There have been some exciting changes at Kings Court Trust in the last month. We welcomed Simon Hancox as our new Chief Executive Officer and David Masterton as Chief Revenue Officer. Additionally, Tom Curran has stepped into the role of Executive Chairman after nine years as CEO.

In our first blog post of 2019, we’re making our predictions on what could happen this year and the topics that we think will dominate the industry headlines. Read on to find out how increased probate fees, Inheritance Tax simplifications and Brexit could be some of the biggest stories in the year ahead.

There was much speculation that 2018’s Budget would include an update on the Inheritance Tax (IHT) review. Last week when the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, presented the annual Budget, there was no mention of IHT. However, the independent Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) has now confirmed that the findings from their Inheritance Tax review will be published before the end of the year.

Many industry governing bodies have been calling for the legal sector to be more transparent about pricing for some time now. In June 2018, the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) announced that it would require the firms they regulate to publish their prices and service standards online. Additionally, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has since advised that legal professionals will soon have to publish their prices for a range of services.

The ‘Changing family structures: The Will writing industry in 2018’ research paper provides new and insightful findings about the Will writing industry in the UK. It builds on the findings from our first Will writing industry report, ‘A changing landscape: The Will writing industry in 2017’. Both papers provide a general overview of the Will writing industry but this year’s report has a specific focus on changing family structures and the implications for Will writing services.

There is a key opportunity in the financial services industry as trillions of pounds are expected to be handed down from the rich to their children in the coming years. Independent financial advisers (IFAs) could more frequently be called upon for financial advice as heirs inherit large sums of money.

Our first blog post about the GDPR looked at what it is, how it impacts your business and shared some actionable steps for you to take. Now, our second article goes into more detail about data including what information the GDPR applies to, how data can be used for Marketing and three of the biggest changes which you need to act upon as soon as possible.

This is the second and final part of our ‘understanding probate and estate administration’ blog series. If you missed part one, you can read it here.

Kings Court Trust has administered close to 10,000 estates and distributed over £2 billion in inheritance. It’s a considerable amount, but there’s a family – your clients – behind every single estate. As we explain below, we work closely with our business partners to help their client's families, which in turn, helps them maintain and grow their business.