Private Client

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Solicitor and other probate practitioners will have to apply online for grants of probate or letters of administration, under government proposals published today.

The summer 2020 edition of Entitlement, Title Research’s quarterly news digest, is now available for legal professionals to download completely free of charge.

The government is to legalise the remote witnessing of wills for two years, backdating the change to 31 January this year to reassure those who have already done it during the pandemic.

The Chartered Institute of Legal Executives has called for a permanent law change after the Land Registry began accepting copies of lasting powers of attorney certified by CILEx lawyers.

Online will-writer Farewill has raised £20m as it targets a major expansion in revenue, staff numbers and new services, including powers of attorney.

There is no doubt that contentious probate work is growing. We do not like paying more than a couple of hundred pounds for a will, but then are seemingly happy to spend thousands taking our relatives to court, and the two do not sit happily together.

A firm of financial advisers has launched an alternative business structure to provide its clients with legal services which it claims are faster and “at least a third cheaper”.

Employment and commercial work are seeing the biggest increases in demand from clients, research has found. However, lockdown has had a “devastating impact” on other practice areas.