When Risk Gets Riskier

August is coming. That magical month when half your firm is on holiday, and the other half is working from home.

So, let’s talk about risk.  Not the "your indemnity insurer is watching you" kind of risk.  Not even the "accidentally sent a confidential file to the wrong Kevin" variety.  No, we’re talking about the hidden risk—the kind that comes when you remember that you and your client are, in fact, human beings.

In the last few weeks my father has passed away. Nothing prepared me for this. The grief has been profound, painful and surreal. And no—I won’t be "getting over it" and back on my game in 7 days. At home, we’re juggling grief, admin, and emotional triage. There are tears, old photographs, and  funeral logistics.

Meanwhile, back in the inbox…

Are clients:

1. Patient, rational and grateful for your wisdom? or
2. Asking if they can deduct the cost of gravel from the CGT on a gifted garage? or
3. Asking you to decipher whether Stamp Duty applies to a garden path, and an imaginary right of way?

And what if you're not at your best?

• Because grief doesn’t take a lunch hour.
• Because your teenage daughter is fretting, and you're wondering whether GCSEs are supposed to trigger this level of existential angst.
• Because your son has not emerged from his bedroom since school finished.
• Because, frankly, you're holding a family together with caffeine, sarcasm, and the faint hope that someone else is feeding the dog.

So here’s the point:

When the client risk meets the human risk—yours or theirs—the smart thing to do is not try to be a tax whizz with a LexisNexis or PLC subscription.  If you are googling SDLT on a garage for a linked transaction at 10.42pm can I recommend another way.

Outsource the tax advice. Pass the puzzle to someone else.

Because yes, your clients are human. But so are you. Because life is hard enough. Because HMRC don't do hugs.

And because your client’s question about SDLT relief on a semi-detached property with a granny flat and three goats doesn't need to land in your mental health inbox.

Delegate the risk.  And maybe you’ll get through this August with your inbox—and your sanity—intact.