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.

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.

The rules of intestacy are due to change next February.  The statutory legacy received by the surviving spouse or civil partner will double to £250000.00 if there are children of the marriage or £450000.00 instead of the current £200000.00 if there are no children.

Whilst this increase will be welcomes by the surviving spouse or civil partner there is concern that children would often be left with nothing.

The moral is that there is no substitute for a well drawn will

If you are thinking of making your will now is an ideal time to consider making an LPA.  This is a document that appoints someone you trust, or several people, to deal with your property and affairs in the event you become physically or mentally disabled.  We do advise people of retirement age to consider this, but the truth is that any one of us could become incapable through illness or accident.  The time to act is now before anything happens.  If there is no LPA in place then a deputy will be appointed by the Court of Protection to deal with the affairs of the incapable person.  This is an expensive and time consuming process.  Please contact us for more information.