Private Client

The boss of an unregulated probate business has been sentenced to a year in jail for contempt of court after failing to reveal the whereabouts of £432,000 of an estate’s money.

The partner of a deceased solicitor has received a suspended sentence for contempt of court after breaching injunctions designed to stop her online harassment of his executors.

Solicitors’ firms specialising in conveyancing and probate should know there is an alternative to the SRA, the chief executive of the Council for Licensed Conveyancers has said.

Some 36% wills drafted last year contained at least one trust, highlighting the importance of private client lawyers having expertise in trusts, according to a large-scale study.

The legal services market will grow across all practice areas in 2026 for the first time since Covid, researchers have predicte, while a growing private equity presence is “a continuing theme”.

The government has no plans to review the regulation of estate planning and trust-selling practices in the wake of the collapse of Anglo-Scottish law firm McClure, a justice minister has said.

An established estate planning firm has entered regulation by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and bought a family law practice to expand the services it offers.

The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) has decided against striking off a junior solicitor who deleted part of a colleague’s handover note to cover up his failure to do what it said.

A solicitor who instructed a trainee to backdate a deed has been rebuked by the Solicitors Regulation Authority after she admitted to an error of judgement.

Most private client specialists have “mixed feelings” about Law Commission plans to permit electronic wills – but would embrace them if they happen.

A “hybrid” probate law firm set up by a former banker and backed by Aviva is aiming to use lessons from fintech in its bid to automate and streamline the process.

The High Court has expressed surprise that a paralegal did not know more about the restrictions that the reserved legal activities imposed on her work.

A private client solicitor has launched an online tool to help ensure pets are looked after following their owner’s death, incapacity, divorce or separation.

Private client group STEP is to lobby the government to bring probate rules in line with the Legal Services Act 2007 in the wake of the Mazur ruling.

An allegation that an old woman who owned a farm in Devon signed codicils under the undue influence of a solicitor “should never have been made”, a High Court judge has said.