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News 26th August 2010 – Wills and Probate News The Society of Trust and Estate
Practitioners of England and It highlighted that the majority
of the public assumed that Wills writers were properly insured and
regulated. This was often not the
case. 63% of those involved in the
survey had experienced Will writing companies going out of business and
disappearing with their client’s Wills. Additionally two-thirds of those
that responded had come across hidden fees which were not outlined in the
stated price of the Will including hefty executor and probate charges which
only come to light once a person has died. Just over a third also said that
they had come across cases where incompetence had led to significantly higher
tax bills which of course impacted upon beneficiaries. The survey concluded that Will
writers must have an appropriate qualification and they must have proper
insurance cover in case of errors.
They made the point that soon consumers would be granted protection. Generally it stated that people
making Wills should be aware that banks and Will writers routinely offer very
cheaply made Wills knowing full well that the catch is in the overall
percentage of fees that they charge once a person has died and once probate
has been obtained by themselves or their nominated probate connections. In one case it was noted that a total
charge of 4 ½ percent of the whole estate had been levied upon the dead
person’s assets. Effectively this was
something that the dead person’s beneficiaries were going to be paying for as
a result of such large fees being charged. The Law Society has now called
for a level playing field to give consumers greater protection. In the interim it is without a doubt the
case that people who want to make a Will are much better protected by taking
proper independent solicitors advice.
Solicitors are fully professionally qualified, have the appropriate
full insurance cover and are also usually located in professional probate
departments within their respective firms. If you would like to discuss any
of the issues contained within this article then please do not hesitate to contact us 1st July 2010 – Goodbye Jo, Hello We are sorry to announce the departure
of Jo Clay from this office but are happy to announce that we have a new
Conveyancer, Sharon Burton, joining the team. 14th April 2010 – Family Law News Update Careful re Spousal Maintenance! The Court of Appeal has ruled
that a Husband who has paid maintenance for approximately 19 years should not
be entitled to discontinue payments to her as a result of a reduction in his
earnings following his retirement. They stated that it would be unfair and
cause hardship to the ex-wife if the payments simply ceased. Instead they
ordered that she should receive a lump sum. The parties divorced in 1985 and
maintenance had been paid since 1991 onwards.
Interestingly the Court of Appeal stated that a pension which the
husband had built up during the second marriage and with the assistance of
his second wife could be taken into account as it would be wrong to give
priority to the claims of the second wife. This seems to be a ruling
intended at upholding the first settlement back in the nineties when the
original maintenance order had been intended to provide the wife with “a
modest but vital income for life”. The moral of this case, unless it
gets appealed further, is that if one is still in good income one should not
prematurely seek to terminate a spousal maintenance order. Nor should one refuse to consider negotiating
over capitalising maintenance (effectively paying a lump sum to get the
maintenance element dispensed with for good). Prenuptial Agreements Judgment is awaited on a test case
which is anticipated to rule whether or not prenuptial agreements should from
now on have a binding legal footing as law in Although prenuptial agreements
are already relevant in matrimonial proceedings when considering the intentions
of the parties and conduct they are not enforceable per se. This is a reason for the importance of this
case. The Husband, a former French
Banker, is trying to challenge a prenuptial agreement that he signed with his
German Heiress Wife. Both parties were
residing in The Husband’s argument revolves
around whether or not he fully understood the true extent of his Wife’s
fortune at the time when he negotiated the prenuptial agreement. Accordingly it may be that this case, when
judgment is finally delivered, may uphold prenuptials for the first time as
being legally binding whilst at the same time concluding that in these
particular circumstances the prenuptial cannot be upheld because of
insufficient financial disclosure. The rules regarding financial
disclosure and timescales for signing the prenuptial are very strict and Judgment awaited imminently. 13th October 2009 – Welcome to the Firm
Joanne Clay We are happy to announce that as
from today we have a new member of the team. Joanne Clay is an assistant
solicitor dealing in conveyancing and commercial property. 13th October 2009 – Ken is retiring We are sad to report that after
his extended break Ken Hope has decided that he is enjoying himself too much
to return to work and as a result will not be returning to the practice. We
must therefore thank him for all his support and guidance over his many years
service and wish him the best for the future. 12th October 2009 – Jenny is Starting a New
Career Jenny Evans has decided to go
back to university to pursue new studies. We therefore wish her the good luck
for the future and thank her for the time she spent with the firm and all the
hard work she put in. 25th March 2009 – Home Information Pack
changes As from the 6th April
2009 there will be a number of further changes to the rules relating to Home Information
Packs. The changes are as follows: ·
A new Property Information Questionnaire will
become a required document. Details in the Property Information Questionnaire
will include flood risk information, gas and electricity safety, service
charges, structural damage and parking arrangements. ·
The Temporary first day
marketing concession will be abolished. As a result, all properties that are
placed on the market must have a Home Information Pack immediately. It will
not be sufficient to say that the Pack has been ordered. ·
It will no longer be
possible for missing information in a personal search to be supported by
insurance. All searches, either official local searches or personal searches
will have to contain full information. 28th February 2009 – Ken takes a break As a result of the current
financial climate it is with regret that we must confirm that Ken Hope has
decided to take an extended break from the practice, with the intention that
he will return once confidence returns and we are back to normal. He will of course be missed and
we look forward to the time when he will return. |
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Solicitors 2009 Regulated by the Solicitors’ Regulation Authority