Private Client
Funeral and burial disputes
It’s not uncommon for disagreements to arise between family members and loved ones over funeral arrangements, burial disputes or possession of ashes. So, who has the ultimate say and what can you do? Richard Adams, senior associate in the Contested Wills, Trusts and Estates team at Hugh James who has advised clients in a number of such cases, considers this delicate and sensitive issue.
LSB “forced” accountants to withdraw from legal services regulation
It was “fundamentally wrong” for Legal Services Board rules to force the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants to withdraw from legal services, another accountancy body has argued.
Larke v Nugus requests – the cornerstone of will disputes?
A request for a Larke v Nugus statement is often considered a preliminary step when there is an intention to contest a will. But what happened in that case and what effect does it have on cases which involve probate disputes in the modern day?
MoJ: “Time has come” to mandate online probate applications
The “time has come” for solicitors and other professional users to apply for the vast majority of grants of probate online – but not yet letters of administration – the government said yesterday.
Private client lawyer targets wealthy with strategic consultancy
A senior private client lawyer has launched a strategic consultancy to advise wealthy individuals and families from around the world on succession, risk, governance and dispute resolution.
Wills firm justified in sacking employee who left client sweary message
A will-writing business was entitled to fire a member of staff who accidentally left a message on a potential client’s voicemail about getting drunk and littered with swear words, a tribunal has ruled.
Will-writing entrepreneur obtains “first digital LPA”
The founder of will-writing software firm WillSuite has obtained what he believes is the first ever digital lasting power of attorney. He said the process took five months.
MPs urge action on lawyers who facilitate “aggressive tax avoidance”
The lawyers and others who devise and market ineffective tax avoidance schemes are often breaking the law and a few legislative tweaks will make it easier to prosecute them, MPs have claimed.
Accountancy body withdraws from legal services regulation
The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants has decided to withdraw from legal services regulation and contract it out to CILEx Regulation, in the first move of its kind.
Government set to mandate online probate applications
Solicitor and other probate practitioners will have to apply online for grants of probate or letters of administration, under government proposals published today.
Blog
The new metrics for success in conveyancing
While technology has made much of the conveyancing process faster, there remains a practical limit to how many matters anyone can manage while still keeping standards intact.
The UK legal market is polarising – and the middle is disappearing
Consolidation and the boutique boom are not contradictory. They are the same market stretching apart at both ends – and it changes what your firm is worth, and to whom.
Conveyancing’s consistency problem is about pressure, not skills
When I qualified, a conveyancer had perhaps 10 or 12 plates to keep spinning. Today’s conveyancers have 20 or 30, and almost none of the room for error I had starting out.
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