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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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NEWS
One in five in-house lawyers suffer ‘high’ or ‘severe’ work-related stress, according to a report by global legal body, the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC)
The Legal Ombudsman’s (LeO’s) plea for a budget increase has been rejected by the Law Society and accepted only ‘with reluctance’ by conveyancers
Overcrowded prisons, mental health hospitals and immigration centres are failing to meet international and domestic human rights standards, the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) has warned
Two speedier and more streamlined qualification routes have been launched for probate and conveyancing professionals
Workplace stress was a contributing factor in almost one in eight cases before the employment tribunal last year, indicating its endemic grip on the UK workplace
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