Legal sector welcomes the appointment of non-lawyer Alex Norris as justice secretary
Alex Norris has become the first non-lawyer to be granted the post of Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice in a Labour government. The MP for Nottingham North and Kimberley, who on Monday replaced David Lammy in Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s government, is a former trade union official. For the past year, he […]
Warning for families as ‘ordinary’ estates swell IHT coffers by £96m
Inheritance tax receipts for April 2026 to June 2026 are £2.3 billion, £96 million higher than the same period last year, as changes to IHT rules bring more estates into scope – with more to come. “The planned changes taking effect in the 2027/28 tax year will bring most unused pension funds into IHT calculations,” […]
Profile: Rhiannon Russell, senior associate at Birketts
Rhiannon Russell is a senior associate in the private client advisory team at Birketts. She has worked as a private client solicitor for more than 10 years, advising clients on a range of matters from complex estate and tax planning to high-value probates and powers of attorney advice. Rhiannon has a particular interest in detailed […]