A giant contribution to private client

A Practitioner’s Guide to Wills (5th edition)

 

Lesley King, Keith Biggs and Peter Gausden (consultant editor Meryl Thomas)

 

£95, Wildy, Simmonds and Hill Publishing

 

★★★★✩

I was very excited to be asked to review this book and have enjoyed courses featuring the authors, who are respected giants of the private client world. 

As a specialist private client solicitor in a busy firm, a full member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners and the chair of the local STEP group, I regularly deal with a wide range of private client matters, sometimes from all corners of the world.  

Like many others, I rely on my own precedents accumulated through my professional lifetime and sources which have proven themselves. However, I gave this book a ‘real world’ test, making the book and precedents my first port of call over a significant period of time.

The precedents are included in a DVD provided with the book. They are easy to upload to your computer. I have never been a ‘slave to precedent’ and have always taken a bespoke approach. I am used to seeing and using a range of drafting styles but I have personally come to favour a straightforward drafting style using everyday English. I therefore found the precedents a little old-fashioned with a healthy scattering of redundant flourishes, such as ‘hereby’, ‘hereinafter’, ‘the said’, any of which could likely have been removed without affecting the clarity of the precedent. However some colleagues enjoy using these flourishes, believing they add a certain panache to their drafting.  

The book is written in an accessible style. It is clear, concise and accurate, covering a wide range of topics. These include the latest interpretation of the forced heirship rules in France, virtual attestation of wills, gravestones, pets, local clubs or societies,  settlements, powers in trusts, and potentially exempt transfers and chargeable lifetime transfers. Highly recommended.

 

Mark Hutchinson-Lyons is private client partner at Oglethorpe Sturton & Gillibrand, Lancaster

 

Dictionary of Private Children Law (2023 edition)

 

Zoe Saunders, Piers Pressdee KC, Professor Rob George

 

£70, Class Legal

 

In his foreword, Lord Justice Baker notes that family lawyers ‘know life practically’ and ‘practical people need reliable tools and the Dictionary of Private Children Law is an invaluable addition to the toolbox’. I share that view.

 

The authors are to be congratulated for their approach to this complex area of law. It is simply not possible for there to be a dictionary in the true sense of the word for private children law. But the authors use the alphabetical approach to provide all the critical information without overloading the reader. The breadth of topics is substantive, making it a great initial go-to book.

A Practitioner's Guide to Wills (5th edition)

 

A good example of a complex area being addressed so clearly is abduction outside of the UK. While this complex area cannot be condensed to just two pages, it provides the reader with key legal and practical points, enabling the reader to further investigate.

 

It is also helpful, particularly for junior lawyers, that fundamental issues which can often be overlooked are clearly identified and explained. For example, when the court can and cannot make interim orders, and the use and consequences of undertakings.

 

In summary, the book is an essential addition to any family lawyer’s library, regardless of level of experience, though it will be particularly useful for the more junior solicitor.

 

Katie Welton-Dillon is a partner and head of the children law department at Hall Brown Family Law

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