Baronet's son claims father duped him out of his inheritance

I'm attaching a story from www.telegraph.co.uk in which a baronet's son claims he was duped out of his inheritance by his own father, when his father sold the castle that had been in the family for almost 400 years. The court did not support his claim.

I've often said that the things that happen to the rich and famous are the same issues that happen with the rest of us. Maybe for us it's a modest bungalow in the city rather than a castle, but the concept of the child thinking he's entitled to whatever the parent has seems to be found everywhere.

Click here to read the story. The reporting/writing is pretty shaky, but the story behind it is great. The attached photos of the baronet's son and the castle in question are from the story linked above, and are credited to Nevile Ayling/Alamy.

Marquess of Bath fires all workers over 65

In this story from the UK, the Marquess of Bath has fired every person over the age of 65 who works at the family estate, called Longleat. Coincidentally, next year in the UK they are bringing in a law that would make it illegal to force out older workers on the basis of age alone. To read the story, click here. The attached photo of Longleat (which I visited as a child - fantastic place!) is from that article as well.

Will writers taking thousands from customers

This is an article from the UK about companies - non-lawyers - who write Wills for people for a fee. We don't have this system in Canada. Even the banks (which are also briefly mentioned in this article) in Canada send each and every client out to a private lawyer who doesn't work for the bank, for the customer's protection.

According to a BBC investigation cited in this article, these companies, which are not regulated, are ripping off customers to the tune of thousands of pounds. This situation is exactly why I worry about people who want Wills but don't want to pay a lawyer. I've seen individuals ask people who have never been trained in Wills law - legal secretaries, law students, accountants, financial advisors, police officers - to make them a Will because they think it will be cheaper. As these poor people in the UK are finding out, it most definitely is not cheaper, and it will be your loved ones left behind who pay the price.

Click here to read the article.