Coronavirus (COVID-19) (archived)

This subtopic contains materials, commentary and analysis on the implications of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic for Private Client work, together with links to related guidance and policy documents.

Key areas of practice impacted by coronavirus

The coronavirus pandemic poses many challenges for Private Client practitioners, from executing and witnessing Wills and lasting powers of attorneys (LPAs) when the key parties are in self-isolation, registering the death of a deceased individual and making funeral arrangements under the lock down, and continuing to protect vulnerable individuals under the protection of the Court of Protection who are, in the words of Mr Justice Hayden, in the eye of the storm. Contentious trusts and estates lawyers need to stay on top of the fast-moving changes in the civil courts’ processes and procedures necessitated by the pandemic.

There has been legislative help in a few areas; for example, the To view the latest version of this document and thousands of others like it, sign-in with LexisNexis or register for a free trial.

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Latest Private Client News

Private Client weekly highlights—1 May 2025

This week’s edition of Private Client highlights includes: (1) Hubbard v Hubbard, where the lack of credible evidence resulted in the disallowance of a claim for trustee expenses; (2) NHS South East London ICB v JP & the Royal Hospital for Neuro-Disability, which considered issues of dignity, delay, and declarations on best interests; (3) R (YVR) v Birmingham City Council, a decision involving adult social care charging policies, the public sector equality duty, and severely disabled adults; (4) HMRC publishes Tax update spring 2025; (5) CIOT’s response to the consultation on reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief concerning their application in relation to trusts; (6) Patel v Patel, where the High Court resolved a dispute between two executors over the funeral arrangements for their father, and (7) the Courts and Tribunals Judiciary publishes updated AI guidance and introduces Copilot Chat for judges.

Question of the week: Where a trust of a life policy otherwise falls within the definition of an 'excluded trust' set out in paragraph 4 of Schedule 3A of the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017, does it lose that excluded trust status if it opens a non-interest bearing bank account in order to pay insurance premiums for the policy?

This Q&A considers whether a trust of a life policy, which otherwise falls within the definition of an 'excluded trust' as set out in the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017, Sch 3A, para 4 loses its excluded trust status if it opens a non-interest bearing bank account to pay insurance premiums for the policy.

Tax update spring 2025—Tax analysis

Tax analysis: On 28 April 2025, the government announced a package of technical tax policy proposals aimed at simplifying and reforming the tax system and improving tax administration. These announcements included the publication of draft legislation, new consultations, various technical papers and responses to consultations, as well as updates on previously announced measures together with new initiatives.

Sizeable refunds could follow taxpayer’s FTT win as HMRC directed to issue enquiry closure notices in ten-year dispute (Refinitiv Ltd v HMRC)

Tax analysis: In Refinitiv Ltd v HMRC, the First-tier Tax Tribunal (FTT) directed that HMRC issue closure notices in respect of enquiries into 2018 corporation tax returns, averring that it had not met the burden of proof required for the enquiries to be kept open.