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28 April 2011 / Daniel Curran
Issue: 7463 / Categories: Features , Wills & Probate
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Working hand in hand

Can alternative business structures revolutionise the wills & probate world? Daniel Curran investigates

The countdown has begun until the Legal Services Act 2007 (LSA 2007) comes in to force in October. Revolutionising the provision of legal services, the Act is intended to ensure that consumers can access services of better value and quality with ease. Indeed, the uptake of new business models has already been greeted positively by consumers; in a recent YouGov survey, 60% of consumers said they would buy legal advice from big brand names.
This changing legal landscape will be particularly pertinent to the wills and probate sector; one area of law which nearly every member of the public is likely to encounter in their lifetime whether they are writing a will, or they are the beneficiary or executor of a will.

Underpinning the work of solicitors in this sector, are the vital services provided by professional probate genealogists. Working for solicitors, executors, trustees or beneficiaries, these probate professionals identify and trace heirs, in addition to locating beneficiaries under will or

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Thackray Williams—Lucy Zhu

Thackray Williams—Lucy Zhu

Dual-qualified partner joins as head of commercial property department

Morgan Lewis—David A. McManus

Morgan Lewis—David A. McManus

Firm announces appointment of next chair

Burges Salmon—Rebecca Wilsker

Burges Salmon—Rebecca Wilsker

Director joins corporate team from the US

NEWS
What safeguards apply when trust corporations are appointed as deputy by the Court of Protection? 
Disputing parties are expected to take part in alternative dispute resolution (ADR), where this is suitable for their case. At what point, however, does refusing to participate cross the threshold of ‘unreasonable’ and attract adverse costs consequences?
When it comes to free legal advice, demand massively outweighs supply. 'Millions of people are excluded from access to justice as they don’t have anywhere to turn for free advice—or don’t know that they can ask for help,' Bhavini Bhatt, development director at the Access to Justice Foundation, writes in this week's NLJ
When an ex-couple is deciding who gets what in the divorce or civil partnership dissolution, when is it appropriate for a third party to intervene? David Burrows, NLJ columnist and solicitor advocate, considers this thorny issue in this week’s NLJ
NLJ's latest Charities Appeals Supplement has been published in this week’s issue
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