Wills and Probate | Certainty UK Will Register Blog

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Be Certain that your Little Ones are Protected Former Law Society President Kevin Martin and Chairman of Certainty the UK’s National Will Register advises how to protect your children should the unexpected happen……

Making a Will is crucial for anyone wanting to protect their children from the turmoil that can ensue after they die. Of course, if you don’t make a Will, it isn’t you who lives to regret it. If you have young children, should both parents die it’s left to the courts to decide who they are entrusted to. Until such time as the Court appoints a Guardian, the child can be taken into care. Read the rest of this entry »

I watched the recent ITV programme about unqualified and unregulated will writers (not a solicitor) with interest. It was most concerning, it seemed to be a very underhand practice that some of them employ. I’m glad to see that ITV has made a clear distinction between someone who would enter your home as a will writing professional who may actually try to maximise their financial gain rather than protect your interests for a fair and reasonable fee.

You may think writing a will is the best way to stop any family arguments on your death, but that may not be the case. According to one leading law firm disputes over wills and trusts have trebled over the past few years. Fay Copeland, head of contentious trusts and probate at Wedlake Bell said: “In previous years we have only been asked questions about the validity of wills. Now people are willing to pursue their claim through the courts. The two main reasons for this are that people are leaving more wealth, so it becomes financially worthwhile to contest a will.

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Certainty.co.uk, the UK’s National Will Register will be one of the corporate sponsors of the Stratford on Avon Music Festival which takes place from 11 – 19 October. Now in its 13th year, the festival presents musical events of the highest standard in venues in and around Stratford-upon-Avon.
 
Certainty’s sponsored event will take place on Sunday October 12th at the Shakespeare Institute where Natalie Clein, one of Britain’s finest and most popular young cellists will be performing with pianist Julius Drake. Natalie made her concerto debut at the BBC Proms in August 1997, and has since appeared in venues throughout the UK such as the Royal Festival Hall, Barbican, Bridgewater Hall and Birmingham’s Symphony Hall performing with many major orchestras. Read the rest of this entry »

Certainty regularly meet senior legal professionals to discuss the ongoing developments of the register . Kevin Martin, Chairman of Certainty and Andrew East, Chairman STEP UK Probate & Estates Committee recently expressed the following views…

11. Q. If you could put in one phase why a member of the public should write a will what would those words be?

A: (Kevin) Its about the benefit of certainty and the avoidance of doubt and minimising potential conflict.

(Andrew) Yes that puts it very well, basically you can be sure your estate Read the rest of this entry »

Certainty regularly meet senior legal professionals to discuss the ongoing developments of the register . Kevin Martin, Chairman of Certainty and Andrew East, Chairman STEP UK Probate & Estates Committee recently expressed the following views…

10. Q. Are there any additional qualifications involved?

A:  (Andrew) Yes there is an entrance exam. We have a diploma exam for people who do not have any other previous professional qualification. If you do have a previous professional qualification Read the rest of this entry »

Certainty regularly meet senior legal professionals to discuss the ongoing developments of the register . Kevin Martin, Chairman of Certainty and Andrew East, Chairman STEP UK Probate & Estates Committee recently expressed the following views…

9. Q. For the public point of view if we could have an overview of STEP so that they understand STEP.

A:  (Andrew) Well I would say, going back to its origins the idea behind STEP was to provide a forum for lawyers, accountants and bank trust staff who all do basically similar types of work where they could get together and discuss. Read the rest of this entry »

Certainty regularly meet senior legal professionals to discuss the ongoing developments of the register . Kevin Martin, Chairman of Certainty and Andrew East, Chairman STEP UK Probate & Estates Committee recently expressed the following views…

8. Q. Do you think that we should wait for the government to make a register?

A: (Kevin) I think you are looking at a model which would be an ideal but in reality it is not going to happen.  What has happened in other European countries, and we are going back decades, is that the government has persuaded the bar associations Read the rest of this entry »

Certainty regularly meet senior legal professionals to discuss the ongoing developments of the register . Kevin Martin, Chairman of Certainty and Andrew East, Chairman STEP UK Probate & Estates Committee recently expressed the following views…

7.  Q. When we met, not trying to go too over the top, you mentioned it was an opportunity for STEP members in your view as Chair. What would you say to encourage STEP members, every practice has a different structure in the way the want to attract new business and respond to the national wills register, what would you say?

(Andrew) I think I would say to STEP members that you should certainly look at this because whatever level of business you are at I think searching on the internet Read the rest of this entry »

Certainty regularly meet senior legal professionals to discuss the ongoing developments of the register . Kevin Martin, Chairman of Certainty and Andrew East, Chairman STEP UK Probate & Estates Committee recently expressed the following views…

6. Q. Certainty has a big online presence for its member solicitors – is this relevant to the profession?

A: (Kevin) I think putting it in perspective they do of course make an impression. I mean your own research has shown that if you go onto the internet depending on what you put into Google Read the rest of this entry »