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.
With contentious probate on the rise, Charlotte shares her thoughts on what we can do as practitioners, and how we can better advise families to either avoid disputes, or deal with them constructively and to the benefit of all. She addresses the misinformation on estate planning that can be found in the national press and the many differing opinions within the public domain.
Charlotte comments that Kings Court Trust, and other estate administration providers, have a responsibility to educate clients on the complexities and realities of estate administration. That's why, we ensure that the information we provide is accurate and fair. She goes onto suggest that encouraging families to have open and honest conversations in their lifetime, rather than waiting until it's too late, could be a solution for pre-empting possible conflict before it has even occurred. We understand that it is the role of the professionals to ask the right questions and encourage open communication from the outset of the relationship.
The podcast examines disputes; when they do arise, it is often practitioners who bear the brunt of client frustrations and explains how here at Kings Court Trust, we have 'fine-tuned' how we support our staff, whether this be through line management, regular file review meetings or the introduction of mental health first aiders, to ensure that not only are we delivering the best possible service to our clients, but that our staff members are also supported along every step of the way. Charlotte has a big part to play in this by delivering training on managing client expectations and challenges, but also ensuring that our staff have unrivalled technical knowledge, meaning they are fully equipped to deal with even the most complex of cases.
The episode concludes with Charlotte referencing a case study of a particularly challenging matter, involving a client who was dealing with the sudden death of her husband, that sadly occurred just two weeks after she had delivered their baby. Her late husband had adult children from a previous relationship, but as the couple had gotten married roughly a year before his death, the Will he had previously written was revoked. Charlotte explains the scenario, and how, through working collaboratively and as transparently as possible with all parties, Kings Court Trust were able to bring the matter to fruition, by successfully mediating any conflict. This resulted in the estate being finalised with all parties feeling happy and content with how the deceased’s estate was administered, allowing them to move on and find closure.
Want to find out more about working in partnership with Kings Court Trust to offer your clients and their families award-winning probate and estate administration services? Get in touch today by calling 0333 207 5470 or filling in the form below: