Josh is the Journalist for the Today’s Group and writes many of the articles for Today’s Conveyancer. He graduated with a degree in Physics from Cardiff University in 2009 before training as a journalist.
He has previously written for The Times, The Mirror and The Daily Express.
The Law Society have called on the public to take sorting their wills out off the back burner and put their affairs in order at the beginning of Dying Matters Awareness Week. Society President Jonathan
A well-established agricultural solicitors practice has opened up a new office within a rural auction and agricultural centre in Kendal. JWK Solicitors now employ 70 staff between four sites in Morecambe, Lancaster, Glasgow and Kendal.
The Equity Release Council have appointed five new members to its board after their recent Annual General Meeting. The five industry figures the council’s membership voted in are: Bernie Hickman, Managing Director of Individual Retirement
The sons of TV actor Lynda Bellingham have said she was heavily medicated when she signed the will. Michael and Robbie Peluso had previously claimed they received just £750 each from their mother’s estate even
Law firm Irwin Mitchell have announced it intends to offer a free no-obligation helpline and a range of fixed fee probate services for customers of Leeds Building Society. Leeds Building Society is the fifth biggest
A court in Minnesota has declared that the musician Prince had no known will and has moved to appoint an executor. The singer was responsible for a litany of hits including 1999, Purple Rain, When
Friday 29th April is the last chance to enter the STEP Private Client Awards, before the event is held on 8th September. The awards are for private client solicitors, accountants, barristers, bankers, trust managers and
A woman who wanted to die because she said she had lost her “sparkle” and had her decision to refuse treatment after a failed suicide attempt upheld will continue to remain anonymous. The respondent, known
Nearly a quarter of a million of exercised new freedoms that enable them to use their pension pots more freely according to information from HMRC. According to a statement, people who have “worked hard and
A company have been granted a license to run a law firm as an Alternative Business Structure after they appointed two solicitors. Two of Lifetime Legal’s directors have been running a will writing company since
Wills, Trusts and Estates specialists Portcullis Legals were all smiles as they scooped the award fro Best Small Business at the Plymouth Business Awards last week, organised by the Plymouth Herald. The company’s CEO and
29% of home owners over 70 haven’t thought about what happens to their home when they die with an additional 18% over 70s unaware their ISAs won’t escape inheritance tax charges. The research undertaken by
An accountant has warned that many couples and their loved ones could lose out when it comes to inheritance tax because of now-redundant discretionary trust clauses. The clauses are now no longer useful according to
The Managing Director of Quill Pinpoint has been appointed the chair of the Legal Software Suppliers Association. Julian Bryan takes over from Matt Lancaster, Sales and Marketing Director for Osprey Legal Cloud. Julian Bryan, LSSA
The demand for probate insurance is increasing as more and more insurers baulk at the prospect of insuring an empty property. Shane Leivers of HomeProtect took the time to speak to Today’s Wills and Probate
The Law Society has called for changes to the Legal Ombudsman’s fee structure to include awarding costs against vexatious complainants. The Society has also called on the Ombudsman to protect small firms and reduce incentives
A retired Financial Advisor turned care home funding advisor has called on Legal professionals to educate themselves when it comes to paying for old age care. While selling the house and putting the money in
The Society of Will Writers have released guidance on what they consider good standards of client care. The guidance note covers client care letters, terms of business and their own membership principles. It also covers
A solicitor from Cheshire has been jailed for three years after taking £370,000 from a dying pensioner. Peter Taylor, who worked at wills, probate and estates planning practice Nightingales in Poynton, Cheshire, pleaded guilty to
A high court judge has rejected an appeal over a will which saw a man leave his entire estate to his Mistress – and nothing to his three children. Ken Jordan’s £2 million estate, built
The Society of Will Writers have announced details of their 2016 conference, which will take place on Monday 10th and Tuesday 11th October at the Abbey Hotel in Redditch. Speakers include Professor Lesley King who
The Law Society has responded to the Ministry of Justice’s consultation on increasing court fees, calling the proposed fee increases excessive. The society criticised the MoJ for looking to fund general court costs on the
A combination of dementia and Alzheimer’s related deaths as well as respiratory diseases like flu amongst older people caused the biggest increase in deaths in over a decade according to the office for National Statistics.
According to the SWW, will writers are likely to come across clients vulnerable in several different ways due to age, sensory impairment, language issues, illiteracy or even a difficulty comprehending information because of emotional factors.
Co-op Legal Services have posted a small £700,000 profit for 2015 after a loss of £5 million in 2014. The return to profit is being due to restructuring rather than anything else, as the group’s
Cheshire based law firm Rowlinsons have achieved the Legal Eye Quality Standard. The multi-disciplinary firm who provide conveyancing as well as will and probate services are the latest to achieve the standard which Legal Eye,
29% of legal firms have put prices up in the past twelve months according to a survey by the legal services board. According to the telephone survey of 1,506 conducted between November and January, just
A solicitor has been struck off and ordered to pay £10,000 costs over allegations he billed clients for work he didn’t do. David Michael Merrick had been a solicitor since 1981 but was suspended from
Pensions advice and review scams are now the leading form of unsolicited contact for people approaching retirement with up to two million receiving unsolicited calls in the past year alone according to Citizens Advice. A
The Government has published its consultation document on changing probate fees.
A web designer who refused to let her partner of 16 years go paragliding without writing a will says she would have lost £400,000 were it not for the will written in a Turkish hotel
While six million people have experience of being an executor, just one in 25 knows they could face unlimited liability based on their actions. That’s according to a survey conducted by Censuswide Castleacre Insurance services