The Estate Planner’s Podcast

This episode looks at what happens when there is not enough money in the estate to pay out the gifts in the Will.  Understanding this can help us structure the Will in such a way that the client's wishes are achieved.

Probably our most imporant skill that we employ with clients is the skill of communication. One element of that skill is the acknowledgment of a client's answer to a question. This episode looks at some of the mistakes that can be made with acknowledgements. 

What is the extent of our duty of care? Is that duty only to the client - the testator of the will - or does it extend to the beneficiaries of the Will that we write? We take a look at two relevant cases in this episode to answer the question.

This episode is a little different to most others. It follows the progress of a journey towards retirement for one Estate Planner, and the problems and solutions that were encountered along the way. Sadly, the lady in question was diagnosed with a terminal condition during the process and passed away quite suddenly. I hope the lessons learned from her story can help you as your own story is written.

In this episode, we take a look at the function of proactively reaching out to clients to review their circumstances. We examine a few tips on how to do this successfully and we see what impact client reviews can have on the ultimate value of the business.

This episode looks at this unusual case which is a rare instance of a claim being brought on the grounds of a lack of knowledge and approval of the contents of the will, without any overlapping claims of lack of capacity or undue influence.  

This episode looks at how the value of a business or an individual's job position can be increased by implementing policies. 

In this episode, we will explore an idea that might be able to help us increase the value of our client's estates. This would be value in terms of both financial worth and the sentimental value to the future family.

This episode takes a look at five clauses that can be used to tailor LPAs, including: replacement attorney timing and ordering, maintenance clause, gift barring and access to the will.

This episode looks at the all-too-common response from clients that say "I'll do it myself online", when discussing LPAs. Why should clients choose to use a professional to help them create and register their LPAs? 

This episode looks at what our duty of care is to our clients when they request simple changes to their wills in the future. How much should we be doing to explore their present time circumstances fully as opposed to making the requested changes quickly and cheaply?

The central issue in this case from September 2025 is the witnessing of the will during the early days of the Covid Pandemic. We will take a close look at the judgement and see what we can learn for our own clients when there are unusual circumstances that present themselves at that critical event.

This is not a straightforward answer, but the episode looks at the different options that clients have available to them when there is a Property Protection Trust in the will, and the first testator dies. 

In this episode, we take a look at Section 33 of the Wills Act 1837, to answer the classic estate planning question: what happens if the child of a testator, who is also a beneficiary in the will, dies before the testator leaving children of their own?

This episode looks at rectification and construction, their differences and applications, along with some real world examples of each.

This case from July 2025 focuses on the forgery of a will that was "found" a couple of months after the deceased passed away. The supposed will disinherited the deceased's only daughter in favour of a man the family barely knew. 

Shotguns and Firearms. Can a firearm be left as a gift in a will? If so, what considerations should be given to the gift and can we help our clients to avoid creating any unnecessary problems with this potentially serious gift?

The Law Commission proposes reforms to the 1837 Wills Act. Needless to say, this would mean major changes to the profession. This brief episode looks over the headline proposals and what these changes might mean for practitioners.

Have you ever been given an instruction from a client that just didn't work from a legal perspective? This episode looks at how to help the client fit that square peg instruction in to the round hole of thier will.

In this episode we take a look at how and what we exchange with our clients, and think about some of the ways that we can increase that level of exchange to create more impact.

This recent case involves a very poorly drafted and ambiguous will. We take a look at the clauses that caused the problems and review the court's analisis so that we can avoid similar situations that we might face when drafting our client's wills.

In this episode, we take a look at the ademption of gifts in a will. What types of gift can adeem and how to avoid giving your client the wrong advice about the legacies they would like to leave.

The central point of this case was whether the intention of the settlor in creating a trust had been one thing or another. Or, if there had been two purposes, does it make a difference whether one is more significant than the other. 

Survivorship clauses are commonly applied to wills made by couples so that if they die together or within a short period of time, the estate of the first to pass does not go to the survivor but goes to the substitute beneficiaries directly. This episode looks at the occasions when this is beneficial and when it is not.

This case is a rare example of the courts having to potentially apply the Commorientes rule for a situation in which there is uncertainty about which of two people passed away first. 

I share a personal story to start off this episode, as it helped me to bring some clarity to my own functions and activities as an estate planner. We then look at how the same principle applies with clarifying your client's purposes.

In this episode, we take a look at one form of promotional activity for estate planners - networking - to explore the effective methods of generating new leads, and some key errors to avoid. 

In this episode, we take a look at some of the different hats that we wear as estate planners and the occasions when mixing up the hats can lead to unnecessary problems.

This episode looks at the use of the Hotchpot clause in wills. We take a look at some of the problems with its use and the solutions to fully achieve the testator's wishes. 

This is an extended episode, covering the September 2024 case of Oliver v Oliver. The case involves elements of Section 9 of the Wills Act, Testamentary Capacity and Undue Influence. 

This is the third and final episode on the Competition and Markets Authority guidance for unregulated legal services. This episode covers the topics of Reasonable Care and Skill and Sales Practices.

This episode continues the review of the Competition and Markets Authority guidance for unregulated legal services, and specifically looks over their provisions covering the fairness of contract terms.

The Competition and Markets Authority have released their guidance on consumer protection law for unregulated legal services. This episode looks at part of that guidance as it relates to providing accurate information to consumers.

A person cannot deliberately deprive themselves of assets for the purpose of avoiding paying for their care and support charges. In this episode we take a look at the historic development of this principle and its application today.

This topic is perhaps one of the most controversial for estate planners, and there are a wide variety of opinions about their use in the profession. This episode looks at some of their uses, their mis-uses and the ways that we might improve our communication of them to our clients.

Scams, cons and fraud victims are far more prevalent than most people realise. In this episode we take a look at some examples and see how estate planning can help to prevent vulnerable people from the distress and financial losses that result.

This is a case often referred to on the subject of deliberate deprivation of assets. It is worth understanding to appreciate the rationale of the courts when coming to the decision that they made in favour of the Local Authority.

Yes, that is a bold claim! This episode contains the key to understanding this and any other subject, and shows how you can improve your professional competence and certainty in your knowledge.

An element of our role as estate planners is to educate our clients on the various products and services we offer that can help to solve thier problems. We will sometimes run into a difficulty in that education that is difficult to detect and handle - false data. This episode looks at how we can identify and then handle our client's false data.

I was recently invited on to the Today's Wills and Probate podcast to talk about regulation and the Competition and Markets Authority consultation. This episode is a reproduction of that interview in full.

Land and property ownership in the UK will be either held under a Freehold or a Leasehold tenure. What exactly does this mean, and what effect does this have on estate planning? This episode answers these two questions and uncovers one common error that unwary estate planners can fall foul of.

Perhaps the most difficult of appointments are those with a person at the very end of their life. In addition to the upsetting nature of the situation, there are the added complexities of establishing testamentary capacity, knowledge and approval of the contents of the will and a lack of any undue influence. This episodes addresses these issues and provides some guidance on several points that can assist practitioners with their task.

In this episode, we take a look at the principle of Proprietary Estoppel and how it affects estate planning. We examine the key cases that have built the framework and the three elements of assurance, reliance and detriment.

Knight v Knight, 1840, is one of the most important cases relating to trust law as it brought the concept of the three certainties of a trust into focus. This episode looks at the circumstances of the case and the court's decision making process.

This case from 1972 addressed one of the three certainties that are necessary for a valid trust - the certainty of objects. The courts looked at the wording used in the trust and in this episode, we take a look at what they considered when coming to their decision.

This episode looks at some of the main differences in instruction-taking and drafting when you have a client that does not have children as compared to a client that does have children. We take up some specific examples of how you can change the conversation to better accommodate these differences. 

As technology becomes increasingly sophisticated, should it be a worry? Consumers are more regularly going online to make their wills using websites that are getting better at interacting with the user. As professional practitioners we will rely more on technology than ever. With these trends, what does the future of our profession look like, and is there anything we should be doing now to distinguish ourselves from that which a machine is able to do?

Continuing the topic of LPAs, this episode looks at the case of The Public Guardian v RI and Others which gives us the criteria for an assessment of capacity specifically in relation to the creation of a Lasting Power of Attorney.

There has been relatively little discussion on the subject of Lasting Powers of Attorney so far in this podcast, so in this episode we take a look at a client situation that illustrates just why they are so important. It serves as an example that you can use to paint the picture for clients that might be reluctant to put them in place.

This unusual case brought under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependents) Act 1975, hit the headlines several times as it made its way through the courts from 2015 to 2017. The central issue of testamentary freedom made the matter of public interest and was ultimately heard in the Supreme Court. This episode looks at the facts of the case and the issues that the courts had to consider.