LAWSKILLS
LATEST POLL QUESTION
Should IHT be abolished?
Should IHT be abolished?
The LawSkills team aim to inspire all private client practitioners to succeed in the new marketplace for legal services. LawSkills offers an invaluable consultancy resource to law firms and practitioners who want to provide a more informed, relevant service for their clients and staff.
Our training and professional development programmes are tailored to equip lawyers with all the skills they’ll ever need to negotiate and administer the complexities of Wills, Probate, Trusts & Tax law with confidence and certainty.
LawSkills. Helping Lawyers Manage
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Probate – A Statistical Analysis
Each year the Probate Service compiles a statistical summary of its main activity, the issuing of grants of representation in England and Wales. Figures for 2009 have recently been released and this allows probate practitioners to understand the legal sector in a wider context.
LAWYER'S OPINION
A Tale of Two Cities
As we all head off on our holidays the thoughts of many lawyers turn to the legal systems of other countries. Those heading to France, or many other civil law countries, will (of course) know that their concepts of administration of estates are very far removed from our own. The most striking example is that when a person dies those entitled are immediately entitled, with no interim period to administer the estate, discharge the debts and so on, at least not as we common lawyers would understand it.
PERSONAL FINANCE
LIFE ASSURANCE BONDS - THE TAXATION ASPECTS FOR THE ESTATE PRACTITIONER
- WHERE A NON-TRUST BOND OWNER IS THE DECEASED -
This article will consider the way the investment value of a life assurance bond (LAB) will be dealt with after the death of the owner (or co-owner) where the owner(s) are the original investors and there are no trusts or assignments.
PRACTICE MANAGEMENT
Seven Secrets of a Successful Marketing Strategy
How do I make sure my marketing strategy works, when I know that only 75% of strategies are ever successfully implemented?
Secret 1: Involve everybody in the implementation of the strategy
Personal participation by each individual in the firm, in the implementation of a marketing strategy will increase the likelihood of its success. Encourage participation, involvement and sense of ownership by every person in the firm, in its future profile raising and successful marketing.
WORKING SMARTER
Are you fit to supervise? Are you Managing to Manage?
Every firm of solicitors, law centre, and certain in-house legal practices in England & Wales must have a principal who is ‘qualified to supervise’ in accordance with Rule 5 Solicitors’ Code of Conduct 2007 – to ensure “the supervision and management of a firm or in-house practice, the maintenance of competence, and the internal business arrangements essential to the proper delivery of services to clients”.
A-Z GLOSSARY SEE COMPLETE LIST
Excepted Estates
Excepted estates are those estates which do not have to submit a full account on IHT 200/400 to HMRC of the estate of the deceased person, largely because they are small (under the value the of the NRB on death) or they are exempt from IHT (are in favour of a spouse or civil partner or in favour of charity and worth less than £1 million).
The excepted estates procedure has been reviewed several times in the last few years in an effort by HMRC to reduce the number of cases where a full IHT 200/400 has to be completed in the estate.
