Advice re: wills & executors please.

devilshaircut007

sloughflint wrote: »

Not for much longer hopefully.
Poster reported.

would appear nobody but you is allowed an opinion on here. You sound very bitter and twisted Sloughfool....oooooo i'm telling teacher!!!

sloughflint

For people coming to this thread for the first time, devilshaircut007 was a spammer promoting fpwpp training specialists ltd on various threads a little while back.

Perhaps a little foolishly, they couldn't resist reviving this old thread to plant a plug and discredit the Institute for professional willwriters.

Thanks to Baggysdad, people are now all too aware of the very close links between fpwpp trainingspecialists ltd, the fellowship of professional will writers, EPS and SPS.:rolleyes:

We seem to be experiencing a little deja vu today and an incredibly swift return of our original spammer whose original posts were all removed.

That's relatively harmless.What I find most frightening is that the fellowship are looking to become regulators.:eek::eek::eek:

monkey_spank

Their campaign to poach will writers from other more established and reputable organisations must be flagging then.

I wonder which of the 6 partners True Star and devilshaircut are? :rolleyes:

I also wonder whether they are the same people 'with their poor grasp of English' that Value Seeker refers to (post 53). :eek:

Maybe they should at least pass an Edexcel GCSE in English before they start running exams themselves - or worse - getting involved in writing wills.

Let's just hope and pray the Legal Services Board don't fall for this bunch of jokers.

RobS77

As a solicitor, could somebody tell me more about will-writers and how the various bodies are regulated? I am not trying to start a turf war here, I am genuinely interested in comparing the professions. For instance, one poster makes reference to the taking of exams- does that purely refer to the drafting of Wills, or would that also incorporate court of protection work- and would you also advise on contested estates? Would you seek to advise on the ongoing administration and taxation of trusts, or purely their drafting? And what are the ongoing CPD requirements?

monkey_spank

RobS77 wrote: »

As a solicitor, could somebody tell me more about will-writers and how the various bodies are regulated? I am not trying to start a turf war here, I am genuinely interested in comparing the professions. For instance, one poster makes reference to the taking of exams- does that purely refer to the drafting of Wills, or would that also incorporate court of protection work- and would you also advise on contested estates? Would you seek to advise on the ongoing administration and taxation of trusts, or purely their drafting? And what are the ongoing CPD requirements?

As far as I know they are all currently self regulating, but from my own experiences and what I've learnt, the Institute of professional will writers have very high standards of ethics and professionalism. The only trouble is no-one is obliged to join a professional body so they can operate with impunity. Also with all these different professional organisations how on earth can the consumer differentiate?

From what I can recall, on the Trust Inheritance thread that you and I have posted on, the SWW briefly appeared and were invited to comment on the ethics of one its members but chose not to do so. Doesn't really inspire confidence does it?

Then of course we have solicitors. And by your own admission unless the punter pays top dollar to a specialist niche firm, they are generally not much better. We all know that most solicitors who write wills are motivated by the earnings potential of being an executor. If it's any consolation at least they are insured and they can be disqualified. But really the trusting public deserve better.

I really hope that regulation clears up a really unsatisfactory profession - but I really fear nothing much will change. The unscrupulous and incompetent will probably remain in one way or another.

Perhaps in the first instance you could visit the IPW's website and have a read up and read a few threads on here as part of your research.

RobS77

You are wrong to suggest solicitors only make money on estates where they are appointed as Executors: probate is a specialist area, and if it is done properly then it can be quite profitable. I only appoint partners in the firm to be executors where there is no appropriate family member: and it depends what you construe as "top dollar"- I would normally charge a married couple a couple of hundred quid for mirror Wills- and I flatter myself that I am pretty competent having been doing it for seven or eight years. Obviously, if they want a Will incorporating a complex tax-planning structure that is a different matter, I quite agree that most solicitors wouldn't be capable of advising on that- or indeed most will-writers I daresay. But if people could save hundreds of thousands of pounds in inheritance tax through the use of structured settlements, then they tend to be willing to pay for specialist advice.

farmerboy

Just our wills done by our solicitor £150+vat for mirror wills and no charge for them keeping the originals, very happy with that.

monkey_spank

RobS77 wrote: »

You are wrong to suggest solicitors only make money on estates where they are appointed as Executors:

I didn't say that. If you read my words properly, I actually said, "most solicitors who write wills are motivated by the earnings potential of being an executor."

RobS77 wrote: »

probate is a specialist area, and if it is done properly then it can be quite profitable.

Oh yes I am fully aware of that. It's just that a lot of people are reassured by the smooth words of the solicitor that "they can take care of that" and become the executor - without realising the true cost to their estate - and that their own family or friends in the vast majority of cases, could carry out the role at minimal expense.

Whilst I accept that in some cases legal advice will be necessary, that can be obtained if required, and the probate registries are also very helpful.

RobS77 wrote: »

But if people could save hundreds of thousands of pounds in inheritance tax through the use of structured settlements, then they tend to.

I wonder how many people who use MSE have a clue what a 'structured settlement' is. It's that sort of pretentious jargon that gets people running a mile from solicitors.

RobS77

monkey_spank wrote: »

I didn't say that. If you read my words properly, I actually said, "most solicitors who write wills are motivated by the earnings potential of being an executor."

No, most solicitors who write wills are motivated by the fact that they can make a living out of supplying a legal need. Unless you are talking about people in their 70s or 80s, the likelihood of the solicitor actually being around and at the same firm to act isn't that high anyway.

Oh yes I am fully aware of that. It's just that a lot of people are reassured by the smooth words of the solicitor that "they can take care of that" and become the executor - without realising the true cost to their estate - and that their own family or friends in the vast majority of cases, could carry out the role at minimal expense.

Hmm, not always as easy as that- some people do it fine, but many people make a complete mess and come to solicitors to sort it out- crude generalisations like "vast majority" indicates you don't really know too much about probate. How many estates have you administered?

Whilst I accept that in some cases legal advice will be necessary, that can be obtained if required, and the probate registries are also very helpful.

Absolutely- people can do whatever they want.


I wonder how many people who use MSE have a clue what a 'structured settlement' is. It's that sort of pretentious jargon that gets people running a mile from solicitors.

What about pompous windbags pretending they know more about the law than solicitors? Just a thought. If people want to pay the tax, thats their business- go to a will-writer and get on with it.....

monkey_spank

RobS77 wrote: »

What about pompous windbags pretending they know more about the law than solicitors? Just a thought. If people want to pay the tax, thats their business- go to a will-writer and get on with it.....

Who might that be then?

I'm no tax or legal expert but I've learnt enough over the years and pick up lots on this forum to know that solicitors aren't necessarily as clever as they would like us to believe. It seems after taking a quick look at your recent posts that you fit into that mould perfectly. If you live in a glass house it's probably better not to be throwing stones.

I also deal with many lawyers in a professional capacity and, like most human beings, there exist the good, the bad and the so-so.

When it comes to any professional service however, I'd rather take a specialist in one particular 'sector' above someone whose daily raison d'etre is billing those hours in an 'imaginative' way and fobbing all but the interesting stuff to their minions. It is ridiculous to suggest that a specialist is unable to advise on tax or other issues.

Although the big losses for lawyers' professional negligence insurers may come from the exotica of the commercial sector they still tend to be few and far numerically, whereas the large number of cocked-up wills each year would suggest a general lack of interest/knowledge or the practice's youngest intern is the default recipient of such work. Not confidence inspiring either way.

It seems that you are at least a little bit more humble recently after your first few posts so there may be hope for you.