Top probate lawyer joins Thursfields as head of Wills and Estates

An experienced lawyer who is a contributing author to a national handbook on probate has been appointed head of the Wills and Estates department at Thursfields Solicitors.

Ian Bond has joined  from Talbots Law in the Black Country, where he was head of trusts and estate for more than three years.

Before that, he worked at Higgs & Sons, also in the Black Country, for more than four years and at Co-op Legal Services in Bristol.  

Ian specialises in trust formation and administration, wealth succession, estate planning and making wills, and is experienced at dealing with high value and complex estates, especially intestacy matters.

He is the author of five chapters for the respected Law Society publication The Probate Practitioners Handbook, his topics including dealing with digital assets on death.

Michelle O’Hara, the new managing director of Thursfields, said: “We’re really pleased to welcome Ian to the company to lead our Wills and Estates department.

“Ian is the latest in a number of key appointments we have made in recent months, and his wide experience will add real depth to the expertise in the Wills and Estates team.”

Ian who was educated at Lancaster University and then the University of Law, Guildford, trained at a firm in Sussex and qualified as a solicitor in 2003.

In his last role at Talbots, he was the inaugural sector lead for professional services at the Black Country Business Festival in 2018, and he took that role on  again last year.

He said: “I’m very excited about my new position at Thursfields and am delighted to be joining such a well-respected team in the region with some fantastic colleagues.

“I was attracted by the firm’s ambitious plans to grow both the team and the firm, and to develop the client-centric offering the firm is so well known for.”