Non-contentious probate business meaning

In this issue: Wills Probate Trusts UK taxes for Private Client HMRC Manuals updates Tax avoidance, evasion and non-compliance Contentious trusts and estates Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland International Question of the week Daily and weekly news alerts LexTalk®Private Client: a Lexis+® community New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Latest Q&As Useful information Wills No line of sight—due execution and presence In the Estate of Kathleen Coady, District Judge Chloë Phillips delivered judgment in Coady v Coady PT-2023-BHM-000025 (Business & Property Courts in Birmingham (Probate)), addressing as a preliminary question whether a coronavirus (COVID-19) era ‘garden signing’ met section 9 of the Wills Act 1837. The court concluded it did not, rendering the 25 April 2020 Will invalid. Written by Charlotte John of Gatehouse Chambers. See News Analysis: No line of sight—due execution and presence In the Estate of Kathleen Coady. Probate...

In this issue: Probate Court of Protection UK taxes for Private Client HMRC Manuals updates Tax avoidance, evasion and non-compliance Insolvency—Private Client Digital assets and cryptoassets Charity and philanthropy Contentious trusts and estates Pensions, insurance and tax efficient investments International Question of the week Additional Private Client updates this week Daily and weekly news alerts LexTalk®Private Client: a Lexis®PSL community New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Latest Q&As Useful information Probate HMCTS probate enquiry line—temporary reduced hours From 14 February 2024, and for 12 weeks, the HMCTS probate helpline will run on reduced hours: 9am to 1pm, Monday to Friday. The HMCTS Probate Service remains available via web‑chat from 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday. Source: HMCTS Probate LinkedIn post. MoJ urges those entitled to claim dormant funds held by CFO to act now The Ministry of Justice...

In this issue: Spring Statement 2025 Probate UK taxes for Private Client HMRC Manuals updates Tax avoidance, evasion and non-compliance Regulatory compliance for Private Client Contentious trusts and estates Art and heritage property, landed estates and farming families International Question of the week Daily and weekly news alerts LexTalk® Private Client: a Lexis+® community New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Latest Q&As Useful information Spring Statement 2025 Spring Statement 2025—key points On Wednesday 26 March 2025, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, presented the government’s Spring Budget. There were no fresh measures for Private Client tax advisers—disappointing for those with clients likely to be affected by the planned reforms to business property relief and agricultural property relief from April 2026. Nor was there any sign of a rethink on the proposal to levy an IHT charge on pensions on death. By contrast,...

This starter guide offers an overview of the Private Client practice area. It is designed for trainee solicitors, paralegals, and anyone new to Private Client work. It concentrates on core topics within Private Client law and signposts additional Lexis+® UK resources and materials that deliver more comprehensive detail. Newcomers to Private Client will also find the Overviews within each subtopic of the Private Client module helpful. These Overviews introduce each subtopic and link to pertinent content within it, aiding navigation of the area. For instance, see: Will drafting—overview and Inheritance tax (IHT)—overview. If something is not covered here, try browsing our Private Client topic tree or using the search bar to locate further Private Client content. The guide also includes links to help you get the most from the Private Client materials, including how to subscribe to email alerts and how to contact the LexisAsk team. Key topics in Private Client Private Client lawyers commonly handle: Wills Probate Trusts Powers of...

FORTHCOMING CHANGE : In the Autumn Budget 2024 on 30 October 2024, the government revealed plans to include unspent pension pots and pension death benefits within an individual’s estate for IHT from 6 April 2027. This measure will cover both defined contribution and defined benefit arrangements, and will extend to UK-registered schemes as well as qualifying non-UK pension schemes. These rules apply across the entire pensions landscape. A technical consultation on how to deliver these reforms ran between 30 October 2024 and 22 January 2025. The reforms are legislated by the Finance Act 2026 and alter how personal representatives must declare the value of pension death benefits from 6 April 2027. For further details, see: Autumn Budget 2024—Private Client analysis — Inheritance tax. Effect of the grant A grant of probate, or a grant of letters of administration (sometimes with Will annexed), are the most frequently used forms of grant of representation in a deceased person’s estate. A grant of representation is a court order. Its function...

Jurisdiction The probate authority of the courts arose within the Ecclesiastical jurisdiction that had operated since the fourteenth century. Yet the procedures there were wholly unlike those in their sister Courts of Chancery Law and Chancery. Notably, the Ecclesiastical Courts were guided by ‘… the demands of the law and the conscience of the Court.’ (Wyatt v Ingram, sub nom Ingram v Wyatt (1832) 3 Hag Ecc 466; 1 LJ Ch 135). This equitable stance evolved to safeguard the deceased’s genuine final intentions against relatives’ contrary and self‑interested conduct. Prior to 1858, the authority to issue or revoke probate of wills, or letters of administration over the estates of deceased persons, rested with about 370 ecclesiastical or secular courts or officials in England and Wales, in addition to the Prerogative Courts of Canterbury and York. Following the Court of Probate Act 1857, which took effect on 11 January 1858, the Ecclesiastical Courts surrendered their jurisdiction to the Courts of Probate and Matrimonial Causes. The Court of Probate Act...

Claimant [ initial and family name ]: First: [ date ] BEFORE [ HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE ] [ CHANCERY DIVISION ] [ BUSINESS AND PROPERTY COURTS OF ENGLAND AND WALES ] [ PROPERTY, TRUSTS AND PROBATE LIST ] Claim Reference...

Claimant: [ initial and surname ]; 1st: [ date ] IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE BUSINESS AND PROPERTY COURTS [ OF ENGLAND AND WALES OR IN [ location ] ] PROPERTY, TRUSTS AND PROBATE LIST (ChD) Claim No: [ x ] [ x ] and [ x ] [ x ] (a child by [ name ] his/her litigation friend) etc... WITNESS STATEMENT OF [ x ] I, [ name ], of [ address/workplace ], [ occupation ], [ WILL SAY AS FOLLOWS ]: I am the Claimant in these proceedings and the [ position under the trust ] of the trust dated [ xxx ], called the [ xxx Trust ] (the Trust)...

This template is derived from a precedent in Inheritance Act Claims: Law, Practice and Procedure Precedents (access available by subscription). IN THE [ HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE ] CLAIM NO. HC [ ... ] [ CHANCERY DIVISION ] [ BUSINESS AND PROPERTY COURTS OF ENGLAND AND WALES ] [ PROPERTY TRUSTS AND PROBATE LIST ] IN THE MATTER OF THE ESTATE OF [ INSERT NAME ], DECEASED AND IN THE MATTER OF THE INHERITANCE (PROVISION FOR FAMILY AND DEPENDANTS) ACT 1975 [ Name of judge ] [ Place of sitting if not in County Court in which claim was issued ] [ Date on which order is pronounced ] Parties [ INSERT NAME ] Claimant [ INSERT NAME ] (the personal representative of the deceased) [ INSERT NAME ] Defendants Order 1 Opening paragraphs [Version 1: Where an order in favour of the claimant is made after a hearing] ...