Events Diary

An opportunity to sit the Intitutes entrance examination either at 9.30am or at 1.30am.

The cost of the examination is £100, however Student Members of the Institute can sit the examination free of charge once in their membership year.

Please call the Institute on 0345 257 2570

The 21st Annual General Meeting of the Institute of Professional Willwriters will take place on Thursday 29th March 2012 at 9.30am at the University of Warwick Arts Centre in Coventry. Following on from the AGM the remainder of the day will packed with a variety of speakers – and those valuable CPD points.

Clive Oram, Business Consultant – Dealing with clients who have a business

Probably one of the most requested areas of training from members is in the subject of clients with businesses. Business consultant Clive Oram will take delegates through the issues including:

1)      Types of business structure

2)      How the different types of business structure are treated on death

3)      Tax issues for different businesses

4)      How you can find out how a particular business is treated on death

5)      Succession planning in the Will – putting the finances and the people in place

6)      Other issues for succession planning – key man insurance etc

Toby Harris, Chartered Tax Adviser, The New STEP Provisions

After 20 years, the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners has revised its Standard Provisions of Trustee Powers with a new edition which comes in two basic versions. Toby Harris, wrote the guidance notes for the new provisions and he will be talking delegates through what has changed in the new provisions and why.

Mike Smith, Ripley Specialist Training – Handling complaints effectively

Although the Institute receives a negligible number of complaints each year, it is a reality that many of those few complaints need never have arrived at the Institute – whether the complaint was justified or not. Dealing with complaints effectively is essential to prevent a complaint escalating to the point where it costs money. And with the possibility that the Legal Ombudsman may become involved in handling complaints about unregulated Will writers, now is the time to start planning to ensure that you won’t be funding the Ombudsman’s business with complaints about you.

Understand the importance of having simple and effective procedures to capture complaints but also capture suggestions and requests for service made by your clients. Raise confidence in being able to use Active Listening, Problems Solving and Conflict Resolution Skills and Techniques. Be able to recognise the importance of Performance Targets when it comes to Complaints and encourage a culture where complaints are seen as an opportunity to improve service. Recognise the importance of service standards and how they are related to client expectations. Be able to review existing complaint systems and to make recommendations to ensure you have systems in place that can identify problems. These systems will help to inform changes in the business to further improve the experience of your clients

Julian Webb, University of Warwick,– The Legal Education and Training Review (LETR)

LETR  is a joint project of the Solicitors Regulation Authority, the Bar Standards Board and the Institute of Legal Executives Professional Standards. It constitutes a fundamental, evidence-based review of education and training requirements across regulated and non-regulated legal services in England and Wales. LETR is required to ensure that the future system of legal education and training will be effective and efficient in preparing legal service providers to meet the needs of consumers.  Final recommendations will be made in December 2012. Julian is working on research for the review and will be explaining how this review might impact on the Willwriting sector – but more importantly, he is keen to hear from members about the issues with training in the sector and how these might be addressed.

Attendance qualifies for 4.75 hours CPD.

Costs for attending the seminars are:

£115 for Members

£140 for Non Members

To reserve your place, please telephone 0345 257 2570 with your credit or debit card details and advise of any dietary arrangements.