The Legal Services Board (LSB) has started a final consultation, proposing that Will writing and estate administration, along with extraction of the Grant of Probate, should be added to the list of reserved activities in the legal sector in England and Wales.

The short answer is, yes. Executors are legally responsible for dealing with the deceased’s estate. This typically involves applying for a Grant of Probate, administering the estate and distributing the assets to those persons entitled.

A growing number of older people die in isolation in Wales, with no relatives beside them and no one but the local authorities to make end-of-life arrangements, data seen by Wales Online shows.

The Sun Life Direct ninth annual Total Cost of Dying Report 2012 was released last week. As well as looking at general trends in the cost of dying, this year's survey entitled “Death shouldn’t mean debt; responsibility, choice and selflessness” looked at what motivates people to plan and make decisions for their funeral.

The Legal Services Board (LSB) this month published a discussion paper outlining how it would evaluate the impact of key changes in the legal services market, such as the new business model (issuing of ABS licences), on access to justice. The organisation proposed a set of eight measures to monitor access to justice for individual consumers, making wide use of previous research and approaching areas where it has scarce information, such as the impact of technology on the legal market.

Christine Houghton, Sales and Marketing Director at Kings Court Trust, provides a summary of the ABS licences issued throughout August and shares her thoughts on the situation so far…

In this age of rapidly changing technology and widespread use of the internet, many people gather large collections of digital music and e-books that they would, naturally, wish to leave to their loved ones once they are gone.

The first task following the death of a loved one is usually to register their death. This is because, in England and Wales, you have up to five days to register the death. It is the start of the process and needs to be done before you can begin making any funeral arrangements.

Latest data from the Office of National Statistics show mortality rates for 2011 at the lowest ever recorded. 9000 fewer deaths were registered in 2011 compared to 2010. Despite this decrease, probate lawyers and probate service firms are holding on to their market share.