British Wills and Probate Awards return for ninth year as early bird entries open today
The British Wills and Probate Awards return for the ninth year, formally launching today (Friday 27th March). The Awards are organised by Today’s Media, the publishers of Today’s Wills and Probate, and will be hosted at Manchester’s Kimpton Clocktower Hotel on Thursday 8th October 2026. An established part of the legal calendar, the British Wills […]
Probate reform programme highlights speed of digital uptake as service speeds up
The reform programme within the probate registry has seen the process go from wholly paper based to almost entirely digital since the introduction of the digital service in 2018, following the mandated use of the digital service in November 2020. A reform evaluation paper published by the Ministry of Justice provides a range of data […]
High Court to decide whether home on aristocrat’s family estate forms part of ex-wife’s £1.2m trust
An aristocrat is engaged in a complex High Court battle to prevent trustees of his ex-wife’s £1.2 million income fund from selling a cottage on his family’s 11th century rural estate in Somerset. Sir Benjamin Slade, 7th Baronet of Maunsel, was married to Lady Pauline Slade for 12 years before their divorce in 1994. As […]
Property equity could provide for the 43% of people undersaving for retirement, as FCA launches market review
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has launched a market study into later life mortgages to determine how prepared the market is to meet consumers needs now and in the future. Given recent government analysis of future pension incomes, which shows 43% of people are under-saving for retirement, the FCA says it considers lifetime and retirement […]
Judge awards comedian Sean Hughes’ £4m estate to Shelter after 10 year delay caused by homemade will
A judge has handed the housing and homelessness charity Shelter the £4 million fortune of comedian Sean Hughes, after almost a decade of delay caused by a homemade will. The stand up comic (pictured alongside one of his three properties) died in 2017 aged 51, leaving his £1.8 million north London home and two other […]
LeO seeks input on draft complaints procedure
The Legal Ombudsman (LeO) has launched a call for input on its draft Model Complaints Resolution Procedure (MCRP), a new framework aimed at improving the consistency and quality of how complaints are handled by legal service providers. “Effective complaints handling is fundamental to trust and confidence in legal services,” the LeO said. “However, our insight from more […]
Care now, fight later: Why the sandwich generation faces future inheritance disputes
Britain’s ‘sandwich generation’ (adults in their 40s to 60s) are so-called because they are increasingly funding their parents’ care costs while still supporting their own children. New research from Killik & Co indicates that this generation now diverts around 44% of their monthly income towards the care and support of their parents. Judith Swinhoe-Standen and Rose-Marie Sage […]
The future of technology in wills and probate
From lawyer, to Microsoft and Meta, and now to Arken.legal, Anthony Philips legal journey takes him through a series of household technology names and halfway round the world before recently landing as CEO at the will writing and technology platform. In this wide-ranging discussion, Philips shares his reflections on his own journye, and that of […]