Leading legal firm launches nationwide wills dispute service

A LEADING legal firm is maximising its expertise by branching out to offer a specialist wills dispute service nationwide.

Cartmell Shepherd Solicitors, the only legal firm in Cumbria to be a member of the innovative UK200Group, has launched a wills dispute resolution website.

Peter Stafford, Cartmell Shepherd Solicitors’ managing director, explained why the firm, which has traditionally concentrated on mainly serving communities across Cumbria and Northumberland, has made the move to go nationwide.

Peter has for many years been a member of The Association of Contentious Trust and Probate Specialists (ACTAPS). Colleagues Stephanie Johnson and Rebecca Armstrong are associate ACTAPS members and David Tew is training to become a member.

Given the strength and expertise of the team, and with the firm having adapted to offer new services during lockdown, Peter said the time was right to launch nationwide.

Peter said: “We are in a very fortunate position at Cartmell Shepherd Solicitors to have four specialists in contentious probate, and also with the wealth of experience we have across the wills and probate teams it made sense to offer this expertise to clients wherever they are in England and Wales.

“We have the knowledge and expertise and by making best use of technology we are able to offer that service more widely than was previously possible.

“So if anyone across the country has an issue with a will, or hasn’t been left anything in a will when they feel they should have been, it is now easy for them to get in touch with us and get the expert advice and support that they need.

“We have a strong record of dealing very successfully with a whole range of cases and we are keen to offer that expertise to anyone who needs it.”

Peter also explained that it is an area of legal work where demand is increasing. And he expects that to continue.

“It is an expanding area of work. There are several reasons for that, including that people often have more assets to leave. There’s also a different structure to society where we have second or third marriages and people living together and more people having more reason to dispute a will.

“We want to be able to offer that professional service to help.

“The website we have launched is very simple and easy to use. It is not full of detailed legal jargon. It has been created with the customer in mind and has been made easy to understand and simple to use so people can quickly get the expert advice they need.

“We are not scary and stuffy like some people might think a stereotypical solicitor would be. We are well-known at Cartmell Shepherd for being friendly and approachable and are always sensitive to our customers’ concerns and their individual situations.

“We also don’t want anyone to be put off because they think from the outset that they won’t be able to afford the advice they need.

“We know that sometimes clients don’t have the wherewithal to fund claims up front. There are funding options available which we can discuss.

“And we also don’t want anyone to be put off because they think they will have to go to court. More than 80 per cent of cases settle at mediation with no need to go to court.”

Cartmell Shepherd’s new nationwide service and website www.willclaims.co.uk went live on Monday, October 19.