The House of Commons Justice Committee have made enquiries into the probate registry’s performance and services due to the ongoing concerns and delays.

Laytons ETL, the City of London-based international commercial law firm, has promoted Alexandra Bartrope to the position of head of private client. She takes over from Ian Burman, who established the team in 1989 and remains with the firm but has stepped back from management to focus on building his private client and charity practice.

While surrogacy law can be criticised for not being fit for purpose, there is at least a solution in place that is cumbersome.  When it comes to the impact of death of one of the parties, while already a traumatic event, a barefaced lacuna in the law causes the problems to go from bad to worse.

We are very pleased to announce that the latest, 2020 edition of Legal 500 has recognised Laytons LLP for a range of expertise across London, Manchester and Guildford.

We understand that dealing with your family affairs requires more than just sound advice and technical excellence. We invest the time to get to know our clients’ circumstances, needs and preferences to deliver commercially informed and practical results for you.

The Inheritance (Provision for Families and Dependants) Act 1975 (“the Inheritance Act”) enables some limited exceptions to the principle of testamentary freedom and provides an option for redress for those dissatisfied with the dispositions made to them in a will.

It is surprising to note that despite society’s increased reliance upon and use of the internet, the law too seems to be lagging behind when it comes to making provisions for the transfer of digital assets upon death.

A key benefit of a family charter is that it can create processes to record agreements on issues specific to the family that simply could not be dealt with in the company’s articles of association or shareholders’ agreement.