Estate & trusts landscape, vulnerable clients and understanding this market?

Estates & Trust Landscape

Understanding the Estates & Trusts landscape:

A flower needs the best environment to flourish. This is also true for everything in life. The image above shows a flower that is currently flourishing in its environment. The soil type does not exhibit characteristics of a modern day definition of fertile soil. This flower has leaves that seem to have been eaten off, dried out, and some of them seem to have fallen off. The flower seems to be doing very well regardless. Why is this flower flourishing in this environment?

There are a lot of industries, organisations and firms that have a mirror of this flower. To understand a market, you have to understand all its factors and influences. It is easy to understand something that is stable and it is hard or near impossible to understand something that is constantly changing. This is true for the markets. Imagine operating in an environment that is constantly changing. The Estates & Trusts landscape is a landscape that is constantly evolving with changing clients and customer needs. It uses the court system, rules, regulations and practices that are set by the court to provide guidance and define requirements within this sector. There are constant updates on rules, practices, processes, procedures and guidance notes. There is also available guidance on the court and council rules. Why then do we have increased lawsuits targeted on legal professionals, legal firms, legal system and the law itself? This is a question that can only be left to those who are in this profession to answer?.

Key factors and influences of growth in this sector:

We also see an increase of business in this sector that is mostly driven by the vulnerable client. Information obtained through market research using non primary sources, confirms that this sector is now an estimated 5% of the overall legal sector. It is estimated to continue to grow within the next few years. There is increased service provision within this market, which is driven by the need to:

a). Cater to vulnerable clients;

b). Deal with effects of vulnerability;

c). Problem solve on issues associated with vulnerability;

d). Understand the root causes of issues associated with vulnerability; and

e). Help with recovery journeys of vulnerable clients.

The problem resolution and the process of dealing with the root cause of society's problems has resulted in an expansion of this sector and also an increase in the services and products that are provided within this market. Is this market ready for this type of growth and expansion?

Trusts set up to meet the vulnerable market demands:

The issue of vulnerability is an issue that cannot be ignored by society. There are a lot of trusts that are currently set up to cater for different vulnerable members of society. The trusts market is part of the Estates market. Is the sudden growth to this market due to service provision to the vulnerable client? Should this be considered a big win for this market or another risk to this profession?. The legal professionals are trained to defend legal cases and not be carers, most of the trusts that are being implemented these days have a care factor associated with them, does this not result in working boundaries being crossed? Is the modern-day legal professional ready for this sudden change of roles and direction?. This is a matter of analysing the market closely and leaving it to the market factors to decide. Will this sudden expansion not result in unintended negligence?

Sector readiness to deal with complexities involved:

How is this market, dealing with the complexities that are associated with the modern day client and ensuring a win-win situation? A win-win situation can only be achieved and done through the education of society about how the justice system works. It can also be achieved through early intervention and education of society about the key issues in the legal sector, the work of legal professionals, the role they play in society, the reason why the legal system exists, and what happens when mistakes are made by legal professionals, legal firms, legal sector, and the law itself when carrying out legal duties. This can only be achieved through a system of transparency, responsibility and integrity.

Jumleap Estates & Wills Planning uses this blog for engaging with clients in a manner consistent with the company's terms of use and privacy policies, make sure you familiarise yourself with them before engagement. We will use this blog for discussing key issues, hot topics in the Estates & Wills market in an informal and not legally binding way. None of our commentary is based on research from primary sources. We will therefore not be liable for any use, acts or activities taken as a result of this post. We do not provide legal advice, feel free to consult legal professionals and advisors, if you need any professional advice on the matters discussed.