• March 28, 2024
 SFE Conference 2022: a preview

SFE Conference 2022: a preview

Hear from the country’s leading Private Client experts at the SFE Conference 2022

The SFE National Conference 2022 takes place on the 23rd June at Kings Place, London with attendees being given an in-depth case study to explore. Set to feature at this year’s event are four expert speakers who will be on hand to help attendees unpick the key legal issues faced by widow “Nina Wright”, who is at the centre of the fictional case study.

Amongst the line-up is barrister, Barbara Rich and Independent Consultant Solicitor, Mediator, author & legal trainer, Caroline Bielanska. Together with family solicitor Stuart Barlow and Head of Community Care Law at Martin Searle Solicitors Cate Searle, they’ll share their wealth of knowledge and expertise covering different elements of the case from intestacy and the care act to safeguarding reporting and guardianship.

This year’s case study, Beware-Your Gins Will Find You Out, follows a 44-year-old widow, Nina, whose husband, Stuart, died suddenly in a car accident. Together they had three children including eldest child Ben who is 25 and has Down’s Syndrome. Nina discovers Stuart had an affair which resulted in a child and with her children having their own issues and making demands, she turns to her local SFE solicitor.

Junior Counsel and Mediator, Barbara Rich of 5 Stone Buildings will kick off proceedings by delving into intestacy, trusts for underage beneficiaries and how it would operate in the case being looked at. Other subjects covered in her talk will include probate issues and the Inheritance act claim. Barbara is known as a “star individual” in the property and affairs jurisdiction of the Court of Protection and has acted in a number of leading cases since the Mental Capacity Act 2005 came into force.

With over 40 year’s experience as a family solicitor as well as being a member of the Law Society Children Panel, Stuart Barlow will discuss the care of dependent children on the death of a parent and what would happen if both parents died at the same time. He’ll also cover the advice that can be given to clients as to the appointment of a guardian.

Cate Searle, Head of Community Care Law at Martin Searle Solicitors will focus on the Care Act and the questions that need to be answered when looking into it such as eligibility, funding, guardianship etc. Cate has specialised in community care and public law casework for the last 22 years and currently leads a team of nine community care lawyers, with clients and casework across England. As well as writing for a number of publications, Cate regularly contributes expert opinion to social care media coverage such as Radio 4 File on Four and the Law Society Private Client magazine.

Completing this year’s line-up is Independent Consultant Solicitor, Mediator, author & legal trainer, Caroline Bielanska. Former Chief Executive and Chair of Solicitors for the Elderly, an organisation she helped to found in 1999, Caroline is well-known in her specialist field, advising older and vulnerable adults who have limited physical and/or mental capacity. She sits on Court of Protection Panel of mediators and is a member of the Civil Mediation Council. Caroline’s talk will centre around managing potential inheritance when a beneficiary is unable to manage their own affairs. She’ll explore the need for robust safeguarding for people in vulnerable circumstances as well as care arrangements, acting in an individual’s best interests and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards.

To discover out more about this year’s conference, visit SFE National Conference 2022

Jamie Lennox, Editor, Today's Wills and Probate

Editor of Today's Conveyancer, Today's Wills and Probate, and Today's Family Lawyer Contact LinkedIn jamie.lennox@todaysmedia.co.uk Twitter