PS magazine

Issue 72 - November 2007

This issue contains the following subjects:

• Contents and welcome
• Comment: Panic room (LPAs)
• Bulletin (news and latest updates)
• Winder/spring collection (PS annual regional seminars programme)
• Interview: Preparation, practice, probate (recruitment and training courses)
• The road less travelled (recruitment, training and education)
• Protecting goals (choice of agricultural tenancy)
• The American way (US property taxes payable upon death)
• Back to basics #1 (lasting powers of attorney)
• Age old issue (care homes and funding)
• Data safety dance (mangement and protection of data)
• Access all areas (digitisation process of GRO records)
• Looking back (former Chair of Wills and Equity Committee)
• Seven essential virtues (avenues to success)
• Paying one's dues (financial adviser's duty of care)
• Books (recent releases from Law Society Publishing)
• FAQs (provided by Law Society's Practice Advice Service)

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Issue 71 - September 2007

This issue contains the following subjects:

• Cover page
• Contents and welcome
• All change (comment from the chair)
• Bulletin (news and latest updates from the Section)
• Read the small print (professional indemnity insurers)
• Clear and present danger (anti-money laundering)
• The clock is ticking (trusts)
• Avoiding conflicts (duties of confidentiality and disclosure)
• Because you're worth it (profitable non-contentious work)
• The American Way (US property in wills)
• Heritage protection (revealing tax breaks)
• Making a drama out of a case (interview - law on TV)
• Fair treatment for all (financial services companies and consumers)
• Picking up the pieces (HIPs)
• Stars of the show (genealogy searches and wills)
• I spy with my little eye (IT, monitoring employees)
• Books (Law Society Publishing reviews)
• Probate FAQs (SRA and Code of Conduct)

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Issue 70 - August 2007

This issue contains the following subjects:

• Contents and Chair's welcome
• Reflections (comments from the Chair)
• Opening doors (changes to the legal profession)
• Cases in Point (probate recent developments)
• Inherent problems (Private International law)
• All Change (LPAs, EPAs, and the Court of Protection)
• Costly code (cost orders and the Code of Conduct)
• Drinks reception and gala dinner (photo spread)
• Taxing wills (Inheritance Tax Act, trusts and wills)
• Profit eater from the Black Lagoon (improving financial performace)
• At your discretion (discretionary orders)
• A curious creature (Court of Protection)
• Life after death (dealing with bereaved clients)
• Brave new world (IT)
• Getting to grips (changes in individual captial tax planning)
• Tour de force (conference review and new members)

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Issue 69 - July 2007

This issue contains the following subjects:

• Contents and welcome
• From the Committee and Bulletin (news and latest updates from the Section)
• Avoiding conflicts (conflicts of interest rules)
• Pensions pinching: understanding the fundamentals (pensions, IHT, crystallisations and options)
• Shambolic back down (HIPs)
• Italian law of succession (Italian inheritances and wills)
• A matter of trust (issues for cohabiting couples)
• Business continuity - are you at risk? (post-disaster business continuity)
• Snakes and ladders (IHT threshold impact on average households)
• Wasted writings (how to lose legalese)
• Getting down to the nitty gritty (probate recruitment crisis)
• Probate FAQs and About the Probate Section

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Issue 68 - June 2007

This issue contains the following subjects:

• Contents
• Bulletin (From the Chair, News and latest updates from the Section)
• Comment: Back to the trenches (looking back at the Executive Committee)
• Budget 2007 - how the changes affect you
• For the benefit of the children (IHT and taxation of trusts upon death of a child)
• A question of trust (trusteeship and conflict of interest)
• The Who, the where and the how (applied genealogy in estate administration)
• French law adapts to social revolution (changes to law of succession and inheritance)
• The Arnander case and the HMRC attack onthe two-year rule
• Technology trio (Law 2007 exhibition and conference)
• Probate surgery (valuation pitfalls, about the Section)

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Issue 67 - May 2007

This issue contains the following subjects:

• Contents
• Bulletin: From the Chair, News and Updates
• Comment: The green alternative (online training)
• Survival of the fittest (consumer-focused reforms)
• Putting your trust in the courts (financial settlements on divorce)
• Tricks of the trade (genealogists in estate administration)
• On being a farmer (Agricultural Holdings Act 1986)
• Keeping land in the family: the French solution (French Civil Code)
• Code of conduct (Solicitors' Code of Conduct)
• Outsourcing - traps for the unwary (outsourcing IT facilities)
• Coping with grief (dealing with clients)
• Probate FAQs (French estate administration)

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Issue 66 - April 2007

This issue contains the following subjects:

• Welcome
• Bulletin (From the chair, Breathing new life into probate, Mental Capacity Act guidance, Library online, Unclaimed asset scheme)
• The challenge ahead (comment)
• Brits abroad: dealing with intestacy in Spain
• Probate recruitment - a perennial problem
• IHT update - what you need to know
• Buried treasure (records preservation)
• Where there's a will, there may not always be a way (EU directive on money laundering)
• Rural land and property: the sting in the tale (Shoot Project Team tour)
• IT solutions on show (2007 Legal IT Show)
• Probate FAQs (rural land problems)

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Issue 65 - March 2007

This issue contains the following subjects:

• Bulletin
• Comment (Times they are a-changing)
• Protecting personal injury awards (trusts)
• Brits abroad: reigning in Spain (probate abroad)
• Viva Espana! (practising law abroad)
• The new IHT regime: what you need to know
• High noon down on the farm? (Antrobus 2)
• Still overcoming Gift with Reservation of Benefit
• A killer's legacy (forfeiture)
• Making things easier? (IT)
• A job for the experts (valuing)
• Probate FAQs

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Issue 64 - February 2007

This issue contains the following subjects:

• Bulletin
• Comment (Behind the scenes)
• The Mental Capacity Act 2005 - a basic guide
• Assessing mental capacity: a legal perspective (Mental Capacity Act)
• Determining capacity: curiouser and curiouser (Mental Capacity Act)
• Acting in a client's best interests (Mental Capacity Act)
• The new framework for statutory wills (Mental Capacity Act)
• Enduring Powers of Attorney - how they will work (Mental Capacity Act)
• Are the cracks appearing already? (Mental Capacity Act)
• The new fee structure - making it work (OPG and Court of Protection)

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Issue 63 - November 2006

This issue contains the following subjects:

• Bulletin
• Comment
• Inheriting a tax problem abroad (Inheritance tax)
• Equity release - reversion schemes (Elderly clients)
• Litigating probate disputes (Mediation)
• Giving to charities (Legacies)
• The story behind the London Gazette
• Brave new world (Will IT transform probate?)
• Motion slickness (Appeals against probate orders)
• Off and racing (Winter seminars)
• A guide to taking up supplier references (Probate software)
• Book review (Health and Social Care Handbook)
• Probate FAQs (Trainee solicitors)

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Issue 62 - October 2006

This issue contains the following subjects:

• Bulletin
• Comment
• Under the influence (Undue influence)
• Where there's a will (Foreign probate)
• Benefits - attending to the detail (Elderly clients)
• The age trap (Discrimination)
• Probate - the next generation (Avoiding claims)
• Gone - but not forgotten (Personal debt)
• Equity release - a high risk strategy
• Confrontation - a last resort (Summonses)
• Tidal wave (Winter seminars)
• Probate surgery (FAQs)

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Issue 61 - October 2006

This issue contains the following subjects:

• Contents and welcome
• Bulletin
• Enduring Powers of Attorney (comment)
• Sun, sea, sand... and taxes (inheritance)
• Mental Capacity Code brings statute into focus (private client)
• Celebrating L'Entente Cordiale (French/English/Welsh systems)
• Probate - the next generation (due execution)
• Benefits - are your clients getting enough? (rent and council tax)
• The pre-nuptial agreement - an essential for the very rich (Miller v Miller)
• Keeping in step with Europe (CPR update)
• An artist's response to justified criticism (probate)
• Fruitful harvest (winter seminars)
• Probate FAQs

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Issue 60 - September 2006

This issue contains the following subjects:

• Contents and welcome
• Bulletin
• A tarnished image (comment)
• Passionate about preserving the best... (change)
• Litigation in the court of protection
• Wills, probate and sucession update
• Planning for cross border estates (EU)
• Pension simplification (regulations)
• Getting to grips with civil partnerships (2004 Act)
• Winter solace (winter seminars)
• Probate: the next generation (litigation)
• Why diamonds are still a girl's best friend (Miller v Miller)
• Getting the benefit (pension credit)
• Just how limited is your liability? (LLPs)
• The taxman cometh (CGT)
• Banking on the probate professional (IT)
• Probate surgery (FAQs)

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Issue 59 - July 2006

This issue contains the following subjects:

• Comment from the Chair
• News - Law Society consultation
• Legislation - Mentally sound
• Technical - The final chapter
• Technical - Changing rules
• Pensions on death: the new regime
• Resources - A foot in the past
• Finance - Changing trusts
• Advice - Probate doctor
• IT - What's hot and what's not
• Books - Speaking the same language

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Issue 58 - June 2006

This issue contains the following subjects:

• From the chair
• Getting the benefit (improving state benefit)
• Post death distributions from a discretionary will trust
• Reasonable provisions (Inheritance Act)
• Get it right (case management)
• Let it out (buy to let property market)
• New IHT threshold
• Excel-ing at probate (IT)

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Issue 57 - May 2006

This issue contains the following subjects:

• Comment from the chair
• Education, education, education? Qualification, qualification, qualification! (Private client solicitor education)
• Who's who (Identity fraud)
• Themes on a variation (Variations after death)
• All change (New pension regime)
• Errors and ommissions accepted (Probate applications)
• Looking after the pennies (Budget 2006)
• Legal IT 2006 (IT exhibition review)
• 3,00th member welcomed
• Books (Book review)

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Issue 56 - April 2006

This issue contains the following subjects:

• From the chair (Costs: thinking outside the box)
• The easy afterlife (post-death variations)
• How serious is the pensions crisis? (Pensions)
• Trustees: Know your risks
• Keeping on track (Tracker funds)
• England's bi-centennial man (Wills)
• Consultation: Have your say
• Selecting your system (IT)
• Books

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Issue 55 - March 2006

This issue contains the following subjects:

• From the chair
• Let there be love (Civil partnerships)
• Theory of relativity (Digitised probate)
• Maintaining the balance (Modern portfolio theory)
• Love is the law (Civil partnerships)
• IT for strategic alliances (IT)
• Using Land Registry effectively
• Back tracking on pensions
• Consultation - Have your say
• Away from the desk - Keith Plowman

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Issue 54 - February 2006

This issue contains the following subjects:

• Comment from the chair
• Trustees: Know your risks (Modern portfolio theory)
• The write side of the law (Forensic handwriting analysis)
• Effective business development
• Do your duty (Duties of trustees)
• The crying game (Helping emotional clients)
• Looking ahead in 2006 (IT)
• Drop the debt (Debt management)
• Away from the desk (Elizabeth McManus)

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Issue 53 - December 2005

This issue contains the following subjects:

• Comment from the Chair
• Winter seminars
• Skills like yours change lives (will aid)
• Powers of trustees
• Trustees: know the risks
• Final limitations (limitations)
• Limited liability partnerships
• Are you part of the new culture club?
• Unusual share choices (finance)
• Probate for profit (IT)
• Away from the desk (Emma Gaudern)

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Issue 52 - November 2005

This issue contains the following subjects:

• Comment from the Vice Chair
• Winter seminars
• Comment - the times are changing
• Stamp Duty Land Tax: crossing the threshold
• Minor limitations (limited grants)
• Release notes (equity release)
• Facing the future (motivation)
• Ready-made wills (wills)
• House rules (pensions)
• The digital age (IT)
• Books

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Issue 51 - October 2005

This issue contains the following subjects:

• Comment from the Vice Chair
• Dead money (unclaimed assets)
• The simple life (trust administration)
• Further limitations (limited grants)
• A gift worth giving (charity)
• It's a wrap (finance)
• Trusting your software (IT)
• Into the eye of the storm (Tsunami)
• Mind your P(lant)s and Kews (column)
• Away from the desk (Patricia Wass)

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Issue 50 - September 2005

This issue contains the following subjects:

• Comment from the Vice Chair
• All bells and whistles (forum)
• Magic and mystique (offshore trusts)
• A place in the sun (property)
• Mind maze (Mental Capacity Act)
• Even more limitations (grants)
• Five universal truths (client care)
• No pain, no gain (finance)
• Probate technology (IT)
• "A place quite northward it seems" (comment)

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Issue 49 - July 2005

This issue contains the following subjects:

• Comment from the Chair
• Comment from Chancery Lane
• Hanging them out to dry (money laundering)
• Neither a borrower nor a lender be (Sharia law)
• All in the past (genealogy)
• Not such a minor issue (grants)
• Politics and practicalities (personal finance)
• Market forces (IT)
• When you come to the end of a perfect day... (comment)
• Away from the desk (Stephen Arthur)

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Issue 48 - June 2005

This issue contains the following subjects:

• Comment from the Chair
• Understanding Islamic finance
• Orders to the Bar (litigation)
• Counting the costs (client care)
• It's Queen Camilla - as the law stands
• Take a break (insurance)
• Let the ASP take the strain (IT)
• Bone of contention (proprietary estoppel and negligence)
• Probate Section annual conference
• Away from the desk (Adrian O'Loughlin)

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Issue 47 - May 2005

This issue contains the following subjects:

• Comment from the Chair
• Probate Section Annual Conference 2005
• The deceased tax evader (tax)
• Further limitations (grants)
• Centenarian celebration (telegrams)
• On your doorstep (crime and the elderly)
• It’s will writing, Jim, but not as we know it (IT)
• What a difference A-day makes (finance)
• Bone of contention (wills)
• Away from the desk

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Issue 46 - April 2005

This issue contains the following subjects:

• Comment from the Chair
• Comment from Chancery Lane
• Probate and Shari'a law
• Gone but not forgotten (tax evaders in death)
• Know your limitations (grants)
• We can work it out (inheritance tax)
• A matter of trust (child trust funds)
• 2005 Legal IT Review
• Books
• Away from the desk

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Issue 45 - March 2005

This issue contains the following subjects:

• Comment from the Chair
• The Clementi review
• Leave to swear death (tsunami)
• EU nearer to abolishing domicile? (inheritance)
• It's a living thing (living wills)
• Release the pressue (equity release schemes)
• Sensible investment (personal investments)
• I was there (lifestyle)
• Vacancies

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Issue 44 - February 2005

This issue contains the following subjects:

• Comment from the Chair
• All in the mind (mental capacity)
• Overcoming gift with reservation of benefit (tax)
• To put it another way...
• Fees or commission? (buying financial products)
• Efficiency is the key (probate IT strategies)
• Does anything rhyme with Bruges? (Bruges)
• News and views
• Postscript

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Issue 43 - January 2005

This issue contains the following subjects:

• Comment from the chair
• Comment from Chancery Lane
• Online evolution (new Probate Section website)
• Financial services (regulation of mortgages and insurance)
• Insuring against inheritance tax liability
• New Year's resolution (financial management)
• All wills are equal...
• Taking the plunge (IT)
• News and views
• Away from the desk: Nicola Zoumidou

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Issue 42 - November 2004

This issue contains the following subjects:

• Comment from the chair
• News and views
• Section 54/55 implementation: the real story!
• A cautionary tale (trusts in France)
• Shopping around (charity shops)
• I thought you had it (lost wills)
• The probate practitioner and financial products
• Permanently capacitated? (Mental Capacity Bill)
• Winter seminars

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Issue 41 - October 2004

This issue contains the following subjects:

• Comment from the chair