Private Client

Solicitors dealing with clients where their mental capacity could be in question should record their meetings electronically, a judge has suggested in upholding the deathbed revocation of a will.

By Debra Burton, partner in the inheritance disputes team at Lime Solicitors The will-making process has seen a significant transformation in recent years, driven by technological advancements and a growing demand for accessible, user-friendly services. The Covid-19 pandemic was a… Read More

A Surrey law firm that failed to deal with an estate it took on after merging with another practice has been rebuked by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

The Probate Service has now been issuing more grants per month than the number of applications it receives for a year, with delays now falling, new figures have shown.

There was a 28% surge in the number of applications for lasting powers of attorney last year, but the Office of the Public Guardian still managed to reduce its backlog.

A High Court judge has rectified a will after finding it was “beyond doubt” that the solicitor who drafted it “made a clerical error” in failing to implement her client’s instructions.

A solicitor who stole cash from a vulnerable client using her debit card while acting under a lasting power of attorney has been struck off.

The Probate Service needs to share more data about its performance so that lawyers can manage client expectations, the outgoing chair of the justice select committee has said.

The proportion of people using a solicitor for their will has continued to fall and is now down to 50%, five percentage points lower than in 2019, a report has found.

Justice minister Mike Freer has admitted to MPs that the government “bit off more than we could chew” with its £1.3bn court modernisation programme.