News / 14.10.2019 Simultaneous deaths: protecting your family A question that is often asked by clients is “what happens to our estate if we die together”. People never die at the exact same moment in terms of the law for succession purposes. The com... Read More

News / 01.10.2019 Why cohabitees should make a Will According to the Office of National Statistics the number of cohabiting families has grown by 25.8% in the last decade. In 2018 they made up nearly a fifth of the 19.1 million families in the UK. ... Read More

News / 16.09.2019 Charitable Giving Everyone will be familiar with ‘gift aid’ and there are various other income tax and capital gains tax incentives for giving to charities during your lifetime, such as payroll giving and d... Read More

News / 16.09.2019 My partner & I own everything jointly, do we really need to make Wills? There are two legal principles that can have important unintended results when you die without making a Will – especially if you are married/civil partnership. The first is one that you are pro... Read More

News / 10.09.2019 100 Years of Women in Law - Deborah Escott-Watson 2019 marks 100 years since women were able to qualify as solicitors. In 1919 the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act came into force and so paved the way for women to be admitted into the legal profess... Read More

News / 13.06.2019 R.E.S.P.E.C.T my Will NINE months after soul singer Aretha Franklin died, three Wills have been located at her home. After her family thought that she had died intestate (with no Will) this should have been a welcome disco... Read More

News / 01.05.2019 Probate Court Fee Rise Back in the summer of 2017 I was warning of the turmoil which would be brought in by the proposed extortionate rise in probate court fees. Thankfully this rise did not happen and the fees remained at... Read More

News / 17.04.2019 The Problem WITH “Next of Kin” – Lasting Powers of Attorney and Advance Decisions We are all familiar with the phrase “next of kin”. Indeed hospitals in the past have asked “who is next of kin?”  and they have then sought to ascribe to this person a p... Read More

News / 01.03.2019 Who to Choose? If I had to pin point what causes more problems than anything else when administering an estate, I would probably say disagreements between the Executors. Executors have the legal duty to administer... Read More

News / 22.10.2018 When Should You Review Your Will? Congratulations, you have prepared your Will! However, the buck does not stop there. It is very important that you keep your Will at the back of your mind and review it on a regular basis to see if it... Read More

News / 03.09.2018 John McCain’s Funeral Raises Two Big Questions For us All At the end of August, the funeral service was held in Washington of the veteran US Senator John McCain. He certainly excited strong passions on both sides of Congress. He should, however, give us all... Read More

News / 06.08.2018 Cohabitee whose partner left her nothing in his Will is awarded a cottage and £204,000 by the Court in inheritance claim Earlier this year, the High Court in Cardiff made a substantial award to a woman who had made a claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975. The case of Thompson v. Ragg... Read More