Consumers Exploited By Unregulated Will Writers?

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 16th, 2011 at 7:26 pm

The world of wills and will writing is becoming such a contentious issue, as some non-lawyer will writers are seeing a gap in the market, which is not currently regulated, and exploiting consumers naiveness and lack of understanding, that the Scottish government announced plans to regulate all non-lawyer will writers.

Fergus Ewing, the community safety minister has said ‘ We are very concerned that some non-lawyer will writers may be exploiting the lack of regulation to the detriment of the consumer in Scotland’.

The Institute of Professional Willwriters, a group representing will writers, have highlighted the issue further after becoming only the tenth organisation to receive Office of Fair Trading approval for its code of practice.

An industry of non-lawyer will writers have jumped on the ‘band wagon’ as they realise that very few adults in the UK actually have a will and demand for their services is high. This in many cases is exasperated by people’s lack of understanding, along with the fear of having to deal with issues which they believe are expensive to pursue through wills and probate solicitors.

The crux of the matter is the issue whether will writing should be an legal activity reserved only for suitably qualified lawyers. The Law Society of England and Wales has been calling for regulation of will writing for many years; backed up by numerous cases where they believe unqualified will writers have made mistakes or exploited consumers. However, the government has continuously denied that there is sufficient evidence to suggest the practice of having unregulated will writers detrimental to consumers.

The Legal Services Board and the Legal Services Consumer Panel, who advise the board, appear relaxed about taking up the issue. Chair of the panel, Dr Dianne Hayter, questions what the real consumer detriment is. Is it merely the fact that some people have badly drafted will, while the vast majority have don’t have a will?

There are also concerns that if will writing becomes regulated and only a service which wills and probate solicitors offer there may be even fewer people electing to have a will due to costs. On the other side of the coin, is a will not of sufficient importance that consumers should be obliged to seek full legal advice when making one?

If you need to make a will please contact David Phillips & Partners on 0800 027 7870 or by completing the online form on this page.