The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) jointly initiated a project to modernise the process of making and registering lasting powers of attorney (LPAs) in England and Wales in November 2020. STEP was invited to sit on the Modernising Lasting Powers of Attorney (MLPA) stakeholder working group and has… Read More Modernising Lasting Powers of Attorney
Money Laundering and the efforts of governments to combat it and increase transparency and reporting of ownership globally continue to be a hot topic. One body that has been looking at this area is the European Union, which is in the process of launching its new Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Package 2021. This package was explored… Read More EU announces Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Package 2021
It is National Inclusion Week in the UK (27 September to 3 October). Inclusion Week celebrates everyday inclusion in all its forms. This is the ninth year that organisations from across the globe have come together to celebrate, share and inspire inclusion practices. Every year National Inclusion Week has a theme and in 2021 it… Read More Why inclusive elections lead to better outcomes
The Health and Social Care Levy Bill 2021-22 was introduced on 8 September 2021. [1] It will increase income tax and national insurance contributions (NIC) to raise an additional GBP11.4 billion to reform the funding of long-term health and social care over the next three years. The additional funding, which is being introduced as a… Read More How will the new social care system in England work?
STEP informed members in November 2020[1] that the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) had jointly initiated a project to modernise the process of making and registering lasting powers of attorney (LPAs) in England and Wales. The collaboration involved a series of stakeholder working groups to obtain research that… Read More Modernising LPAs: consultation published
The Edinburgh Tax Network celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Trust Scotland Act 1921 by hosting a web event for stakeholders this week, which STEP attended. The centenary of the Principal Statute on 19 August has prompted the Scottish Law Commission to submit a draft bill for potential reform, the Trusts (Scotland) Bill, to the… Read More Trust Scotland Act 1921 centenary prompts call for reform
UPDATE 13 DECEMBER 2021 On 13 December 2021, during the release of its iOS 15.2 update, Apple officially released its Digital Legacy feature, which lets people choose the specific people (up to five family members or friends) who will be able to access their account after they die. The chosen contacts will then be able… Read More Progress on digital legacy planning from internet service providers
STEP is considering the development and implementation of an online testamentary capacity assessment course and is keen to assess members’ appetite and enthusiasm. With very little guidance or industry training currently available, an online course could be a valuable educational tool for anyone required to interact with capacity assessments. The background to the course In 2017… Read More What are your views on a STEP testamentary capacity assessment course?
The Law Commission of England and Wales has announced a public consultation on its 14th Programme of Law Reform and has published a scoping document providing background on the programme and ideas for potential projects. STEP is hosting a joint webinar with the Law Commission on 19 May to discuss the proposals in further detail.… Read More Invitation to STEP/Law Commission free webinar on its 14th Programme of Law Reform
The UK Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has announced a public consultation on increasing selected court fees in line with historical inflation dating from August 2016 to April 2021, or from the year the fee was last amended (capped at August 2016). The proposal is limited to fees which are under-recovering compared to the estimated cost… Read More MoJ announces consultation on court fee increases
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