Private Client

Improvements in the probate system are not filtering through to complex cases, according to a solicitor who has lodged a complaint over “outrageous” delays she has suffered.

HMCTS “did not have a mechanism to deliver comprehensive training” when the Probate Service was digitised, a justice minister has admitted.

A solicitor has been struck off after more than 50 years on the roll after admitting dishonesty over the signing of a lasting power of attorney.

The Probate Service seems to have finally overcome its backlog, with average wait times in December 2024 now six and half weeks, compared to nearly 16 weeks a year earlier.

The Octopus Group, the £13bn financial services and energy business, has launched a law firm to handle probate and estate administration work, Legal Futures can reveal.

The SRA is to question probate solicitors who “simply listed” in their training records what they had done, rather than providing “evidence of reflection”.

A young lawyer who changed dates on lasting powers of attorney and misled clients about when they were sent to the Office of the Public Guardian has been struck off.

Supporting clients who have opted to use an online divorce provider can be challenging for family lawyers, but they can offer valuable assistance to protect their clients’ interests. Educating clients about the limitations and risks of online divorce services is essential, especially to avoid pitfalls like those in Vince v Wyatt [2015] UKSC 14.

Big increases in grants of representation and powers of attorney applications have increased the growth rate of the wills and probate market to 7% but 500 firms left it too.

Law firms handling probate work could do more to guard against the risks of a conflict when administering estates and also acting as the executor, the SRA has cautioned.