​The current lockdown and the resulting isolation has given us all time to think and reflect now that we have been taken away from “normal life” and there is no guarantee as to when this will resume. Now is the perfect time to make sure that our affairs are in order and to ensure that we do not leave anything to chance.

​There is little doubt Covid-19 has caused many issues for families all over the world. We are having to deal with problems that we didn’t know existed only a few months ago. The current pandemic was unimaginable and as a result, people have not had time to plan for a worst case scenario.

The widespread confusion around who can contest a will, and for which reasons, mean that many people are missing out on inheritance that could be legally owed to them.

​We were recently involved in an unusual and important case to execute a Statutory Will for one of our client’s (‘P’). It became apparent that the most recent Will made by P had been made in secret under undue influence (whereby a person ‘P’ is induced to act otherwise than by their own free will or without adequate attention to the consequences).

Specialists at Great Ormond Street Hospital have described the rise in child abuse cases during lockdown as a ‘silent pandemic’, as the number of new cases at its head trauma unit has risen by 1,493% compared with the previous three years.

The Government has now announced a handful of creative schemes aimed at minimising the economic impact of COVID-19 and saving as many jobs as possible.

​A police inquiry has been launched at Shrewsbury & Telford Trust following what has been coined the UK’s ‘worst baby ward scandal’. Detectives are investigating 1,250 cases dating back to the 1970s, as dozens of newborns unnecessarily died or suffered brain damage.

​​Helen Thewlis, Head of Family at Ramsdens has featured in the Aviva Magazine with other experts discussing how to have a stress-free and fair split.​