Wills and Probate | Certainty UK Will Register Blog

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Tuesday 08 August 2006

Eight out of ten people want the government to protect them from untrained and unregulated will writers, according to a new survey.

An ICM poll found that 85 per cent of adults believe that everyone offering will-making services should be properly regulated.

A growing number of people are being exploited by people claiming to be experts in will writing. The Law Society has today published a Dossier of despair to illustrate the risks of using unregulated will writers.

High level support for regulation also came from the Joint Committee report (of Lords and Commons) on the draft Legal Services Bill. It recently recommended that will writing should be regulated.

Fiona Woolf Law Society president, said: ”There is clearly a consensus for regulation and evidence to support the extent of the problem. There are some dreadful examples of poor advice, shoddy service and unethical behaviour by will writers. A poorly drafted will may have no legal meaning and can leave families in real difficulties.

”The government must ensure that will writers are properly qualified, insured and able to offer consumers effective complaints-handling procedures. Solicitors who draft wills are trained, regulated and required to be insured by the Law Society should anything go wrong.”

The survey also reveals a worrying statistic that only 41 per cent of the adult population have an up-to-date will and about one-third of respondents (32 per cent) said they have no intention of ever making a will.

Ms Woolf added: ”Writing a will is one of the most important financial and personal decisions for people to make. This survey reveals a worrying level of complacency and the need for the public to be educated about the importance of making a will.

”If you care about what happens to your property and assets after you die, you must make a will. Without a will, the state decides who inherits your estate, so your friends, relatives and favourite charities may get nothing. If your circumstances change, your will must be updated or it may be invalid.

”It is also vital to see a solicitor for expert advice so your family can avoid paying unnecessary levels of inheritance tax. Recent changes to the inheritance tax regime mean that it is more important than ever to obtain a solicitor’s advice on wills, tax and trusts planning.”

Example case study

An old lady found a will writer who was advertising in the local newspaper for wills at £24 each.

She wanted a will so that her son would not inherit anything, as she had not been in touch with him for 20 years and he had stolen from her in the past. Instead, she wanted her long-time carers to inherit her estate.

She died in hospital, and her son immediately emptied the house when he heard the news. He found the will that said that he was to inherit nothing, but was told the will was invalid because the witness signatures had not been signed together and there were other mistakes with the will. He inherited everything, and the lady died intestate.

The carers organised and paid for the funeral; the son did not attend. The carers are now using a solicitor to try to recover what is rightfully theirs. Because the will is invalid, they cannot get anything. They are now trying to sue the will writer, but he has no insurance, and their claim is likely to be dropped due to the fact that they can’t afford to take it further.

This is a press release from the Law Society
Source: http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/newsandevents/pressreleases/view=newsarticle.law?NEWSID=296195

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 4th, 2008 at 11:09 am and is filed under Professional News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.