The waiting game
by Patricia Wass
You will have heard the controversy in the media which surrounds The Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006. This act is set to create two new ‘barred lists’: one of people barred from working with children; and one of people barred from working with vulnerable adults.
It is the second list that concerns those of us carrying out private client work. We still await the Law Society’s guidance on how (if at all) we will be affected by it – for instance, if we are visiting the elderly and vulnerable in residential and nursing homes and hospitals, we may need to be checked. Once we have a definitive response, we will bring it to members’ attention.
The Section will be putting on a series of seminars during the winter (see page 31), along with the last of our webinars, which are proving popular for those who cannot get to a seminar. We are looking at other ways of getting information to you in a user-friendly form, such as podcasts of talks, which you could download and listen to in your own time.
We are appreciative of your continued support of the Section and, as these are difficult trading times for all of us, we have agreed to leave subscriptions unchanged for 2010.
We invited the chief executive from ITC Legal Services and a representative from the Bereavement Advice Centre to attend our September committee meeting to discuss members’ concerns about the leaflets included with the death registration packs. Unfortunately, they could not attend. I have been inundated with emails and letters regarding this, and we are taking members’ concerns very seriously.
You will be aware of the issues around the Cancellation of Contracts made in a Consumer’s Home or Place of Work etc. Regulations 2008, which came into force on 1 October 2008. The Law Society is planning a practice note on how these affect practitioners, which may have been released by the time this edition is published. Please make sure to familiarise yourself with the regulations and the practice note if you are a solicitor who enters into contracts with clients – including conditional fee agreements or client care agreements – away from your own place of business, or following discussions that take place away from your own place of business, such as visiting the elderly at home or in hospital to take instructions for wills and powers of attorney.
Richard Roberts, an observer from the wills and equity committee who attends the Section meetings, updated us regarding the proposed changes to the Non-Contentious Probate Rules, and has written an article on them for this edition (see page 32).
We further discussed the issues regarding the choice of private client as an elective on the legal practice course, and getting the message to students that this is a great discipline to be practising. I am grateful to members from LPC providers and some younger members of the profession who have contacted me to offer help to endorse the message. Some members of the committee attended the Junior Lawyers Division conference in the summer and will be visiting universities during the autumn to talk to students and junior lawyers about the work that we do.
We also discussed the practice adopted by some local Probate Registries dealing with personal applications. Some concerns have been raised regarding identification issues and, generally, in respect of the completion of the necessary paperwork leading to the production of a grant. The concerns will be addressed through the Section to the Probate Registry User Group and also to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC). While we understand that members of the public deal with personal applications, there is some disquiet among our members as to whether or not solicitor applications are being treated in a similar fashion to those submitted by the general public. We believe there should at least be a level playing field, regardless of who makes the application. If the work leading to the issue of a grant is not done properly, then this leads to all sorts of issues, including HMRC not collecting enough tax.
You will be aware that the Law Society has recently been marketing its Diversity Access Scheme (see the Law Society’s website for details). It aims to provide support to talented people who will have to overcome particular obstacles to qualify as a solicitor. Part of the scheme is for firms to offer to be a mentor for students. If your firm would be interested in doing this, contact the Law Society directly. As a Section, we have agreed to pass a donation of £1,000 to the scheme to support its work encouraging talented and committed people to qualify, regardless of their individual circumstances.
As always, if you wish to raise any issues about the work of the Section, please do not hesitate to contact me or one of the committee members.