Helen Biglin Leading Lawyer

She also part owns the business as one of the few female equity partners in a major legal practice in the region which is regularly lauded in a national review of the country’s law firms.

 

So you might be forgiven for assuming that she is a high flying corporate type embroiled in court room battles over hostile takeovers and multi million pound litigation cases.  

 

In fact, Helen’s typical day involves much more basic matters that affect us all. Matters of life and death in fact.

 

As head of the Wills Trust and Probate team at BHP Law she and her colleagues have built a regional reputation for helping clients plan during their lifetimes what will happen after their death.

Some of it is complex tax planning and trust work, but for the most part it is supporting ordinary people to ensure what they have acquired during their life reaches the people they want it to after they have gone.

 

It includes straightforward wills; setting up trusts; helping people plan for someone else to make decisions on their behalf if they lose mental capacity at any time; or helping people protect themselves against vulnerability in old age. This is a currently high on the political agenda as electioneering politicians clash over who should pay for care for the elderly, and how.

 

Far from battling in the court room or board room on behalf of clients, Helen is more likely to be found at a residential home or in a hospital.

In fact it is one of the few areas of law where confrontation with other solicitors is minimal in favour of direct interaction with the client or someone on their behalf.

 

Helen first graduated in chemistry and then completed a law conversion course at Leeds Polytechnic. While doing her articles with her first employer she found wills, trusts and probate was an area of law she both enjoyed and felt she had the right personality for.

 

“Many of the clients I come into contact with are elderly or have suffered bereavement, so you have to have empathy with them. Being a good lawyer is not in itself enough,” she explains.

“You are dealing with people at a very stressful time. They need someone they can talk to on a personal level; someone they can practically call a friend. It may not even be legal advice they need at that time, it’s just someone they can trust and we are happy to be there for them.”

 

A member of Solicitors for the Elderly and STEP, the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners, she adds: “We often get involved in matters where probably you don’t need any legal qualifications, just a general understanding of people, but it’s all part and parcel of the job and the reason I enjoy it.

 

“Elderly clients in particular often just want someone to talk to; someone to offer guidance and set their minds at rest.”

 

A former pupil of Longfield School and Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College in Darlington, she left her home town to study chemistry at King’s College, London in the late 1980s.

 

The daughter of a local builder, Helen explains: “Doing chemistry was not something I set out to do, it was more just something I fell into.

 

However I enjoyed it and I guess at that stage I saw myself becoming a “Quincy” style forensic scientist. Whilst doing my third year project, I had an opportunity to work in Australia on a gold extracting process but in reality I had already decided to move into law.

 

“It was quite common and also quite sad at that time for science graduates to move into other fields such as law and accountancy. Science was not very fashionable then and the opportunities were not great.”

 

On returning home, Helen joined Newbys law firm on Teesside and, on qualifying, joined Walton Hardy and Clough in Darlington as an assistant solicitor.

 

She was quickly made partner at the relatively young age of 29.

 

In 1998 the firm merged with Blackett Hart & Pratt – now known as BHP Law.

 

Four years later, Helen made a financial investment and commitment to the firm.  Helen is the only female equity partner in BHP Law and the only woman on the firm’s management board.

“Basically being an equity partner means you share in the profits but on the downside you also stand the risks during the bad times, something which has become more of a reality in the last couple of years,” she explains.     

 

For Helen, being an equity partner gives her a major input in the future direction of the firm, especially in relation to discussions on its private client services.

 

She says: “You do feel as if you have ownership. While the five equity partners do not make all the decisions all the partners and the management board are involved, for me it feels better to be central to the decision making.”

 

She now leads a busy Wills, Trusts and Probate team that has expanded in the last couple of years in both size and geographical scope and now has staff based in Teesside and Halifax as well as Darlington, Durham and Newcastle.

 

It is also the biggest fee-earning unit, generating more than 15 per cent of the firm’s total income.

Married to Anthony, a director of a Darlington building supplies company, Helen’s typical day starts in the office at 7am and will usually see her taking files home to work on into the evening.

Working in one of the more traditional areas of law, clients often come through referral and recommendation.

 

She explains: “New clients may be executors of a will who then come back to us for their own legal matters. We also act for families where mum and dad are clients and later their children will also come to us. It’s good that people recommend us. We are also recommended by charitable organisations and other professional firms.”

 

Trusts may be part of Helen’s day job, but being trusted by her clients is an unwritten qualification without which she could not operate.

 

Here Helen offers some free legal advice for people seeking to protect their assets or themselves:

 

Wills –“Everybody should have a will, but especially people who own property, who have children or who live with a partner but are not married. People often say “but I have nothing to leave” but in reality most of us do have something. Even if you don’t, a will allows you to deal with other important issues such as who will act as guardian for your children if you die. Making a will allows you to decide what will happen after your death rather than just leaving it to chance. Even if you have a will, you should review it on a regular basis. Circumstances change and you need to ensure it continues to meet your wishes.”

 

Probate – “There is a lot of misunderstanding around probate with many people believing that if a will exists you do not need to go to probate. In reality the majority of wills do go to probate. The Grant of Probate is the key document needed to deal with the assets of the deceased person. For the average estate it is a fairly quick and easy process. You don’t have to use a solicitor – executors can extract probate personally. However, most people find the advantage of using a solicitor is that the process is dealt with more quickly and without them having to visit the court. We complete the revenue forms, prepare the executors’ oath and deal with any inheritance tax issues. Once completed we submit all the forms to the probate court, which then provides the grant. If somebody dies without a will, the process is similar but the document obtained is called Letters of Administration.

Where probate is contentious, litigators acting for both sides will deal with matters. It can be a fairly costly process and so generally attempts are made to try to resolve matters by mediation rather than ending up in court. Having a correctly drawn up will can often reduce the possibility of there being a problem.”

 

Trusts – “A lot of people think trusts are only for the wealthy but this is not the case. They can be an important way for all people to protect assets and make provision for family members. A trust can be set up under your will to take effect on death or can be set up during your lifetime. Many people are concerned about protecting assets against vulnerability in old age and trusts can help achieve this. For many people their house is their main asset and they want to protect if for their children. This is something we can help with.”

 

Lasting Powers of Attorney – “LPAs were introduced in late 2007 in place of the old Enduring Power of Attorney and are powerful legal documents. They enable an individual (the donor) to appoint someone (the attorney) to make decisions about their property and financial affairs and/or their health and personal welfare should they lose capacity. An LPA – whether Property and Affairs or Personal Welfare – can only be used when registered with the Office of the Public Guardian.   

If you don’t have an LPA and lose capacity – which could be in an accident, through illness or dementia – then your family must apply to the Court of Protection. We recommend people to have an LPA in place beforehand because dealing with the Court of Protection is not easy, takes a long time, requires on-going contact and can be costly.

While LPAs are more complicated and more expensive than the old EPAs, compared with having to deal with the Court of Protection it is saves time and expense in the long run.