Forster Dean Solicitors

Forster Dean Solicitors: conveyancing, family and private client work in the North West

Forster Dean Solicitors is a law firm whose practice is organised around four main areas: residential conveyancing, family law, wills and probate, and employment law. The firm states that its teams in each department are experienced and that clients deal directly with qualified lawyers. Its registered offices are in Widnes, Runcorn and St Helens, and it describes its services as available to clients anywhere in the UK, not only in those locations.

Residential conveyancing

The conveyancing department handles residential transactions, including purchases, sales, remortgaging and transfers of equity. The firm presents this work as a personal service with support maintained throughout the transaction. Among the cases it cites is that of a client relocating to the area who needed to complete within a tight timescale so that children could be enrolled for the new school year; the firm states that it kept the client updated at each stage and met the deadlines so the family could settle into the new home before term began.

Employment law for employers and employees

Forster Dean covers most aspects of employment law and advises both employers and employees on settlement agreements. Its stated caseload includes unfair and wrongful dismissal claims, claims involving all forms of discrimination, and matters concerning harassment and bullying. The firm also drafts bespoke employment contracts and related policies connected with grievance and disciplinary procedures. It cites a discrimination claim with complex issues and unusual legal arguments that reached the Employment Appeal Tribunal, where the firm says it successfully argued the client's case.

Family law and cohabitation

The family law team handles all types of family and cohabitee breakdown, including cohabitation agreements and separation agreements for married and unmarried couples, and also advises on and drafts prenuptial agreements. The service list extends to guidance on matters concerning children, legal advice on managing family finances, and harassment and injunctions. The firm describes one case in which a married client was advised to set aside divorce proceedings and a related financial court order, which could have taken months, in favour of negotiating a settlement agreement within weeks; the arrangement allowed the couple to separate financially while preserving a working relationship seen as beneficial for their children.

Wills, probate and trusts

Probate work covers applications for grants of probate so that an executor can administer an estate, and letters of administration in intestacy cases where there is no will. The firm states that it recommends the appropriate course of action according to the assets and issues in each estate in order to minimise costs, completes the required tax forms, and can handle the sale or transfer of related property alongside the collection of other assets and the setting up of related trusts, leading to distribution under the will or the rules of intestacy. It reports having handled estates of nominal value, where assets could be collected without the cost of a court application, as well as estates worth millions of pounds with assets in the UK and abroad.

On wills, the firm drafts basic wills through to asset protection wills involving jointly owned property, and prepares wills alongside other documents intended to increase the chances of resisting future challenges. It also advises on lifetime and inheritance tax planning and states that it can arrange home visits at short notice for vulnerable clients and urgent matters. It works alongside clients' own tax or financial advisers, or introduces them to specialists, with the aim of maximising the assets to be inherited. One cited case involved reviewing an existing will made elsewhere: the will reflected the client's wishes but took no account of the nature and value of the assets, so new wills and lifetime gifts were recommended to avoid a potential inheritance tax liability.

Private client services and team structure

Under its private client heading the firm groups wills and probate with lasting powers of attorney and trusts, and it also addresses the question of why a will should be reviewed. The published team structure is divided into a conveyancing team, a finance team, management, a private client team and reception.

Client feedback and regulatory details

The firm publishes short testimonials from clients identified by initials. One describes everyone spoken to as polite, helpful and efficient, and says the experience made a nervous first-time client comfortable enough to recommend the firm to neighbours and friends; another refers to the service as top class and notes being kept up to date on the case by letters and phone calls. The site lists the firm's SRA number as 517355.