Nothing Vicious Please!

One of the key tasks we are sent to Parliament to undertake is to legislate.

Making, amending and reviewing our laws is not a matter simply for lawyers. It may affect the daily lives of each and every one of us.

Our Parliamentary committees are where much of the “heavy lifting” of forming and reforming our law takes place. Presently one of the bills I am involved in is the Succession (Scotland) Bill.

We are seeking to put into law technical amendments recommended by the Scottish Law Commission. They've been looking at this highly complex area of law for some considerable time. Their first report on the subject was in 1990 and the more recent only six years ago.

Succession is about what happens to your property, and your debts, when you die. It is ferociously difficult and we expect a full scale piece of new law to look widely at fundamental reform. But that won't come for a few years yet.

Meantime what we are doing is fine tuning and is limited to matters our political parties agree about.

So it was a bit surprising on hearing a lawyer's evidence to our committee to realise that I was a “vicious intromitter”.

An in-law died some time ago with a small bank balance and no property. They had left a simple will saying her two daughters should inherit. So I divvied up the money and passed it to them. Job done. No lawyers and no “confirmation” via a court. And that's how most very small estates are dealt with.

But in failing to gain a “confirmation” I had become a “vicious intromitter”. I remain liable – forever – if anyone thinks I have done the wrong thing.

The real issue in our work is that we are trying to make things simpler and more easily understandable. But we simply can't avoid complication when people don't make a will.

If your relatives make decisions after you pass on without using lawyers or court, they too will be “vicious intromitters”. But if you've left them a will to give them instructions they shouldn't lose sleep over it. The consequences for them are unlikely to be “vicious” in any sense.

I am also looking to make common cause for sensible debate in the Scottish elections in about 14 weeks time. Nothing “vicious” here please!

After my party's success of the Westminster elections last year, my focus is in encouraging people in our part of the North East and across Scotland to make sure they are registered to vote. And then going to actually vote. During the referendum we had an overall voter turnout of 84.5%. It is vital to the democratic process that everyone’s voice is heard.

This will also be the first Scottish election where 16/17 years olds will be able to vote. I know there is enthusiasm for that.

I am excited to meet as many people as possible over the coming weeks, to encourage voter participation and, of course, to encourage people to vote for taking Scotland forward and continue the work we started in 2007.