Wills and Probate services: Rip off Britain
Today’s BBC programme “Rip Off Britain” (9th December 2011) highlighted problems with using a certain probate company called ITC which charged very high fees to act as executor and to deal with probate. After some complaints they reduced their fees for the particular person featured on the show to a more acceptable level.
This highlights some important issues about using certain will writing companies who act as professional executors or who offer such services.
Always beware of anyone putting themselves forward as professional executors in any forceful way. It may be a service someone might regret you taking up.
Firstly, find out exactly how much the professional executor much they are going to charge and secondly never appoint a professional executor who will not give an undertaking to vacate their executor ship if asked by beneficiaries. This is a safeguard against fees being ramped up at a later date.
There are the unscrupulous companies and the expensive ones out there but by asking the right questions they can be avoided.
On a similar subject it is not a good idea to pay for probate in advance. You never know if you will need them when the time comes and even if the company offering the service will be around to deliver.
So with probate services it is a case of buyer beware and some.
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Wills – the “Can’t take it with you” video
I looked at this for the first time a few days ago and I thought it was a very good presentation from Sue Medder. I watched all of the series and not surprisingly I found it very interesting.
She comments on the reasons why so many people do not make a Will, which she characterises as practical reasons more than legal reasons.
She also mentions some of the good reasons to write your Will and what might happen if you don’t and you die intestate. This can cause serious problems for your surviving family members which she illustrates in an example. In the straightforward situation she describes, dying intestate can cause the sale of the matrimonial home.
In my view a good account all around and I strongly recommend you look at this if you are thinking about making your Will.
When you have done that you can come back and see about me helping you or go and see Sue 
.
You Can’t Take it With You – Sue Medder on Wills
Wills Jack wills and SEO
yourwillmatters.co.uk/wills-jack-wills-seo/2010
Of course there is a Jack Wills forum and Facebook page and so on – bless him
Email and read receipts
Is it just me who likes to get Email read receipts?
Now, I don’t know about you but I use Email a lot. It is an imperfect system and it can be difficult to know if the intended recipient has actually received it.
One ‘tool’ that helps me is requesting Read Receipts. This is not foolproof, but if someone does give Read Receipts when they open an Email it does help the sender to know it actually got there.
When I was a barrister ‘in chambers’ our clerks started to use email extensively. They did give Read Receipts for a while. However, following a few things not being done by the said clerks in a timely fashion and having the time of the Read Receipt used as an indication of when the intruction Email was recived, they stopped doing it.
Since then I have always thought that any business that does not give Read Receipts has something to hide. Am I wrong about this? Is there a good reason not to do this? with good open communications in mind I managed to persuade Les Kinch of Parrot Hosting to do this as I am using him to do my new websites.
Finding the right Solicitor – 4Networking 4Sight #48
Another breakfast meeting at 4Networking Forest of Dean and another 4Sight. I have done 48 4Sights now and am still enjoying them.
This talk was about how to find the right solicitor which is really about asking the right questions to ensure you get the right skill set and understand the fees and have proper expectations.
One particular point I make is if the solicitor does not seem very approcahable or the front of house is too brusque look elsewhere – you need to be comfortable with the lawyer you are using.
Parental Responsibility
What is Parental responsibility?
If you are a parent with parental responsibility you have the legal responsibility for the safety, well being and upbringing of your child.
Parental responsibility requires that you make certain decisions including how your child is educated and also how your child receives medical attention in the event of illness. You are also required to ensure that your child receives the best possible care within your family unit.
Who has Parental Responsibility?
The mother of any child or children has parental responsibility for them automatically
If the parents are married then there is joint parental responsibility where both parents have a say in how their children are brought up and in all other decisions relating to education, medical treatment etc.
However if the mother is unmarried she has sole parental responsibility. Therefore she is the only one of the parents responsible for the decisions relating to her children’s upbringing…unless
If you are named as father on the child’s birth certificate, and the child was born after 1st December 2003, you do have parental responsibility too. However, if your child was born prior to 1st December 2003 then you must take legal steps to get parental responsibilty.