Probate administration; better or worse?
What is the current sentiment across the profession around wills, probate, client experience, speed of administration, attitude toward financial services… that is the topic of the latest Today’s Wills and Probate which delves into the recently published “Bereavement Index”; an annual report tracking the key issues facing individuals and firms dealing with the administration of […]
Shared experience; insight and best practice in estate administration
Legal Services Director at Kings Court Trust Charlotte Toogood joins the latest Today’s Wills and Probate podcast to impart her experience of working in estate administration over the last 16 years. With contentious probate on the rise Charlotte shares her thoughts on what we can do as practitioners, and how we can better advise families […]
Case Review: The Lessons of Leonard v Leonard
Today’s Wills and Probate Host David Opie is joined by Birketts’ Head of the Private Wealth Dispute Team Bernadette Baker and Partner in the team Kate Harris to discuss the case of Leonard v Leonard; a convoluted and disputed probate case concerning the estate of Jack Leonard and the validity of two separate Wills. Bernadette […]
QualitySolicitors – The next chapter
As one of the disruptors in the wake of the Legal Services Act 2007 QualitySolicitors (QS) was launched in 2009 with the ambition to help the high street fight back against the anticipated onslaught of major brands entering the legal market – so-called ‘Tesco Law.’ QS grew rapidly, with firms up and down the country […]
Free and low cost will schemes – good or bad?
Free and low cost will schemes are an established part of the wills and probate sector, providing charities with valuable legacy income streams, and practitioners with their largest source of lead generation. The latest Today’s Wills and Probate Podcast welcomes Richard Millar of Capacity Marketing on to discuss the value of free and low cost […]
Don’t forget about attendance allowance
Dean Morgan is the Managing Director of a franchise of Grey Matters Consultancy; a business founded with the aim of meeting the needs of those in retirement at the point they need additional assistance, and for offering guidance to those who have the responsibility for their care. Dean is himself a franchisee based in Cardiff […]
The launch of the National Association of Independent Administrators
Helen Stewart, Partner and Head of Probate at Thomson, Snell & Passmore joins the latest Today’s Wills and Probate Podcast to discuss the launch of a new association to support collaboration and best practice amongst independent administrators (IAs) and estates in conflict. The National Association of Independent Administrators (NAIA) brings together contentious and non-contentious practitioners […]
Wills in North America vs England & Wales
Tim Hewson joins the Today’s Wills and Probate podcast to discuss LegalWills – his Canadian-based technology company providing will writing and estate planning services in Canada and North America. The business started in a bar in Ottawa where Tim and his colleagues were discussing whether any of them, all successful tech high-flyers, had a will […]
AML and sanctions data collection – What you need to know
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has recently requested law firms complete an anti-money laundering and sanctions data collection exercise. The SRA is required by Office for Professional Body Anti-Money Laundering Supervision (OPBAS) to take a risk-based approach to supervision and is requesting firms complete the requested information as full as possible. It will, they say […]
Normalising charity legacies and leaving gifts in wills
Behaviour change campaign Remember a Charity is a consortium of around 200 charities dedicated to growing the legacy market; helping charities develop what is an increasingly vital long term revenue stream. In the latest Today’s Wills and Probate Podcast, host David Opie is joined by Lucinda Frostick, Director at Remember a Charity and Chris Millward […]
Understanding the cost of legacy fundraising
Ashley Rowthorn, CEO and Kath Horsley, Senior Consultant at Legacy Futures join the Today’s Wills and Probate podcast to discuss their latest piece of research on the investment charities make in their marketing. The Legacy Marketing Benchmarks report provides insight into helping charities understand what legacy marketing is enable charities to benchmark their spend helping […]
The five most expensive words in the English language
The five most expensive words in the English language – “it’s a matter of principle.” Because principles cost money. And this increasingly plays out across contentious private client matters, in inheritance and probate disputes. Joining host David Opie on the latest Today’s Wills and Probate Podcast is Hayley Gaffney, an associate at Coodes Solicitors and […]
The Great Wealth Transfer
People who were born between 1946 and 1964, the so called Baby Boomer Generation, is a cohort of 16.8 million people; and due to favourable financial conditions in that time are the wealthiest generation in human history, holding somewhere in the region on 80% of the UK’s wealth. With the older baby boomer now 78 […]
Mental Health Awareness Week 2024 Special
In this specially recorded podcast, the Today’s Wills and Probate podcast joins forces with its sister podcasts from the Today’s Conveyancer and Today’s Family Lawyer online news publications to discuss the topic of mental health and wellbeing ahead of Mental Health Awareness Week, from 13th May 2024. Podcast host David Opie welcomes Managing Director of […]
Using technology to help manage digital assets
Dylan O’Brien, the founder of BePrepared, joins the latest Today’s Wills and Probate podcast to discuss his take on the increasingly challenging issue of managing digital assets in estate planning, and what role technology has to play in supporting practitioners. BePrepared was launched in Australia and has expanded into the USA and UK in the […]
We’re all human, we all make mistakes
Joining the latest Today’s Wills and Probate Podcast is Dan Temple, an expert in acknowledging and understanding the human impact of working, and managing employees and businesses. The discussion centres on creating effective and high performing teams, and what steps law firms can, and should, be taking to enable this in their business. Dan leads […]
Navigating the ups and downs of running a will writing business
The Today’s Wills and Probate Podcast welcomes Andrew Buchan, Managing Director of James McKenzie Wills, to discuss the ups and downs of running an estate planning business. Andrew has been with the business for 14 years and has seen the development of the sector first hand. He explains his role and responsibility both to his […]
Law firms and leadership – the skill of profitable delegation
The Today’s Wills and Probate podcast welcome Dan Warburton on to discuss the topic of leadership. Dan works with law firms leaders and partners to elevate their leadership skills to enable them empower staff to be more efficient and effective. Dan describes his work as “the skill of profitable delegation;” to create leaders who can […]
The importance of performance management over appraisals
Hamza Hafesji, Group Product Manager at Advanced Legal, joins the latest Today’s Wills and Probate podcast to discuss the importance of implementing a culture of performance management in a business. For years the only time most employees receive any sort of constructive feedback has been in an annual appraisal. For Hamza, something has to fundamentally […]
What clients want…
The first Today’s Wills and Probate podcast on 2024, and the start of series 3, explores the perennial question on the minds and lips of most businesses… what do clients really want? A report from Law Firm Marketing Club does just that. Now in it’s 4th year, “What Clients Want” is an extensive piece of […]
