The introduction of LLPs & ABSs has had unforeseen consequences for professional executors, says Sian Thompson
For over a century the legal structure of law firms was confined to sole practitioners and partnerships. When change arrived it has been recent and fast paced—in legal chronological terms at least:
- 1890 The Partnership Act
- 2001 Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) introduced
- 2007 Alternate Business Structures (ABS) came into existence
Unsurprisingly, elements of the administration connected to these new forms of legal services have struggled to keep up with the legislative reforms.
The probate registry is no exception to this. The impact of LLPs upon probate practitioners was not addressed by the courts until 2006. An LLP is a legal personality separate from its members, but many standard will clauses appoint “the partners in the firm of”. Such was the will prepared in 1992 for Edith Rogers.
By the time of her death in 2003 her chosen law firm had merged to become part of an LLP. The Bristol Probate Registry refused to issue a grant of probate to the members of the LLP.
