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A race against time?

29 September 2023 / Gareth Williams
Issue: 8042 / Categories: Features , Wills & Probate
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Delays in the processing of statutory wills are causing serious issues with estate distribution: Gareth Williams proposes a simple solution
  • With the resourcing issues currently faced by the court, any application for a statutory is now likely to take months.
  • Measures such as holding wills could be introduced to overcome the potential consequences to those lacking mental capacity and the distribution of their estate.

Court of Protection, wealth protection, trusts and estates practitioners will all share the same primary concern when submitting an application for a statutory will; namely, that the person whose mental capacity is in question (P) doesn’t live long enough for them to get to the end of the process and successfully achieve the desired outcome.

With the resourcing issues currently faced by the court, the same for the Official Solicitor and often a number of other represented parties, there is an uncomfortable expectancy now that any application will be resolved in months, rather than weeks; all while P’s circumstances remain unpredictable.

Much legal toing and froing and the associated

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The Court of Protection has ruled in Macpherson v Sunderland City Council that capacity must be presumed unless clearly rebutted. In this week's NLJ, Sam Karim KC and Sophie Hurst of Kings Chambers dissect the judgment and set out practical guidance for advisers faced with issues relating to retrospective capacity and/or assessments without an examination
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Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve charts the turbulent progress of the Employment Rights Bill through the House of Lords, in this week's NLJ
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