Wills & Probate

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Electronic wills—inevitable in a digital era, or an abomination liable to wreak fraudulent chaos? In this week’s NLJ, Brendan Udokoro, associate, and Kiera Quinn, associate (New Zealand qualified), Howard Kennedy, examine the pros and cons, risks and rewards of allowing people to tap out their will on their phone or laptop.

The famous phrase, ‘All rise’, is being changed to ‘All rise, if able’, to be called out by the usher upon the judge or magistrate entering court. NLJ columnist and former district judge Stephen Gold notes, wryly, ‘if there is an usher, of course’.

This year’s Probate Industry Awards, also known as the Probies, were announced in London last month at a sparkling ceremony hosted by broadcaster Steph McGovern

The application of the forfeiture rule in assisted dying cases: Sukhninder Panesar examines a delicate balancing act for the courts

Average wait times for probate are now just over four weeks, HM Courts and Tribunals Service data published this week shows.

Amanda Smallcombe examines success fees in claims under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975

The government has dropped its plans to digitise historic wills and destroy the original paper copies, following ‘strong opposition’ from the public.

Lawyers have welcomed the Supreme Court’s unanimous decision that success fees are not covered by ‘financial need’ provisions in wills disputes

The value of the wills, trusts and probate market has risen 7% since last year to an estimated £2.81bn, according to the latest annual market report by IRN Legal Reports

A dying woman successfully completed a deathbed revocation of her will after nodding at her solicitor to ask for her help in tearing up the document.

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

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Arc Pensions Law—Matthew Swynnerton

Chair of the Association of Pension Lawyers joins as partner

Ampa Group—Kamal Chauhan

Group names Shakespeare Martineau partner head of Sheffield office

Blake Morgan—four promotions

Four legal directors promoted to partner across UK offices

NEWS

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NLJ this week: Renters’ Rights revolution begins—brace for tribunal chaos

The abolition of assured shorthold tenancies and section 21 evictions marks the beginning of a ‘brave new world’ for England’s rental sector, writes Daniel Bacon of Seddons GSC

NLJ this week: Civil procedure gets a spring overhaul

Stephen Gold’s latest Civil Way column rounds up a flurry of procedural and regulatory changes reshaping housing, alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and personal injury litigation

NLJ this week: Why GP complaints are going nowhere

Patients are being systematically failed by an NHS complaints regime that is opaque, poorly enforced and often stacked against them, argues Charles Davey of The Barrister Group

NLJ this week: Prenups meet a jurisdictional brick wall

A wealthy Russian divorce battle has produced a sharp warning about trying to challenge foreign nuptial agreements in the wrong English court. Writing in NLJ this week, Vanessa Friend and Robert Jackson of Hodge Jones & Allen examine Timokhin v Timokhina, where the High Court enforced Russian judgments arising from a prenuptial agreement despite arguments based on the landmark Radmacher decision

NLJ this week: Has Rylands v Fletcher come back from the dead?

An obscure Victorian tort may be heading for an unexpected revival after a significant Privy Council ruling that could reshape liability for dangerous escapes, according to Richard Buckley, barrister and emeritus professor of law at the University of Reading

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Wills & Probate

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Arc Pensions Law—Matthew Swynnerton

Ampa Group—Kamal Chauhan

Blake Morgan—four promotions