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Month: November 2024

Blaser Mills wins ESG initiative award

Posted on by dominika.piechota@blasermills.co.uk

The words “law firm” and “happiness” may not often be found in the same sentence, but at Blaser Mills we are working hard to change that.

On Friday 15 November, law firms from across the country gathered in Birmingham for a prestigious awards ceremony to celebrate excellence and achievement in the legal industry.

The event was hosted by LawNet, a not-for-profit nationwide network of over 70 member law firms, all of whom are committed to rigorous quality standards and best practice.

With only ten awards available across different categories, we were absolutely delighted to win the ESG Initiative Award.

ESG – Environmental, Social, Governance, is also known by other terms such as “Responsible Business” and “CSR” – Corporate Social Responsibility. In essence, this covers the ways in which businesses go above and beyond to benefit their people, their communities, and the environment.

The LawNet judges were particularly impressed by our creation of a dedicated role of Responsible Business Partner – Tracy Jones; putting the firm’s impact on our employees, wider community and society at the very top of our priorities.

The judges praised the active staff-led groups within at Blaser Mills, including our Inclusion Forum, Wellbeing at Work Group, Community Group, and Environment Group. They saw that we are taking care to nurture long term relationships with local community organisations, working with education centres, food banks, nature charities, hospices and children’s charities to name but a few. We actively encourages colleagues to volunteer with these groups, giving them dedicated “volunteer leave” for this purpose.

The judges were particularly impressed by our anonymous weekly “happiness survey”, a central tool in the firm’s wellness drive. Every member of staff is sent a short survey each week, asking how their working week has been. The results produce data which can spot where support may be required and encourages teams to problem solve and work together.

“The weekly happiness surveys have had an enormous impact on the culture at Blaser Mills”, explains Tracy. “Law can be a full-on area to work in, with people often not wanting to admit to feeling under-pressure, stressed or overwhelmed.”

Tracy explains that when her colleagues started to feel comfortable with the weekly surveys and the discussions that followed them, people were more open in saying that they might need a bit of extra help. Tracy saw that colleagues began to share ideas more freely, thank each other and congratulate successes. And, over a relatively short period of time, data was available to support what she was sensing – that people were becoming happier at work. “Happy people enjoy their work and do their best work – which means happy clients too! Of course, happiness ebbs and flows. But we now have a firmly established culture where our colleagues can express themselves, knowing that they will be supported.”

Tracy confesses that to her, this feels “like gold, like winning the lottery”. She says, “Having spent all of my working life in law, I know that stress and burnout are significant issues for the legal industry, so to be a part of positive change, still makes me smile every day”.

For more information please visit Responsible business | Blaser Mills Law, or contact Tracy Jones on 07939 203502 (telephone or WhatsApp anytime) or email tracy.jones@blasermills.co.uk.

Challenging a Will – Process and Grounds

Posted on by Britt Thompson

If you are considering challenging the validity of a Will, after registering a caveat, if appropriate (See Challenging a Will – Caveats – Blaser Mills Law), the next thing to do is to obtain a copy of the Will and assess whether or not you have a ground for challenging the same.

Do you have a copy of the Will?

It is not uncommon for executors or their representatives to withhold a copy of a Will. There is no obligation to provide a copy of a Will to beneficiaries before making an application for probate.

There is a formal request which can be made to obtain a copy of the Will and the Will file which is called a Larke v Nugus request and derives from a case of the same name.

The request asks for a copy of the Will file, if available, which should (but often does not) contain all of the contemporaneous attendance notes. While a solicitor is not legally obligated to respond to a Larke v Nugus request, the courts expect compliance in order to facilitate the resolution of will disputes and prevent costly litigation.

Challenging the Will

Once you have a copy of the Will and possibly the solicitor’s Will file, you can make an assessment and decide whether you have a strong case for challenging the same. You can challenge a Will on the following grounds:

  1. Lack of proper execution, i.e., the Will was not signed or the Will was not witnessed by two people or at all, not dated etc.
  2. Lack of testamentary capacity – the person making the Will did not fully appreciate the effect of what they were signing as they lacked mental capacity, usually due to a disease of the mind.
  3. Undue Influence –while suggesting someone make a decision in relation to their Will is not inherently unlawful, undue influence crosses the line into coercion and exerting power on the other person to the point that it forcefully impacts their decision making.
  4. Fraudulent Calumny – this is an archaic way of simply describing fraud in relation to a Will. Usually, two or more persons have conspired to make a false Will on behalf of the Deceased.
  5. Lack of knowledge or approval – where the person making the Will has mental capacity to make the Will but is not aware of the full effect of the content.

Of the above grounds point one is usually fairly easy to establish as it is a simple case of reviewing the Will to ensure everything is in order.

The second ground is more difficult to prove and may involve writing to the deceased’s GP to request their medical records. This can help build a better picture of the deceased’s capacity, particularly towards the end of their life. It will then be for the person challenging the Will to highlight any areas of concern in respect of capacity.

The third, fourth and fifth grounds are notoriously difficult to prove and often hinge on the evidence to hand or ultimately the decision of a judge at trial. The person making the allegation may not have much direct evidence, forcing them to rely on witnesses which can be fraught with difficulty.

How can Blaser Mills’s Private Wealth Disputes Team help?

At Blaser Mills we understand the stress caused by lack of information or suspicious circumstances surrounding a Will and are here to help. If you would like to discuss instructing us to act for you, please call the team on 01494 788998 or get in touch by email at litigation@blasermills.co.uk.