Where there's a Will

Panorama BBC Mon 9th Aug 10. 'Wills, the final RIP OFF'

You may have seen the recent Panorama program on BBC1 on Will writing and estate administration.

I was pleased to see that this programme highlighted the need for regulation in the Will writing industry/profession as well as the need to check the Indemnity cover in place for the Will drafters and the instruction takers.

I have always offered a professional probate service, using a PLC Trust Corporation, that can only be committed to, by the family and executors, AFTER death and not before. I think this is the important distinction that the programme failed to point out being an option.

I also felt it did not cover the need for financial advice at the time of making the Will. I use a company called 'The Will Company' for writing Wills for my clients. Steve Oliver of the Will Company said "Providing a Will and providing Financial Advice dovetail so much that we as a company will not accept instruction from anyone unable to understand the financial implications of our service before committing to the style and type of Will on offer."

Many is the time I have reviewed a Will for a client and been dismayed at the poor quality of the wording. I think the great thing about the programme is at last some of the failings of the Will writing business are being talked about. Hopefully increased regulation will lead to the 'cowboys being run out of town'. As Brian McMillan, the director general of the society of Will Writers pointed out 'crooks can operate in any business. It is hard to stop them'. But increased regulation and more stringent checks on indemnity insurance would be a good start.

So whilst the program had its good points, unfortunately there is much less favourable comment I could also make. This, sadly, something that happens all too frequently with Panorama, in my opinion. A once great institution too often 'dumbed down'. Uninformed in places, inaccurate in others and somewhat misleading.

Again though, more positively, the program was critical about three aspects of the will writing industry: -

1. Clients are tempted to write wills by a low cost 'headline' - 'Wills from only £30' - and then find they are persuaded to spend thousands by slick and persuasive salespeople.
I don't do that.
I always tell you in advance and publish all fees up-front.

2. Clients are sold 'life time' products for a high fee upfront fee. Probate fees are negotiable at the time of death of a client and not before.
I don't do that.
I offer a guarantee to only act if instructed, by the executors chosen in the Will, at the time of death.

3. Clients are sold estate administration services for a high upfront fee.
I don't do that.
I don't offer an estate administration option. I don't suggest that I am appointed as executor.
I encourage clients to choose executors from amongst their close family or friends.
If after a death executors want advice on estate administration we provide it for free. If executors want to offload some or all of the work involved in estate administration we are happy to recommend a partner organisation who will offer yet more advice absolutely free and if asked will quote a fixed fee to do whatever work is required. All with no obligation at all.

I remain a member of good standing with The Society of Will Writers.
Via my working relationship with The Will Company my clients are covered by full professional indemnity insurance to protect them against any failure on the part of The Will Company. Steve Oliver, of The Will Company states proudly "In the twenty years we have been in business no claim against that insurance has been made."

So my advice, as ever, is 1. Ensure you have a Will and 2. Ensure it is up to date and 3. Ensure instructions are taken and the Will is drafted by a qualified, competent professional. Ian Green.

Drop me an email if you want a copy of my latest 'Why make a Will?' factsheet or download the Guide To Inheritance Tax (which has Will info in it) on my website: www.iangreen.com/education.php


PRESS RELEASE FROM THE SOCIETY OF WILL WRITERS ISSUED AFTER PANORAMA AIRED:
Will writing chief puts programme in perspective.

THE country's leading professional body for the will writing industry claims (August 9) Panorama programme supported what it has always said: that a Will is one of the most important documents a person will ever write and should be carried out by a qualified, person belonging to a regulated body.

However, Brian McMillan, Director General of the Society of Will Writers (SWW), added that the programme's focus on problems experienced by a small handful of people who had asked Will writers to handle their probate masked the real issues people should be addressing.

"As with most documentaries of this type, the programme sought to suggest there is a major problem within the Will writing industry by show-casing half a dozen cases - actually concerning probate administration rather than Will writing - only one of which was proven to be a fraudulent case.

"The reality is that the Society Of Will Writers alone has 2000 members who write some 200,000 Wills a year with hardly a problem. Our insurers have handled just 11 cases in the past 16 years.

"We work in an unregulated market not through choice but because successive governments have deemed it unnecessary to bring in regulation. However, the SWW would support regulation. The SWW has been on the Scottish consultation panel since 2006 and it supports the Scottish Government in its proposed regulatory plans. "The SWW is also supporting and working with the Legal Services Board in England to regulate or at least licence Will writers and is pressing for tighter regulation of probate and client funds.

"The simple truth though is that no amount of legislation will eliminate fraudulent behaviour in any industry. One of the Will writers featured in the programme was, as the Panorama reported admitted, a struck-off solicitor. The legal industry is clearly not immune then to the type of issue highlighted by the programme but which seemed to suggest lay at the door of Will writers.

"What the programme should have highlighted was, that people need to read and understand the terms and conditions of the literature they are signing and if they don't understand, don't sign until they are fully satisfied. They should ask the person dealing with them about their experience, qualifications, insurance cover and membership of a professional organisation.

"In any industry there will always be the occasional bad apple but this shouldn't cloud the key issue which, as the programme itself highlighted at the opening, is that a Will is a vitally important document which is best handled by a professional whose skills are dedicated to Will writing."
ENDS August 10 2010

Issued on behalf of the Society of Will Writers by PJR Communications Ltd. For further information, please contact Peter Richardson on 01206 843225.


The Society of Will Writers (SWW) is a non-profit making self regulatory organisation which seeks to Protect the Public and serve the interests of those men and women who are active professionals in our field.
A SWW member is covered by Professional Indemnity Insurance, underwritten by the UK's leading insurance company Hiscox, and is obliged to provide customers with proof of this if requested. The member is bound by the SWW's code of conduct and disciplinary and complaints procedures, copies of which are available from the society upon request.
The SWW member is obliged to provide a quotation - in writing if requested - of the price to be paid for the preparation of a Will or Wills, including any extra costs that may be incurred, before proceeding to prepare a Will or Wills. If more than one Will is to be prepared, the member is obliged to provide a quotation of the prices of both Wills either separately or as a set of Wills.
All SWW members go through a stringent vetting procedure and continuing training to ensure that they are suitable persons to properly write a Will.