What is Intestacy?

March 27th 2025 | wills and probate
Intestacy occurs when an individual dies without a legally valid Will that dictates the distribution of their assets or property. Situations that lead to intestacy include: the deceased did not make a Will the existing Will was deemed invalid a previously valid Will was later revoked some of the terms read more...

One Mans Recycling is Another Man’s Testamentary Opportunity..

November 15th 2024 | wills and probate
In an interesting ruling earlier this month, the High Court ruled that a man's Will, written on the back of 2 food boxes, was legally valid. This ruling has sparked widespread interest in the formalities surrounding the creation of a Will, especially in cases where unconventional methods are used. The read more...

Top 10 Reasons to Use a Solicitor to Administer an Estate

October 25th 2024 | wills and probate
Administering an estate can be a daunting task, especially during a time of grief. Often families want their loved ones (usually their partner or children) to undertake this task and in many cases that is entirely appropriate. However, there are a number of times that using a professional (whether that read more...

When Might An Urgent Will Be Needed?

September 24th 2024 | wills and probate
In an ideal world everyone would make a Will, and update them periodically when nothing is particularly pressing them to do so, other than the sensibility of getting their ducks in a row.    Usually, a particular life event prompts someone to, at the very least, contemplate making or updating a read more...

Death Bed Gifts - A Recent Case

July 17th 2024 | wills and probate
A running theme of this blog is the lack of consumer protection when using unregulated legal services providers (see here and here and here ).   We have also previously touched upon an area that I had considered effectively confined to dusty shelves of the academia (Donatio Mortis Causa – see read more...

Do I Have To Leave My Estate To My Children?

May 30th 2024 | wills and probate
Along with no forced heirship in England and Wales (unlike in some other countries such as Spain), the law also states that you have the freedom to do as you please in relation to your assets. This is known as ‘testamentary freedom’. Therefore, the short answer is that there is read more...

Spring Budget Update: Minor Change to Inheritance Tax Payment Rules

April 4th 2024 | wills and probate
Hidden away in the recent 2024 Spring Budget update is a small but interesting change to Inheritance Tax (“IHT”) payment rules, specifically concerning the process of obtaining a 'grant on credit' from HMRC. Effective from April 1, 2024, personal representatives of estates will no longer be required to seek commercial read more...

Can I use ChatGPT to write my Will?

March 20th 2024 | wills and probate
I saw a comment online recently, stating that Wills drafted by AI, using functions such as ChatGPT are the new wave of homemade Wills. As previously covered by myself and my colleague Alex Stanier, homemade Wills have resulted in some of the most complex and costly estates to administer, due read more...

Do You Pay Inheritance Tax On A Jointly Owned House?

December 12th 2023 | wills and probate
The answer is: maybe. Owning property jointly with someone means that you do not need a grant of probate in order to transfer the title to the survivor when one person dies. This is known as the law of succession, which sets out who inherits property. Jointly owned property (held read more...

Can I Get Probate with a Foreign Will?

December 1st 2023 | wills and probate
The simple answer is yes (usually), however any estate including international elements will always have a certain level of complexity. Firstly, you need to determine where the assets of the deceased are. If the deceased has prepared a foreign Will, this will generally be because they held assets in that read more...

Intestacy Stinks

October 9th 2023 | wills and probate
One of my recent blogs linked through to an informative and amusing serious of articles by Judge Gold in the magazine 'This is Money'. I would highly recommend them . When the firm tweeted (X'ed?) that blog, we referred to Judge Gold as our new favourite judge. It was pointed read more...

Do It Yourself? A Tale of Probate & Woe

September 11th 2023 | wills and probate
I recently came across a fantastic series of 3 articles in This is Money, written by retired judge Stephen Gold. M'lud had found himself executing the estate of his late aunt. I would commend them to anyone who wants a concise and honest precis of the kinds of frustrations, delays, read more...

Intestacy- Statutory Legacy for Spouse

August 11th 2023 | wills and probate
The intestacy rules set out who inherits a person's estate where they have died without leaving a valid Will (known as dying intestate). The beneficiaries of the estate vary depending on whether or not the deceased was married and also based on whether or not they had children, regardless of read more...

What are Life Interest Trusts?

July 25th 2023 | wills and probate
There are a few different types of trust, most of which have existed for at least a century with minor tweaks to reflect changing tax treatments or legislation. However, some trusts are being paraded around as new miracle ways to avoid care fees or inheritance tax. In most cases this read more...

Marriage, Divorce, and Wills

July 17th 2023 | wills and probate
Getting married or divorced are big changes in your life. But did you know that both can also affect your Will? Marriage Under s18 Wills Act 1837, any marriage after the date on which a Will is made would act to revoke that Will, unless the documents is expressly stated read more...

Wills: When Should You Get a Capacity Assessment?

June 19th 2023 | wills and probate
It is important to know that for a will to be valid, the testator, i.e., the person making it must have sufficient mental capacity. “Testamentary capacity” is the legal term used when describing an individual’s legal and mental ability to make or alter a valid will. In the absence of read more...

5 Reasons to Write a Will

March 1st 2023 | wills and probate
A Will is a legal document that outlines how a person's assets should be distributed after their death. Despite its importance, it is estimated that as much as 60% of the population either do not have a Will, or have not reviewed their Will following a major life event (marriage, read more...

Can I Write My Own Will?

February 23rd 2023 | wills and probate
A very hesitant yes, but I wouldn't recommend it, and that's not just because it's my job to write wills. There are some real risks to preparing a will at home. Firstly,  you are usually trying to distribute your most valuable assets amongst those you love. If there are issues read more...

Should I Take Out A Prepaid Probate Plan?

February 2nd 2023 | wills and probate
In short, no. These plans have been cropping up more frequently over the last few years, with companies offering individuals the option to buy a plan during their lifetime to cover the costs of administering their estate. Professionally, I have always had issues with this: firstly, the level of work read more...

How Often Should I Review My Will?

January 19th 2023 | wills and probate
Once you complete a will, it is very tempting to put it in a draw and never look at it again (and in fact many people do). However things change, so how often should you review your will? Our advice is generally that you should look at your wills every read more...

The Role Of A Certificate Provider

November 22nd 2022 | wills and probate
Solicitor who certified LPAs “as a favour” is fined £6,000. Who knew there could be so much risk in acting as a certificate provider? Well, as the linked article shows, one solicitor found out the hard way. I find this such a strange thing for a legal professional to have read more...

The Unsuspecting Executor: The Chain of Representation and What It Means

October 24th 2022 | wills and probate
It is sometimes the case that an executor appointed in a Will dies having obtained the Grant of Representation, but before they have completed the administration of the estate. For the purpose of this article, we will call that executor the ‘representative’. If there are other living representatives, they will read more...

Dealing with Family Estrangements

October 7th 2022 | wills and probate
As Private Client advisers, we are accustomed to dealing both with close knit families looking for the best way to provide for each other, but also with the fall out when a family member becomes estranged.  Recent research in the US  suggests that half of all families experience some form read more...

What’s a Hotchpot and What Does It Have to Do With My Will?

September 30th 2022 | wills and probate
There are many things to consider when drafting your Will and one of those is whether you want your lifetime gifting to be considered in the administration of your estate. A hotchpot clause is designed to ensure that your beneficiaries receive equal benefit from you in life and death. In read more...

How do I change my Will?

May 26th 2022 | wills and probate
People often wonder the best way to update or change their Wills. There are in fact some firm dos and don’ts in this regard. The formal requirements for a validly executed Will, or amendments to a Will, are set out in the Wills Act 1837 (yes, that old). This states read more...

Probate Frauds

May 10th 2022 | wills and probate
Probate fraud is an age-old issue, but one that is taking a variety of new forms in the digital age. I hope this article will help the unwary executor spot and avoid these traps and also an unwitting beneficiary from falling victim. Types of Frauds Against Beneficiaries It is a read more...

What Do You Do When Someone Dies?

April 14th 2022 | wills and probate
When someone dies, it can lead to a lot of confusion. Being a probate solicitor I often get a call within a day or two of someone's passing, from friends and family, asking what they should be doing. Here is a short guide to the steps you should take immediately read more...

Excepted Estates – New Inheritance Tax Rules

January 14th 2022 | wills and probate
On the 1st January the Inheritance Tax (Delivery of Accounts) (Excepted Estate) (Amendment) Regulation 2021 came into effect.  Those regulations are designed to greatly simplify inheritance tax compliance with HMRC for “Excepted Estates”. It was, and remains, a requirement for all estates in which there is an inheritance tax liability read more...

My dear friend as executor…

December 6th 2021 | wills and probate
A frequently encountered client instruction in private client is the naming of executors and trustees. When writing a Will it is unavoidable, essential information. One problem that pops up however is when a client wants to name their dear friend who is of a similar age. It can be a read more...

Wills - A Question of Privacy

September 28th 2021 | wills and probate
It is very common for solicitors to receive calls from family, asking about the Wills of parents, spouses or more distant relations. It is also common for clients to ask when their family will be able to see a copy of their Will. Many people believe that, once you prepare read more...

Remember a Charity in your Will Week

September 10th 2021 | wills and probate
This week is Remember a Charity in your Will Week. For most of us it can be pretty easy to overlook the reliance that our society has on charities and those who work in the charitable sector: whether it is The British Heart Foundation or Cancer Research UK who undertake read more...

Advice for Executors: Estate Accounts

July 14th 2021 | wills and probate
All executors are required to keep accurate and detailed accounts setting out the assets that form part of the estate, details of estate debts and confirming what steps have been taken with assets throughout the estate administration. The accounts also set out how the estate assets have been, or are read more...

What is Probate?

May 17th 2021 | wills and probate
As a person who deals with estates constantly, I often take it for granted that individuals understand what it means to “apply for probate” and why you may need to do this. In case you, like many others, have ever been confused by this concept, here is a brief explanation: read more...

Solicitors - The Stereotype vs Reality

March 18th 2021 | wills and probate
To all the lay folk out there, what do you picture when someone tells you they are a lawyer? Is it the man in an expensive suit, working in swanky offices who charges you a small (or not-so-small) fortune? Or maybe the criminal lawyer of many an American movie, banging read more...

Rethinking Patient Consent: Changes to the Mental Health Act

February 8th 2021 | wills and probate
Reforming the Mental Health Act 1983 (“the Act”) On the 13 th January 2021, the UK Government published a White Paper, Reforming the Mental Health Act , which recommends the modernisation and improvement of mental health care across the country. Their proposals to reform the governing legislation have been guided read more...

Should I Apply for Probate Personally?

January 21st 2021 | wills and probate
It has always been possible to apply for probate as a private individual, however the prospect of completing tax forms and muddling through the legal jargon of Wills has meant that most executors seek professional assistance. However, in the recent times there has been a steady increase in individuals choosing read more...

Survivorship Provisions- 30 Days to Benefit

November 9th 2020 | wills and probate
It is common to included a survivorship clause in Wills. The logic behind this is to prevent assets from passing to a beneficiary who dies shortly afterwards and so has very little or, more likely, no benefit from the asset. If the soon-deceased beneficiary leaves a taxable estate then the read more...

Succession, Inheritance and Surrogacy: The Issues

November 4th 2020 | wills and probate
Surrogacy is when a person agrees to bear a child for someone else. Although it is legal in the UK, surrogacy arrangements cannot be enforced by the courts and it is illegal to pay the surrogate anything other than their reasonable expenses. This therefore limits the type of surrogacy arrangements read more...

Online Probate Applications Mandatory from Next Month

October 1st 2020 | wills and probate
More news from the ongoing farce that is that probate application process. Subscribers to this venerable blog will be well aware that last year the Government implemented a brand new, all singing, all dancing probate application system. No doubt they were cogniscent of the frankly embarrassing 2 to 4 week read more...

Modern Technology – An Executor’s Nightmare

October 1st 2020 | wills and probate
A recent Direct Line survey has found that modern technology has been making it more difficult for executors to correctly administer estates. This has largely been blamed on the rise of online only banking and the use of biometric login details. For environmental and confidentiality reasons, most people now opt read more...

Remote Witnessing of Wills – Goodbye Horse, Hello Stable Door

August 27th 2020 | wills and probate
As anyone who has attempted to complete their Will over the last few months will know, the process of attestation has been a veritable pain in the proverbial. Wills Act 1837 Attestation in the case of Wills simply means signing. However the formalities for this process, as laid out in read more...

Who’s On The Hook?- The Case of Linda Box

August 6th 2020 | wills and probate
Cases involving a former solicitor, Linda Box, who misappropriated estate funds are currently before the Courts. Ms Box was jailed in 2017 for fraud, theft, and forgery, having stolen millions of pounds from clients during her years in practice.  It can be quite uncomfortable for us as lawyers to discuss read more...

Deathbed Gifts

July 17th 2020 | wills and probate
Death bed gifts, or donatio mortis causa ("DMC") , are a bit of a legal quirk. They received some publicity when the residential nil rate band was introduced a few years ago as a possible way of side-stepping the £2m taper threshold. So, what are they? A DMC is a read more...

Remembering Charities

June 30th 2020 | wills and probate
When preparing Wills, one of the most difficult points for clients (particularly those with young children) to think about is a disaster provision. Sometimes (and with misplaced cheeriness) known as a Disneyland Clause, these ask a client to consider who they would wish to inherit their estates if, at the read more...

The Role of Executor – A Risky Business

May 19th 2020 | wills and probate
Glancing through the news recently I noticed a story about an executor who has had a warrant issued for his arrest due to his failure to comply with his duties. The role of an executor carries quite significant obligations and the consequences for failing to correctly administer an estate can read more...

How to Sign a Will During Coronavirus Lockdown

April 6th 2020 | wills and probate
The current COVID 19 crisis has lead people to review their circumstances and, as such, Private Client practitioners have seen an increase in the demand for Wills. This has been from a combination of people who had no Wills in place finally deciding to put their affairs in order and read more...

The Checklist- Getting your Affairs in Order

March 23rd 2020 | wills and probate
In light of the recent coronavirus outbreak, I have received several concerned calls from clients in relation to steps that they should be taking. I am not the alarmist type, and so have stressed the need to remain calm, however the virus has caused many people to take a look read more...

You Can't Write your Will on Loo Roll

March 19th 2020 | wills and probate
As I am sat here, at home, pondering the meaning of the Universe and trying to remember what the world looked like pre-Coronavirus (ah, halcyon days), I am moved to comment on our fascination with loo rolls.  I understand that the reason we started panic buying loo rolls has something read more...

The Importance of a Staple

February 11th 2020 | wills and probate
Who knew a staple could cause so many problems? When a professional drafts a Will, we generally arrange for them to be sewn with ribbon or bound. This not only looks nice but also makes it harder for clients to unsuspectingly separate the document.  Where it is apparent that a read more...

Probate Delays - Update

January 2nd 2020 | wills and probate
As any keen reader of our blog will have noted by now, there has been an ongoing debacle at the Probate Registries (part of Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service), which has resulted in substantial delays in issuing Grants of Probate. Perhaps mindful of the season, in November HMCTS announced read more...

A Scottish Connection

December 20th 2019 | wills and probate
Fun Fact! Did you know that you can make a Will at the age of 12 in Scotland? There are quite a few variations in the law when you head north of the border, and it is important to remember that Scotland is a separate legal jurisdiction. As such, careful read more...

The Horror of Homemade Wills

October 31st 2019 | wills and probate
I have been seeing more and more homemade Wills in recent years. I will freely admit that, as a Probate Solicitor, these fill me with dread. This is because homemade Wills usually lack useful administrative provisions, or worse, contain clauses which are unworkable or open to challenge. I would never read more...

Probate Fee U-Turn

October 14th 2019 | wills and probate
I am delighted to report that the Government has now announced the formal scrapping of its proposed probate fee hike, or, as they put it:  "We will withdraw these proposals, and keep the current system while we take a closer look at these court fees as part of our annual read more...

Swedish Death Cleaning - All You Need to Know

October 1st 2019 | wills and probate
I have apparently arrived late to the game of Swedish Death Cleaning, a phenomenon which first garnered attention early in 2018 following the release of the book ‘The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning’ by Margareta Magnusson. Everyone who has experienced the loss of a loved one, and especially anyone read more...

Probate Delays

August 22nd 2019 | wills and probate
In an effort to increase efficiency, the probate Courts introduced an all singing, all dancing new system earlier this year.  From a desperately inefficient 2 - 3 week wait for a Grant of Probate, Grants are now being issued in around 3 months..  Sadly, that's not a typo but fear read more...

What Happens If I Do Not Have a Will?

August 21st 2019 | wills and probate
A Will is a document, created by someone during their lifetime, which sets out what they would like to happen to their assets when they die. If you die without a Will, your estate passes under the rules of intestacy. There are several common misconceptions about what happens when someone read more...

The £1 Million Inheritance Tax Threshold - Is it Real?

August 14th 2019 | wills and probate
The concept of inheritance tax is fairly strange to our American cousins. In the UK, when someone dies, any amount in their estate above their available tax-free allowance is charged to tax at 40%. There are some exceptions to this rule, for instance if estates are passing to spouses or read more...

Lifetime Gifting: A Salutary Lesson

July 31st 2019 | wills and probate
A friend of mine recently forwarded this article to me, asking what the legal position is in relation to gifts to children, and if parents have an ability to ask for their money back. In this scenario, a lady’s parents gifted her £100,000 to help her to buy her home. read more...

DIY Wills – Great News for Lawyers?!

May 17th 2019 | wills and probate
A good friend of mine recently told me that she was moving home. She saw no point in needlessly lining the coffers of those fat cat lawyers, so was planning on undertaking all of the conveyancing work herself. I wholeheartedly endorsed her savvy approach. Of course, the above is a read more...

Probate Court Fees

May 3rd 2019 | wills and probate
What is going on with Probate Court fees? Anyone with any skin in the game will take a step back at this point, 1,000-yard stare fixed in the distance, and slowly shake their head.  For anyone who has managed to avoid the news for the past 18 months (well done read more...

Another Reason Never to Use Will Writers

April 25th 2019 | wills and probate
I was having Sunday lunch the other day with a relative when they announced that they would like me to witness their Will. Having been in the family now for some seven years I have to say that I was not a little disappointed that we had not been consulted read more...

The Importance of Reviewing your Will (Nil Rate Gifts)

March 19th 2019 | wills and probate
To get the legal jargon out of the way, this article concerns the making of ‘nil rate band gifts’ in Wills and the effect of an available transferable nil rate band on such gifts. In plain English, a nil rate band gift in a Will is, in most cases, the read more...

Mortgage Deposits and the Bank of Mum & Dad

March 14th 2019 | wills and probate
The cost of buying homes in the UK has escalated significantly in the past few years. However, house prices themselves seem to have stagnated –Most likely as a result of a concerted effort by the conservatives to curtail the buy-to-let market (by way of increased stamp duty and loss of read more...

Dangers of Will Writing Companies

March 13th 2019 | wills and probate
Lawyers are one of those groups of professionals that many of us really want to avoid. Our fear, not always unjustified, is that the visit will be painful. Painful physically (dentists, we’re looking at you) and painful financially. In the world of Private Client, which often involves difficult discussions about read more...

The Wills and Inheritance Quality Scheme

October 4th 2018 | wills and probate
Allan Janes has recently become an accredited member of The Law Society’s Wills and Inheritance Quality Scheme (WIQS). WIQS accredited firms are recognised by the Law Society as providing the highest standards of Will preparation and Estate administration by adhering to the best practice standards laid down by the scheme read more...
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