We're delighted that our Legal Services Director, Charlotte Toogood, recently joined the latest episode of the Today's Wills and Probate podcast, "Shared experience; insight and best practice in estate administration", as a special guest. Charlotte has over 16 years of experience working within estate administration and is a qualified solicitor and STEP qualified practitioner. Her role at Kings Court Trust involves using her specialised knowledge on both simple and complex cases, to provide technical support and skills training to our Case Managers and their teams. Throughout the episode, Charlotte imparts her experience on a wide variety of subjects, and reflects on how both client's and practitioner's needs have changed over the years.

Kings Court Trust is celebrating its 20th anniversary since being founded in 2002. Over 20 years on, we are proud to be the UK's leading specialist estate administration provider and work in partnership with hundreds of Will Writers, Financial Advisers, Estate Planners, and Funeral Directors to provide our award-winning probate and estate administration services to their clients.

It’s no secret that mistakes, misconceptions and unfortunate circumstances occur when people make (or fail to make) arrangements for their estate. However, these errors become amplified when they are made by famous people. As human beings, we are curious by nature and our curiosity often piques when we get a glimpse into the lives of individuals with assets most of us can only dream of and the public battles that may ensue among the deceased’s heirs. Regardless of value and status, there are notable lessons that celebrity deaths have taught us about planning our legacy. Let’s take a look at four celebrities that have passed away, leaving behind lessons we can all learn from.

It’s now official – heterosexual couples in England and Wales can formalise their relationship with a civil partnership rather than marriage. Civil partnerships were first introduced through the Civil Partnerships Act 2004 and was only available to same-sex couples . As of the 31st of December 2019, mixed-sex couples have been able to form this union. The amendment to the Act was made as a result of a Supreme Court ruling which confirmed that the Civil Partnerships Act 2004 was incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights.

It’s a new year and a new decade – Welcome to 2020! This time of year can trigger many feelings – optimism, reflection, uncertainty or all of the above. As we think back to some of the hot topics we followed throughout the year, we realise many are still relevant as we step into the new year.

In May 2019, Kings Court Trust travelled the length of the country to provide educational seminars to over 100 of our business partners. The seminars took place in Preston, Durham, Warwick, Maidstone and finished with a session in Bristol, where Kings Court Trust are based. The agenda for each seminar included breakfast, lunch, networking and presentations from industry experts.

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.