Member Article

Will writing services likely to be regulated

Writing a last will and testament is one of the most important legal steps many people will make during their lifetimes. At present in England and Wales, a solicitor is not needed to make a valid will. This has lead to serious complaints about unscrupulous practices in the will writing industry. Bad practice within the industry was brought to national attention during a BBC Panorama investigation in 2010.

As a result, the Legal Services Board launched a consultation in 2010 with the aim of finding out whether the will writing industry should be more heavily regulated.

The newly founded Legal Services Board has the goal of ensuring that legal service regulation favours consumers, including protection in the event that provided services are not up to scratch. A ‘restricted’ activity can only be undertaken by solicitors. In England and Wales, in contrast to most of continental Europe, writing a last will and testament has never been a restricted activity .

An independent section of the Legal Services Board known as the Legal Services Consumer Panel recommended in July 2011 that will writing services should be regulated. They did not, however, suggest that will writing should restricted to solicitors, recognising the importance of a diverse legal services marketplace. In 2012, the Legal Services Consumer Panel submitted its final response to the Legal Services Board calling for will writing to be put under some form of regulation.

Few within the industry disagree with this position. The Institute of Professional Willwriters (IPW) has an OFT-approved code of practise for will writers. IPW Chairman Paul Sharpe said “We welcome the guidelines from the LSB, which are not very different from those in our own Code of Practice.”

Andrew Hayes from Make a Will Online, an online will writing service, offered his view: “We welcome the recommendations from the Legal Services Board and consider consumer protection an essential element of any service. We have always carried professional indemnity insurance and work closely with experienced solicitors to ensure the quality of our services. Anything that can be done to protect consumers from unscrupulous sales practises and rip-off merchants has our full support.

Legislation is expected during 2013 to reflect the suggestions put forward by the Legal Services Board. Although it is still unclear exactly what form the legislation will take, many within the will-writing industry expect to see professional indemnity insurance made compulsory for anyone selling a will-writing service, along with greater rights and protections for consumers.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Alex Hammond .