Finders, the international probate genealogy firm, today said that alternative business structures (ABS’s), as consumer facing businesses, are ideally suited to the provision of wills and probate services.
Under the Legal Services Act, new business models are being opened up in the provision of legal services, intended to ensure consumers can access services of even better value and quality. There are particular opportunities in wills and probate as this is one of the principle areas where lay consumers come into contact with the law.
Professional probate genealogists will continue to have a key role to play in the new business structures, providing important services which underpin the work of solicitors. They specialise in identifying and tracing heirs, locate people who may be beneficiaries under a will or the intestacy rules, and as well as solicitors, are frequently instructed by executors or administrators and trustees, or may act directly for the beneficiaries. Professional probate genealogists can offer specialist expertise to enable ABS’s to offer a comprehensive, streamlined wills and probate service for consumers, encompassing core services such as missing heir location, tracing next of kin, missing wills services, missing document services and estate distribution.
Commenting, Daniel Curran, Managing Director of Finders, said:
“Wills and probate represents an early area where ABS’s can bring wills and probate services ‘to the high street’. By working with professional probate genealogists, solicitors can potentially avoid incurring unnecessary costs and diminish the risk of claims from overlooked beneficiaries.
“With the move towards outcomes focused regulation instilled by the Legal Services Act, this will also allow for continued flexibility over charging, on the basis that it is right for the practitioner to look at a variety of fee options and to select the arrangement which is most appropriate for the circumstances.
“Building close co-operation between ABS’s and professional probate genealogists in wills and probate service provision will also bring benefit to consumers by opening up competition and widening consumer choice, in keeping with the spirit of fairness, flexibility and professionalism set out by the Legal Services Act”.
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1. To find out more about Finders please visit the Finders website at www.findersuk.com
2. Please direct any queries to Samina Ansari on 020 7067 0325 or sansari@webershandwick.com
