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National Legal Services
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Steel_2
Posts: 1,649 Forumite

Last year hubby and I had our wills drawn up and stored by National Legal Services.
This company went bust recently and we are unable to track down the person who we dealt with originally.
How do we go about finding out where a) why NLS went bust b) whether our Wills are affected in any way by them going bust and c) where our Wills are stored and how to get them back if necessary from NLS.
Any ideas?
This company went bust recently and we are unable to track down the person who we dealt with originally.
How do we go about finding out where a) why NLS went bust b) whether our Wills are affected in any way by them going bust and c) where our Wills are stored and how to get them back if necessary from NLS.
Any ideas?
"carpe that diem"
0
Comments
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National Legal Services was a franchising operation wound up by the courts on the petition of the DTI - a copy is HERE. If nothing else read para 21. There is also quite a lengthy discussion on UK Business Forums - HERE - which I haven't time to read fully but might be interesting/useful.
As 2 of the grounds to wind it up are, "inadequate training and support to agents" and "wholely inadequate insurance [for] potentially very large liabilities to clients" I would think your Wills would be unreliable or at least suspect with no come back if they prove inadequate in the future. How you would get them back - I haven't a clue. Why you would want them back armed with this info - even less so!
Would suggest you get them redone by a local solicitor [don't use them as executors if you can help it] so that you or your dependents have some come back if things aren't done right. If you use a willwriter make sure that they're a member of a national body [willwriters guild may be one?] that ensures standards and liability insurance is in place.
HTH.
EDIT to add: If you can trace the franchisee you may have some comeback against them, Trading Standards might help, but as they were conned out of 6 grand or so each it might be difficult to collect.0 -
Hi Steel,
I'm sorry to hear about your experience with National/Nationwide Legal Services.
Further to Ian's post, the Directors running the company were heavily criticised by the DTI. This company's business model was based upon selling franchises (which number around 5000 I believe).
The vast majority of these did not receive the training they paid for or made any profits.
I don't know who bought the assets of the company, but I can tell you the Insolvency Officers were: Mr N Reed/Mr P Boyden, Price Waterhouse Coopers LLP, Benson House, 33 Wellington Street, Leeds, LS1 4JP so you could check with them.
And as Ian says, even if you were to locate your Wills, there is no guarantee they're worth the paper they're written on.
So your best bet may be to cut your losses and start again. At least you're still alive to rectify the situation - God only knows how many Wills were involved and as far as I'm concerned it's a disgrace that should have been prevented - the sooner the profession is properly regulated the better.
The Institute Of Professional Willwriters is the only Willwriting organisation who's members must pass an entrance exam, have a CRB check, supply references, must have Professional Indemnity Insurance and continuous Professional development. Solicitors no longer need to pass any exams in Willwriting during their training. Visit https://www.ipw.org.uk.[FONT="]Public wealth warning![/FONT][FONT="] It's not compulsory for solicitors or Willwriters to pass an exam in writing Wills - probably the most important thing you’ll ever sign.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Membership of the Institute of Professional Willwriters is acquired by passing an entrance exam and complying with an OFT endorsed code of practice, and I declare myself a member.[/FONT]0 -
Thanks guys
I'm looking into having them redrawn right now. We were also persuaded to have enduring power of attorney documents drawn up.
I've been chatting to someone who is a member of the Society of Will Writers (in fact he's been one of my clients for the last 18 months), but if the Institute Of Professional Willwriters is the only ones with insurance and have been checked I'll have a look for someone there.
Unfortunately, with Christmas and my taxes due in January, we won't be looking at getting these done until February.
Best hope nothing happens between now and then."carpe that diem"0 -
Hi,
Society of Willwriters members may have PII, but they do not have to sit any exams in Willwriting. Some members may be OK, but the one member I know is terrible, hence why I only recommend (and joined myself) the IPW.
Best wishes.[FONT="]Public wealth warning![/FONT][FONT="] It's not compulsory for solicitors or Willwriters to pass an exam in writing Wills - probably the most important thing you’ll ever sign.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Membership of the Institute of Professional Willwriters is acquired by passing an entrance exam and complying with an OFT endorsed code of practice, and I declare myself a member.[/FONT]0 -
Just a quick update on the wills situation.
The client who I referred to in my previous post has come back to me and told me National Legal Services was acquired by a company called Just Wills in West Sussex.
I emailed them this morning asking if they could help me retrieve our wills and received the following reply:
We are able to help you with this matter. To be able to return your documents, we will require a letter signed by yourself and your husband requesting that we return the documents to you, as well as some proof of identification for you both (photocopy of driving licence or passport).
On top of this, there is a retrieval fee of £38.20 which can either be paid by cheque, or over the telephone using any of the major credit cards.
I'm a little annoyed there is a retrieval fee, but am willing to pay it to get them back. I've emailed the gentleman back and enquired about the EPAs as well to see if they are stored together with the Wills and subject to the same retrieval fee.
However, before I go ahead and get them both, I'm going to send my copies to my Will Writing client who was kind enough to look into the situation for me and ask him to look over them and see if they are indeed worth the paper they are written on.
If they are and I get them back, what are my options regarding Will storage?
If they're not, I'll have both sets of documents redrawn by someone from the Institute Of Professional Willwriters."carpe that diem"0 -
It is a pity you were not given a draft or copy Will for your records, as having to pay an additional £38 for something that may be useless would annoy me greatly.
Obviously you will not want your original Will lost, destroyed, stolen or tampered with either before or after you have died - and so it should be kept somewhere that only you and your executor(s) have access to.
Some will writing companies offer storage with amendment facilities. Alternatively your bank will be able to store it for around £20 per year, though they are likely to charge you to withdraw it, put it back, look at it etc.
So a better alternative is to lodge it at the Central Probate Registry in London. The fee is a one-off at around £15 and you will be given a certificate. Of course if you make a new Will, you will have to pay a fresh fee.[FONT="]Public wealth warning![/FONT][FONT="] It's not compulsory for solicitors or Willwriters to pass an exam in writing Wills - probably the most important thing you’ll ever sign.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Membership of the Institute of Professional Willwriters is acquired by passing an entrance exam and complying with an OFT endorsed code of practice, and I declare myself a member.[/FONT]0 -
I currently am an executor of a will made by nationwide legal services. This will is now being contested and the validity of the will is being drawn into question. I cannot get info regarding circumstances surrounding the draughting of the will. anybody know what happens if this info is not available.0
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You don't say on what grounds the Will is being contested - but I think the likelihood of gaining any assistance from this firm or any successor firm is virtually nil.
If it's any consolation, the onus is on the person bringing the claim to prove the Will was invalid.[FONT="]Public wealth warning![/FONT][FONT="] It's not compulsory for solicitors or Willwriters to pass an exam in writing Wills - probably the most important thing you’ll ever sign.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Membership of the Institute of Professional Willwriters is acquired by passing an entrance exam and complying with an OFT endorsed code of practice, and I declare myself a member.[/FONT]0 -
God I am a fool! Just found out about NLS and the fact they were a franchise!
I have wills for my self and partner together with power of attourney. Both copies and unsigned so WORTHLESS!
Is there anything I can do to get my money back? What IS the best course of action?:mad::j:j:j0 -
Can't you sign the copies? Or am I missing something?0
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