Demand for wills sparks growth at law firm

Smith Partnership is to take on more staff after seeing a rise in demand for wills following the pandemic.

The law firm will be recruiting 20 new members of staff to deal with an increase in demand from people who say their priorities have now changed in the wake of the Covid-19 lockdown.

The company will take on people at its offices across the region – including in Derby, Leicester and Burton – with the majority of roles based in its probate and conveyancing departments.

Kevin McGrath, managing partner at Smith Partnership, said that demand for its probate services began during the pandemic as people’s fears about the virus made them realise the importance of having a will in place.

In the conveyancing department, which deals with the transfer of property from one person to another, the rising demand was instigated by the Stamp Duty holiday brought in by the Government during the pandemic.

Mr McGrath believes that continued demand in these areas shows the impact the post-pandemic world is having on people’s lives, their priorities and their goals.

He said: “Certainly, the wills and inheritance demands were directly related to the pandemic as people started to think about their affairs and wanted to get things in order and we have seen that continue with a greater awareness of later life planning.

“In our conveyancing department the demand started when the Government brought in the Stamp Duty holiday.

“That demand hasn’t dropped off at all, even though the stamp duty holiday period has ended, as people continue to change their lifestyles and goals following the pandemic.”

During the past year, Smith Partnership has grown its staff levels by 10%.
Mr McGrath said: “We want to be able to provide an enhanced level of service.

“We know that generally one of the main gripes with conveyancing across the country is that conveyancers are stretched, meaning it can be difficult to get hold of them to get jobs over the line and we want to avoid that.

“It is equally important in the wills and inheritance department because we want to ensure a quick, but more importantly, quality and reliable service to help people.”