High Court Judge requirement dropped from assisted dying bill in favour of new review panel
The requirement for a High Court judge to approve assisted dying applications has been removed by the committee reviewing the bill. The clause had been seen as a key safeguard, making the proposed legislation the strictest of its kind. However, concerns were raised by the Ministry of Justice and senior judges about the impact on […]
Farage pledges to abolish IHT as Reform UK tops polls
Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK and Member of Parliament for Clacton, has vowed to abolish inheritance tax if his party wins the next general election, as reported by The Telegraph. His announcement follows a surge in support for Reform UK, which has overtaken Labour in national polling for the first time. According to LOESS […]
£2.3bn spent on funerals each year as higher costs drive increase despite fewer people dying
New research has revealed that £2.3 billion was spent on funerals last year and, despite the fact that fewer people died versus 2023, this marked an increase of over £26m on the previous year, driven by a 3.5% increase in the cost of a funeral. HaMuch analysed data on both the number of deaths seen […]
Nearly fifty thousand extra pensioners receiving vital Pension Credit support following surge in claims processed
The department has now processed a record number of claims, reducing the number of applications yet to be cleared from its peak of 85,500 to just 33,700 by 23 February, which is in line with normal levels of Pension Credit claims waiting to be processed. This has resulted in a record 117,800 applications being awarded […]
Future of legal regulation discussed at CILEx roundtable
On Wednesday, 26th February 2025, CILEx Regulation (CRL), in collaboration with the Legal Services Board (LSB) and the Legal Services Consumer Panel, hosted a roundtable to discuss the future shape of legal regulation. The discussion was prompted by CRL’s research into the unregulated legal sector, published last year, which highlighted some significant trends in the […]
Membership body rejects proposed changes to client money
SME law firm membership body LawNet has defended the model of law firms holding client monies and says it believes there are no ‘credible alternatives’ to the client account model in its submission to the SRA consultation which closed at the end of February. Indeed the mutual goes as far as suggesting some of the […]
The First Principle of the Mental Capacity Act – The Presumption of Capacity
As practitioners in the Will writing space, you will all be familiar with certain caselaw, such as Banks v Goodfellow. However, what some may not realise is that the 5 principles of the Mental Capacity Act are also highly relevant when it comes to your practice. Over the next few months, I will be exploring […]
