It’s never too early to make your Will

Posted by Justin on Jun 6, 2011 in Nelsons' Column | 0 comments Over the past couple of weeks, as well as my normal workload at Nelsons in Tenterden, I have had to make three emergency Wills. To be fair, one was not – I suspect – a genuine emergency: the client insisted he was about to die and that he had to be visited at home so he could make his Will but, as he is now asking for time to pay his bill, I reckon he was just demanding special...
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We are fantastic …

Posted by Justin on Feb 27, 2011 in Nelsons' Column | 0 comments … our clients tell us so: just look at our testimonials page – all are absolutely genuine, we promise! We have deliberately chosen not to join the “Quality Solicitors” brand. We did subscribe to their referral service for a year, but were unhappy with their methods and the results, so ended that experiment fairly rapidly. We now watch in something akin to horrified...
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The merits of a closed shop

Posted by Justin on Feb 20, 2011 in Nelsons' Column | 0 comments The Legal Services Institute – a “think tank” established by the College of Law, so likely to favour, rather than attack, the legal profession – has published a thought provoking paper: The Regulation of Legal Services: What is the Case for Reservation? By “reservation” it refers to the closed shop that exists, prohibiting anyone but qualified lawyers...
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Sometimes clients baffle me

Posted by Justin on Feb 11, 2011 in Nelsons' Column | 0 comments Sometimes, clients seem to be their own worst enemies. I handled a new lease for clients taking over a shop recently. The landlord’s solicitor was very slow, while the clients had an over-optimistic timetable, and started ordering stock in readiness. The inevitable happened, and stock was due to arrive in a matter of days with no draft lease received. When the draft did arrive, it did not...
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Non-porting “portable” mortgages

Posted by Justin on Feb 5, 2011 in Nelsons' Column | 0 comments It is important to read the small print when paying extra for a so-called portable mortgage – often it will turn out not to be portable after all. Clients of ours are moving to Kent from another part of the country. They are selling their existing house for the same price as they are paying for their new one, both are valued the same, and they want to borrow the same amount: should be...
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Not all conveyancers are the same

Posted by Justin on Jan 30, 2011 in conveyancing, Nelsons' Column | 0 comments We pride ourselves on being efficient, swift, approachable and good value for money – but we would, wouldn’t we? Anyway, that’s what they all say but, contrary to widely-held assumptions, not all firms offer the same standard of service or value for money.  How can you actually tell what a particular firm is like before you commit to them? First, take a look at their website...
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