “difficult to use”, contributing to a gap for lay deputies. As well as catering for lay deputies, the new standards are “more focused” and […]
Practical tips for professional attorneys and deputies: Part 2
Scott Walker, Consultant Solicitor at Richard Nelson Solicitors, shares his experiences and some practical tips for those working as a professional attorney or deputy | Part 2 Read part 1 where Scott shares tips 1-3, as well as explaining why being a professional attorney and deputy changed him – both as a person and a […]
The procedure for unsealing 90-year-old Royal wills
Further to the judgment of the President of the Family Division in Re: The Will of His late Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh [2021] EWHC 77 (Fam) this Procedural Note is published in order to set out the process to be followed by the Office of the President of the Family Division, referred to […]
The Ombudsman’s Corner: February 2023
In my last column I set out details of the changes we are making to our Scheme Rules on 1st April 2023 with regards to the circumstances in which we can dismiss a complaint. This time, I am going to explain how we are changing our rules in relation to what happens at the end […]
