A Somerset solicitor has had his comments on probate published in one of the UK’s most prestigious newspapers. David Sinclair of Acorn Solicitors in Taunton and Street gave his views which were published on an article on Sunday Telegraph on Probate. David, aged 34, was shortlisted for UK Young Lawyer of the Year two years ago and has been on regional BBC Radio programmes discussing issues on Wills and Probate.

He is also a national Director for Solicitors for the Elderly. The latest article in the Money Section of the Sunday Telegraph was entitled “working your way through the probate maze.” The article was about a company called the Living probate company that aims to reduce the cost of probate by encouraging people to put all their details in one place – namely their company’s database.

Then one telephone call would trigger a package of pre-addressed letters for the executor to send out, costing around £750. David said: “This is expensive and really a gimmick. Personally I would simply suggest people keep their information up together and complete an asset log which doesn’t cost them anything. “Companies like this make out that Solicitors charge a huge percentage of the estate but really the vast majority have moved with the times and either charge by the hour or fixed fees for probate work.

“At Acorn we like to work with clients to keep probate costs as low as possible and would get letters out just as quickly following our initial interview.” In the article David was quoted as saying “…even with letters addressed in this way, probate could still be complex in some cases. It depends on the individual estate. Nowadays there are a lot of broken family relationships and things can get very complicated.”

He added: “There can be a lot of arguments and people can become very resentful. He denied that most solicitors charge a percentage of the estate for probate. That’s quite an old-fashioned way of doing it in my personal opinion.”

The telegraph article was written by Rosie Murray-West.