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.

The Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) is an Approved Regulator for conveyancing and a Licensing Authority for probate and estate administration services.

Kings Court Trust has today become an Alternative Business Structure (ABS) licensed by the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC), who will be regulating probate and estate administration activities.

The British Bankers' Association (BBA), who recently took part in the Legal Services Board (LSB) consultation on the possibility of Will writing and estate administration becoming reserved legal activities, said that it is hard to identify which of the regulators would take charge of banks.

The Law Society has supported the introduction of mandatory regulation of Will writing, probate and estate administration activities.

The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) has launched a consultation to become a regulator of probate work and a licensing body for alternative business structures (ABSs), Legal Futures reported in late June, citing ICAEW's draft application.

Reserving probate and estate administration services will cause ripples in the marketplace, but ABSs will make more waves.