Beware Unregulated Will Writers

Often, as a private client lawyer, people come to us with problems that they need help resolving, which could have been avoided had they benefited from the right advice in the first place.

One thing that we do sadly see all too often, is the tragic and long-lasting consequences of rogue Will writers.

How can a Will writer be ‘rogue’ you might ask.

It may come as a surprise to you to hear that there are no restrictions on who can prepare a Will, despite it being one of the most important legal documents that you will ever need. Sadly, this opens up the opportunity for people to take advantage.

One particular story that springs to mind is that of a rogue Will writer who stole £150,000 from someone’s friend, and then made off. But how can this happen exactly?

In this case, the story concerned a Will writer who prepared a Will for an elderly gentleman. The gentleman left everything to two of his friends but unknowingly appointed the rogue Will writer as the Executor.

This meant that, upon the death of the gentleman, the Will writer was able to obtain a Grant of Probate and cash in the assets in the estate without reference to the beneficiaries.  Then he disappeared.

The beneficiaries and the police were unable to trace him. Worse still, the beneficiaries were left out of pocket because the Will writer was not regulated. This meant he did not have insurance which, ordinarily, the beneficiaries could have claimed against.

There are, of course, rogues in every walk of life and you can’t always protect yourself from them. But had the Will writer been a member of the Society of Will Writers or a Solicitor, he would have had to have had the necessary insurances in place.

The moral of the tale is that, if you have the choice between instructing someone who is regulated by a professional body or someone who is unregulated to help prepare one of the most important legal documents there is, be sure to appoint the former.

Whoever writes your Will should be regulated by a professional body, have insurance in place and, most importantly, have the necessary skills to take into account your circumstances as a whole, when preparing your Will.

Photo by Álvaro Serrano on Unsplash