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DIY Probate On The Rise To Avoid Lawyer Fees

Posted: Friday, 4 January 2019 @ 13:43
Dealing with probate it  is interesting to note that according to the High Court, claims for mishandling a deceased’s estate have more than tripled over the last year.

The data shows there were 368 claims lodged for breach of fiduciary duty in 2013, up from 107 on the previous 12 months.

The claims range from theft of assets by the executor to fraudulent distribution of assets to favour certain beneficiaries of the will above others.

The Law Society Gazette refer to Matthew Evans, a partner in the Cardiff office of Hugh James, who believes that this is due to the rise to the increased use of acquaintances or family members as DIY executors and trustees, rather than instructing solicitors.

Matthew Evans is probably right.

People want to save costs.

Many people are still scared of lawyer's fees and some people are still intimidated by seeing a lawyer.

They try to use family members or sometimes they use unregulated will writers who can charge more than lawyers, which rather defeats the point.

DIY lawyers do not just have problems with say irate beneficiaries instructing lawyers to sue them.

There are other potential threats and this focuses on tax.

Earlier this year it was reported that the HMRC has seen a 23pc rise in the amount raised by challenging estates over inheritance tax. The take from death duty has been climbing steadily in recent years. In the last full tax year, ending April 2013, £3.1bn was collected, up from £2.9bn the year before. But research had shown that an increasing slice of that total derives from challenges made by HMRC over the correct valuation of estates.

It found HMRC raised an extra £108m through these challenges in the in the year to April 2013, up from £88m in the previous tax year.

You can understand individuals wanting to save on lawyer fees; the problem is that many people do not know what they are getting themselves in for.
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