There has been a lot in the media recently concerning will-writing companies and a debate over whether will-writingcompanies should be regulated.   Much of the public wrongly believe that will-writers are trained solicitors.

In addition to drawing up a will, will-writing companies are sometimes appointed to act as executors of the will and it has been reported that a test case is being brought to ascertain whether a family have the right to appoint whom they wish as an executor in place of the will-writing company appointed by the deceased.    The reason for the test case appears to be that the will- writing company will be charging twice as much for administering the estate as a competitive quote that has been obtained from a firm of solicitors.

In the meantime clients should be reassured that if they instruct us we are regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and the basis of our charges will be fair and reasonable and considerably less than those charged by banks or will-writing companies.

Eddie Vine the man responsible for the design of our website and other materials is running the Liverpool half marathon on 28th March 2010.  He is raising money for Combat Stress.  Combat Street specialises in the care of British Veterans who have been profoundly traumatised by harrowing experiences during their service.  We wish Eddie luck.

If you wish to sponsor Eddie please click on the following link

http://www.justgiving.com/eddie-Vine

A man was charged with criminal damage to two hamburgers for throwing them in the bin! A mix up in the order saw the two hamburgers arrive hours late and as a result Mr Morgan refused to pay for them.  As Mr Morgan had by then eaten he threw the hamburgers in the bin.  He was then arrested for robbery by a team of policeman.  It later came to light that the hamburgers did in fact belong to Mr Morgan and not the takeaway, as it was their policy not to charge for food if the order is wrong in anyway and as such he was within his rights to throw them away in any event!  An amusing story but a costly one to the public purse.

When your solicitor completes your purchase they are required to register you as the new owner at the land registry.  If you have taken out a mortgage details of this are also registered.  Importantly the price you paid is always registered.

The information held by the land registry is open to the public so anyone can obtain details of who owns your property and the price paid on payment of a small fee.

The land registry also licenses the information to various websites.

Their websites are useful tools to enable you to research current prices in a particular locality.  If you are thinking of making an offer on a property.

A few of the websites which supply information on prices are www.property.aol.zoopla.co.uk and www.nethouseprices.com

Partner Jacqui Marsland along with Nicola Jones solicitor attended the Motov8 day held at Glyndwr University.  The day was organised by the North Wales NHS trust and was arranged to promote the nations health and to give advice to those with mental health problems.  Jacqui and Nicola were on hand to give people advice about Lasting Powers of Attorneys, general Wills and Wills for parents whose children have health problems.  If you would like advice about any of these matters please contact the office

Congratulations to Gemma Davies who won the jogger/exercise trampoline following our raffle yesterday.  Thank you to every who attended the event which was a great success.

The Government has now published a Green Paper in an attempt to address the contentious issue of the funding of long term care.  It presents three suggestions, and a consultation period will run until November 2009 when it expects that the chosen system will be published in a White Paper next year.   It is proposed that the system itself will be phased in from 2014.

The Government has ruled out funding the whole cost itself as this would require taxes to be increased substantially.

Should we therefore stop worrying about how we are to address the issue of care home and nursing home fees?  Certainly not:-

·       Whichever system is chosen some cost and we do not know at this stage how much will fall on the individual.

·       Also it is not certain that the measure will reach the statute books given that a general election is looming.

·       In addition the country’s finances are in a weakened state as a result of the banking crisis and one wonders where the Government’s money is going to come from.

Accordingly we are advising our clients that they should still plan their financial affairs as they have in the past on the assumption that the cost of care home and nursing home fees will fall on the individual.

If you require any advice please do not hesitate to contact us.

Congratulations to Mark and his wife Emily on the birth of their daughter.   Ffion Sophie Roberts  was born on Wednesday 17th June.

Since October 2008 Landlord’s have been required to provide an energy performance certificate.  Prior to that date legislation was introduced to require Landlords to provide a gas saftey certificate and join a tenancy deposit scheme.  Now the government is considering requiring all Landlords to obtain a licence at a cost of £50.  The idea is that a Landlord cannot let a property without being licensed and can have his licence revoked if for example he fails to carry out any necessary repairs.

If this helps to weed out unscrupulous Landlords fair enough, but it will of course be the tenants who bear the cost by way of increased rent!

Partner Jacqueline Marsland and Solicitor Nicola Jones attended the First Time Buyers Fair at Glyndwr University on 18th April 2009.  The fair was to provide people with information about the legal process, mortgages, negotiating prices and affordable housing schemes.  The event was well attended and feedback indicates it was also helpful.  Any questions about the legal processs of buying a house can be sent to Nicola at nj@hpblaw.co.uk