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UCU Law Extra

UCU Law Extra

23 September 2016

Legal help for you and your family: family law services • wills online • probate and estate administration • lasting powers of attorney • road traffic defence • professional negligence • medical negligence

Legal help for you and your family

As part of our service we're committed to providing a wide range of benefits including expert legal help to members and their families.  UCU offers UCU Law Extra*, an award winning team of experts covering the complete range of legal services which can meet all your needs, including:

UCU Law Extra is able to offer these services to you at competitive prices by our partner Slater and Gordon. UCU may receive a referral fee and such proceed will be used to support our front line service to members.

To make an enquiry without any obligation call us on 0151 459 7437 or email us at: UCULawExtra@slatergordon.co.uk


Family law services

Our divorce solicitors know that divorce often involves high emotions, especially when there are children involved. Our team of divorce solicitors & child lawyers are sensitive to your needs during this difficult time, and work with you to resolve your divorce with compassion and efficiency. We can explain the common aspects of the divorce process, including the legal terms you will hear during the divorce procedures.  We also try not to use legal jargon when we communicate with you.

If you need expert legal advice about divorce or you have a question about getting a divorce in the UK or abroad, contact us and we'll be happy to help.  Our services include:

  • divorce, separation & civil partnership dissolution
  • children matters
  • finances
  • cohabitation issues
  • international divorce
  • domestic abuse
  • pre-nuptial agreements & post-nuptial agreements
  • alternative dispute resolution
  • Islamic family law
  • wills & estate planning
  • property.

To make an enquiry without any obligation call us on 0151 459 7437 or email us at: UCULawExtra@slatergordon.co.uk

UCU Law Extra: family law solicitors [96kb]


Free online wills for UCU members

Slater and Gordon offer UCU members a web-based facility to make their Will online through our legal document production website; please note that online registration is required.

Making a Will is something many of us put off until it's too late. A recent market study found that 56% of those asked said they hadn't written a Will.

The only way to ensure that the people you want to benefit from your estate in the event of your death is to write a legally enforceable Will. A Will helps avoid what might otherwise be complicated and sometimes unpleasant circumstances that those you care about will have to manage.

Start your Will and claim UCU discount

In order to receive your Document Only or Law Firm Managed Will, please register on Legal for Life and purchase your Will using the online shopping system.

Creating your own Will is simple and can be done entirely online from the comfort of your own home. A simple Will or pair of Wills can be completed in around half an hour.  Simply:

  1. choose the document you require from the menu
  2. click 'Try before you buy' to start filling in your document
  3. answer the questions
  4. watch your document update automatically
  5. if you decide you wish to purchase, click 'buy'
  6. enter the unique UCU discount code (see below for details) at the checkout and the  discount will be applied to the final purchase price
  7. once purchased, the obscuring text will be removed and your document will be ready

Once you set up an account you can add and save your documents so you can complete them at your leisure.

Information In order to receive your discount code please email legalservices@ucu.org.uk with your membership number and you should receive your code during the next working day.

UCU Law Extra: wills [94kb]


Wills, probate and estate administration

Many people don't know what happens upon death when a Will is not made. Our Wills and Probate Solicitors can help you with all aspects of making a Will and help you with Estate Administration issues.  7 out of 10 adults do not have a Will and without one:

  • a surviving spouse will not necessarily inherit everything
  • an unmarried partner has no automatic entitlement
  • the family home may have to be sold
  • children may be unintentionally disinherited.

When someone dies there are a number of important tasks that need to be completed. If the person died leaving a valid Will, then the named executors take on this responsibility. In the absence of a valid Will, the person is said to have died 'Intestate' and the intestacy rules determine who can be appointed as the administrators of the estate.

The role of executor or administrator can be an onerous one. The deceased's estate may involve valuable or complex matters and an executor or administrator is personally liable for administering the estate correctly.

Every executor or administrator can instruct a solicitor of their choice to assist them with the estate administration and the legal fees are settled by the deceased's estate.

To make an enquiry without any obligation call us on 0151 459 7437 or email us at: UCULawExtra@slatergordon.co.uk

UCU Law Extra: wills [94kb]


Lasting Power of Attorney

Without a Lasting Power of Attorney, if you lose the ability to manage your own affairs as a result of an accident or illness:

  • your spouse or partner will not be able to access your assets or manage your financial affairs and welfare needs
  • your family would have to apply to the Court of Protection to secure your benefits, arrange appropriate care and access insurance payments or pension benefits.

Lasting Power of Attorney is a legal document which allows someone you trust to make decisions about such things as your health care or finances at a time when you lack the mental capacity to make those decisions yourself.

The person making the Lasting Power of Attorney is known as the Donor. The person that the Donor authorises to act on their behalf is known as the Attorney.

There are two different forms of Lasting Power of Attorneys that can be made. One deals with your property and financial affairs. The other deals with your health and personal welfare issues.

Property and Financial Affairs Lasting Power of Attorney

Under a Property and Financial affairs Lasting Power of Attorney, your attorney can do anything in relation to your property and finances that you could do yourself, eg. buy and sell property, manage your investments, open and close bank accounts, claim benefits and pensions and carry on your business.

Health and Welfare Lasting Power of Attorney

Under a Health and Welfare Lasting Power of Attorney, your attorney can make decisions about social care issues and medical treatment, including life-sustaining treatment.

You can make one form of Lasting Power of Attorney without making the other.

You may choose more than one attorney. If you choose more than one, you must decide if your attorneys must always act together or whether they can also act independently of one another. You can also choose to appoint a replacement attorney who will act if the initial attorney is unable to or their appointment is revoked.

You can apply conditions and restrictions to the use of the Lasting Power of Attorney by your attorney and you may also add guidance to your Attorney as to how you would want them to use the Lasting Power of Attorney.

The Office of the Public Guardian maintain a record of all registered Lasting Power of Attorneys.

Slater and Gordon's team of Lasting Power of Attorney Solicitors can help you with the important decisions. They can make sure that your welfare is looked after should the day come when you can no longer make decisions for yourself.

To make an enquiry without any obligation call us on 0151 459 7437 or email us at: UCULawExtra@slatergordon.co.uk

UCU Law Extra: lasting power of attorney [95kb]


Road traffic defence

The Road Traffic Defence team at Slater and Gordon are specialist Driving Offence Solicitors and have a 93% positive result rate. We have years of experience defending the complete range of motoring offences, including:

  • speeding
  • drink driving
  • traffic offences & appeals
  • driving endorsements & Notice of Intended Prosecution
  • preventing the course of justice
  • failure to stop or report a road accident
  • dangerous & careless driving offences
  • driving without insurance & using a mobile phone
  • police interview solicitors.

We can advise you 24/7 and provide legal representation for driving offence. The expertise that our Solicitors use on a daily basis gives you the best possible chance of keeping your licence and staying on the road. 

To make an enquiry without any obligation call us on 0151 459 7437 or email us at: UCULawExtra@slatergordon.co.uk

UCU Law Extra: road traffic defence [78kb]


Professional negligence

At Slater and Gordon we know that when you go to a professional for help the last thing you expect is negligence.

However, professionals do make mistakes and our Professional Negligence Lawyers specialise in resolving these mistakes through negotiation, arbitration or Mediation.

If the dispute turns to litigation we have the expertise and the resources to follow it all the way through. We have particular expertise in dealing with professional negligence cases such as:

  • solicitors who settled a personal injury claim for too little money
  • poor legal advice that doesn't work for you
  • problems with buying or selling property, poor advice from an estate agent, surveyor or an architect
  • trusts and estates that have been wrongly managed
  • incorrectly drafted wills - in conjunction with our colleagues in our contentious probate department
  • professionals who miss deadlines
  • surveyors who do not advise you properly
  • barristers who make mistakes.

Immediate legal representation is available throughout the UK. 

To make an enquiry without any obligation call us on 0151 459 7437 or email us at: UCULawExtra@slatergordon.co.uk

UCU Law Extra: professional negligence [76kb]

Medical negligence

When a medical diagnosis, surgical procedure or a hospital treatment goes wrong, the impact can dramatically change your life and affect your family.

Having specialised in cases of medical negligence for many years, Slater and Gordon understand just how much life can change at this time and it's our aim to make the claims process as easy as possible for everyone concerned and ensure the best possible outcome is achieved.

Whether helping with benefits or protecting any compensation awarded, it's also our aim to help reduce the burden of dealing with any of the additional worrying issues faced at such a difficult time.

Deciding whether to pursue a claim is a very important decision and advice from specialist lawyers who are extremely experienced in this area of law is essential. Slater and Gordon's Medical Negligence team are experts in this field with many years' experience, during which time they've been involved in some of the most important and ground-breaking cases.

To make an enquiry without any obligation call us on 0151 459 7437 or email us at: UCULawExtra@slatergordon.co.uk

UCU Law Extra: medical negligence [96kb]


*UCU Law Extra is a service provided in England, Scotland and Wales by Slater and Gordon (UK) LLP who are authorised and regulated by the Solicitors' Regulation Authority, reg no. 568143. If you live in Northern Ireland the service will be provided by Donnelly and Kinder Solicitors.

Last updated: 2 May 2023