Our blog aims to keep you informed about developments in the law relating to Wills; Trusts; Court of Protection and Mental Capacity issues. We will highlight topical issues; report on court cases which may impact on our everyday lives and bring changes in legislation to your attention.
If you have any comments or wish to send us your views, please email us. We'd like to hear from you.
By Liz Braude in Wills on Wednesday, August 11, 2010
The scenarios played out in the Panorama programme on Monday night were depressing but not wholly surprising. As a private client solicitor, I have been writing wills and administering estates, for many years but have never viewed my job as product selling. My practice and, I am sure,... read more
By Gillian Hitchen in Powers of attorney on Wednesday, July 28, 2010
It has been reported that the number of people registering Lasting Powers of Attorney is increasing. Around 90 percent of people appoint their family members to act on their behalf and the average age of people making an LPA was 63. An outreach programme is being undertaken by the... read more
By Gillian Hitchen in The Court of Protection and You on Friday, July 2, 2010
On the 5th and 6th August, CLT will host a conference in London addressing capacity and care challenges for the older client. Day one will deal with problems of capacity and day two addresses funding and care. Hugh Jones, head of the Court of Protection team at Pannone, will be chairing... read more
By Gillian Hitchen in The Court of Protection and You on Wednesday, June 9, 2010
On the 10th June 2010, the British Association of Brain Injury Case Managers will hold their summer conference - Minding the Gap, who is safeguarding the vulnerable? The aim of the conference is to debate the practical implications of balancing the risks and rights of clients post Mental... read more
By David Hardie in Inheritance Tax on Thursday, May 13, 2010
Now that the coalition between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats has been formed and their intended policies are becoming clearer, we can form some idea of what might happen regarding inheritance tax. Two of their announced policies stand out: 1) they have shelved plans to... read more
By Gillian Hitchen in The Court of Protection and You on Wednesday, April 7, 2010
The majority of applications to the Court of Protection are held in provate but, upon evidence of good reason, the court can allow individuals or groups such as journalists to attend. On the 31st March, the Court of Appeal ruled that a number of journalists could attend a Court of... read more
By Gillian Hitchen in The Court of Protection and You on Tuesday, March 9, 2010
The Office of the Public Guardian has recently announced in its business plan that it intends to shut down the exisiting OPG website at some point during 2010. The move follows a recent survey carried our by Directgov on the public's perception of Government services and the ability or... read more
By David Hardie in Trusts on Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Tax planning involving trusts has been a rapidly changing field over the last few years. The latest change is that from 6 April 2010 discretionary trusts, the most common tax planning vehicle, will pay income tax at the new rate of 50%. And whereas high individual earners will only... read more
By David Hardie in Wills on Thursday, January 28, 2010
In my blog of 24 September 09, "Marriage, divorce and Wills", I described the effect of marriage and divorce on Wills, particularly the fact that a Will is revoked if the testator subsequently marries. This is only altered if the Will says that it was made in contemplation of marriage to... read more
By David Hardie in Wills on Monday, January 25, 2010
Legal news last week included the case of the estate of Corporal Rob Deering, a soldier tragically killed in Afghanistan. His fiancee Gemma Polino has abandoned her claim that he made a Will in 2008 leaving everything to her. The alleged 2008 Will could not be found and the only... read more
