CONVERT WILLS INTO PROBATE INSTRUCTIONSClients are becoming more fickle and the will in a strong- room is no longer a guarantee that a firm will obtain probate instructions.

Do not hesitate to promote the firm's executorship services by preparing a leaflet summarising the benefits to the client.

In promoting these services, be open about the extra fees that will be involved.

Alternatively, consider waiving the differential.

If appointment is not obtained, try to ensure that the probate instructions will follow by building a relationship with the testator.-- Offer a range of allied services (enduring powers of attorney, living wills, etc).-- Draw attention to the firm's range of services.-- Communicate regularly (eg by news sheet).-- Consider building a relationship with the testator's executors (the testator's consent will be required).MAKE A PROBATE DEPARTMENT PROFITABLEOn average, 10% of fee income for high street firms comes from probate work, yet few regard it as a specialist activity.

Three quarters of solicitors who handle probate work spend less than 20% of their time on it.

In order to compete and survive, it is essential to set up a specialist probate department.-- Large numbers of personnel are not required.

In a small firm a partner, a clerk and a secretary may suffice.

The key is to have work carried out at the right level by people trained to work at that level.-- Increase the use of IT for standard correspondence, forms and estate accounts.-- Fee-earner involvement can be low in terms of time and high in terms of importance.Far too much routine probate work is carried out by expensive and over-qualified fee-earners.

An increased use of IT, together with the training of staff, would be cost effective.Several companies now offer software packages that generate the most commonly used inheritance tax forms and executor's oath, and that will also make the necessary calculations (see p.22).

The preparation of estate accounts has always been a solicitor's bugbear, made worse by the increasing frequency of requests for interim distributions.

These packages will maintain a running balance of capital and income and, on completio n of the administration, generate estate accounts at the press of a button.

This will enable a swift closure of the file and an early collection of fees.

Having delegated the majority of the routine matters, the fee-earner will be able to turn over more files and concentrate on maintaining good communications with executors and beneficiaries, and on matters where expert knowledge of the law is required, such as tax planning and deeds of variation.

FOCUS ON PROFITABILITYIf these ideas are put into practice, the cost to the firm of each transaction will be considerably reduced.

A firm should also consider departing from the conventional charging method and offering alternative bases for charging, such as a fixed price, a percentage of the value of the estate or an hourly rate with a good mark up and without adding a percentage of the value of the estate.

In addition, find out whether clients would like to know the costs in advance, depending on whether their matter is complicated or straightforward.

A solicitor's position will be further strengthened if a non-contentious business agreement under s.57 of the Solicitors Act 1974 is entered into.

This is not as complicated as it sounds.

A copy of a firm's terms of business, signed by the client, could constitute such an agreement.FACE THE COMPETITIONThe competition, at present, lies within the profession rather than outside it.

This will change drastically if the Lord Chancellor decides to exercise his powers under the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990 to bring in authorised probate practitioners.

The profession will then be facing competition from accountants, licensed conveyancers and will-writing companies.

The regulatory regime to which they will be subject will be considerably less rigorous than our regime.

The Authorised Probate Practitioners Regulations, issued by the Lord Chancellor's Department but not in force yet, set up a fairly gentle regulatory regime with few teeth.

This will give them an immediate cost advantage.

However, if a firm has taken the time to create a specialised probate department, increased productivity will enable it to reduce fees and remain profitable.

If a firm's services are then marketed effectively to the public, emphasising the many benefits that are available to clients, the firm should be able to hold and, very possibly, improve its position in the market place.TRENDS-- Values of estates are becoming smaller.-- The number of grants issued is staying broadly constant at around £250,000 pa.-- The proportion of solicitor applications to personal applications is slowly reducing, from 4:1 to 3:1.CONCLUSIONS-- The market for grants is limited because there are only so many deaths each year that require a grant of probate and those dying have less money than previously.

-- Solicitors need to increase their share of the market.-- More people dying intestate will lead to more solicitor applications.-- The percentage of adults who have not made a will remains constant at 69%.-- Even in the professional/managerial classes, the percentage is 60%.MAKE MORE WILLS-- Take advantage of initiatives such as 'Solicitors make a will week'.-- Talk to referrers, particularly organisations for the elderly-- Target advertising.Richard Bark-Jones is the head of the commercial department at Morecroft Urquhart and a member of the Law Society's land law and succession committee.

He was on the editorial board of the Law Society's Probate Handbook.