Wills & Probate Solicitor

Salary: £45,000 to £50,000 depending upon experience

Hours of Work: 37.5 hours per week

Location: Hybrid working, with an expectation to attend our Derby City and South Derbyshire offices as required

Duration: Sept 2027 with a potential to expand into permanent

Applications Closing Date: Rolling recruitment until successful candidate found

Start Date: ASAP

Service Aim

CA Legal Advice is a unique established legal service founded by Citizens Advice Mid Mercia in 2025. We exist to bridge the justice gap for people who don’t qualify for legal aid but find high street legal fees daunting. As a profit-for-purpose organisation, every penny of profit is reinvested back into Citizens Advice Mid Mercia to fund essential community support services. We specialise in three key practice areas at present: Family Law, Civil Litigation, and Housing. With 18 months experience we are now wanting to expand into the support area of Wills & Probate. Our mission is to combine rigorous professional standards with accessible, fairly priced legal advice that creates real social impact.

The Role

We are seeking a dedicated and detail-oriented senior solicitor to join our CA Legal service and team to handle complex private client work on a self-supervised basis, a senior solicitor with 3–5 years’ experience in estate administration is required. The role will include managing higher-volume tasks such as will drafting, grant applications, and estate asset liquidation.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

• Wills, estate planning and powers of attorney
• Draft wills, codicils, letters of wishes and mirror wills for individuals and couples
• Advise clients on estate planning, asset protection, tax efficiency and inheritance tax mitigation
• Prepare Lasting Powers of Attorney for Property & Financial Affairs and Health & Welfare
• Advise on and draft trusts where appropriate to the client’s circumstances
• Estate administration and probate
• Manage a caseload of estate administrations from instruction through to final distribution
• Apply for grants of probate and letters of administration
• Identify, value, and realise estate assets including property, investments, and personal possessions
• Liaise with HMRC on Inheritance Tax matters, completing IHT forms and managing tax liabilities
• Settle debts, prepare estate accounts, and distribute estates in accordance with the will or intestacy rules
• Handle post-death variations, deeds of family arrangement, and disclaimers where required
• Client care and business development
• Provide compassionate, clear and accessible legal advice to clients during difficult and emotional circumstances
• Conduct home visits where appropriate, particularly for elderly or vulnerable clients
• Build and maintain relationships with potential referral sources including financial advisers, accountants, care homes and funeral directors
• Contribute to the development and growth of the Wills & Probate service, including networking, marketing activities and community engagement
• Meet agreed billing and business development targets in consultation with the Head of Legal
• Professional standards and compliance
• Work to the highest professional standards in accordance with SRA requirements, anti-money laundering regulations, and firm policies
• Maintain accurate file records, time recording, and case management system entries
• Identify and escalate risk issues including capacity concerns, undue influence, conflicts of interest, and money laundering concerns
• Participate in regular supervision, file reviews, and quality assurance processes

Overview of Citizens Advice Mid Mercia

Citizens Advice Mid Mercia is an independent member of the Citizens Advice network, which is made up of the national charity and a network of local Citizens Advice members. Citizens Advice Mid Mercia delivers free, impartial, independent and confidential advice, training, peer support Services are delivered across South Derbyshire, Derby City, East Staffordshire (Burton-upon-Trent and Uttoxeter) and Tamworth. Citizens Advice Mid Mercia has over 60 members of staff and many volunteers delivering services from four main offices and community venues.

Our CORE values

• Communicate: We will be consistent, positive, passionate, and listen.
• Ownership: We will be accountable, make a difference, meet deadlines, keep promises and have solutions.
• Respect: We will be honest, work with integrity, trust each other, be fair, tolerant and stand for equality.
• Effective: We will deliver quality, focus on detail and be professional.

Positive Employment

A criminal record will not necessarily be a bar to you being able to take up the job. We welcome applications from people with disabilities.

Probation Period: 6 months

Benefits: 28 days annual leave plus bank holidays pro rata, up to 5% pension contribution.