Trust Inheritance Will Writing Service

sloughflint

wise_fool wrote: »

The Legal Services Board will be looking at regulation in 2010 - the sooner the better. Personally, I fear that anyone with a professional looking badge will get the nod as a regulator

I wonder if the Fellowship of Professional Willwriters might get it?
Their president wrote:

I, along with my colleagues at the Fellowship am striving to achieve full regulatory status and am currently working towards an application to the Legal Services Board under Part 2 of schedule 4 of the Legal Services Act 2007 to become regulators of Probate activities. At the same time, we are pursuing an application under s24 and schedule 6 of the LSA 2007 to enable willwriting to be considered to become a regulated profession.

Their website looks nice and reassuring until you read what another poster had to say about Baggysdad's bit of research above:

value_seeker wrote: »

As prev mentioned by others - great research and info. Many thanks for listing names.
It is interesting when reading the Law Society Gazette article quote: " an EPS spokeswoman said that SPS fell foul to a rogue willwriter"
How strange (or not surprisingly) the "will writer" who sold my elderly parents wills with an estate insurance agreement, is still a name as per the list in the above thread. The rogue will writers are still operating and now they like to call themselves directors of this company!
We were fortunate in getting our money back. However it is worrying that the correspondance recieved at the time from the MD of EPS (another name on the list) was "badly written and from someone with a poor grasp of english" quoting my contact at Trading Standards. How do these people get to run a company is beyond me...no wonder they make it up as they go along and then form an association to credit themselves. They have no ethical or integrity standards at all. Are these people so "greed" driven they have lost their moral compass or by being not very well educated they never had one?! The truth will out ....just like MPs expenses!

Frightening stuff.

John_Pierpoint

I believe there is an international standard (which England has not ratified) that requires page numbering and signing of each page etc. ?

I would think it is simple common sense to do this, but obviously the vast majority of wills are written witnessed and proved by honest people.

RobS77

Willwriters aren't regulated, and anyone can set themselves up in this sort of business- I have seen recent examples of a will-writer who negligently drafted a discretionary trust with the result that it took several thousand pounds to sort it out, and where they had "forgotten" to insert a residuary estate clause. Don't touch with a bargepole.

RobS77

John_Pierpoint wrote: »

I believe there is an international standard (which England has not ratified) that requires page numbering and signing of each page etc. ?

I would think it is simple common sense to do this, but obviously the vast majority of wills are written witnessed and proved by honest people.

Not that I have ever heard of, and I have worked as a private client solicitor for over 5 years. Honesty doesn't excuse incompetence, that many so-called will-writers are guilty of. And would you really go to a will-writer for advice on mitigation of Inheritance Tax?

monkey_spank

RobS77 wrote: »

Not that I have ever heard of, and I have worked as a private client solicitor for over 5 years. Honesty doesn't excuse incompetence, that many so-called will-writers are guilty of. And would you really go to a will-writer for advice on mitigation of Inheritance Tax?

That's the sort of pompous, arrogant nonsense I would expect to hear from a solicitor. I have personally encountered at least two instances of solicitor incompetence in the area of wills and probate and would certainly never go to a solicitor for a will again.

There are countless examples of solicitor incompetence on this forum. Two spring to mind - first up is this dreadful drafting here that is causing this executor untold misery: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1164505&highlight=wills

But I think worst of all is the solicitor who almost cost his client up to £120,000 in unnecessary inheritance tax. If it wasn't for this forum the incompetent individual would never have been rumbled. This from an 'experienced' fully 'qualified' solicitor. God only knows what other carnage this guy has caused elsewhere over the years.

Here:http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1120993&highlight=

Yes, there are plenty of incompetent will writers - but it's worth reminding ourselves that they are not all the same. The Institute of Professional Will writers - www.ipw.org.uk have very high standards and so do STEP. As, for high street solicitors - don't believe the hype. I would much prefer to obtain my advice from someone who is a specialist - ie someone who is properly trained rather than a 'dabbler' in various other areas of law such as conveyancing (which a lot of solicitors are).

RobS77

Fair point- there are lots of solicitors who are not very good, I grant you: high street solicitors have their place, doing conveyancing, but not complicated wills. I agree will-writers serve a purpose doing basic stuff, but I would be interested to know what degree of specialisation a Will writer can really claim to have in issues revolving around the protection of assets and the mitigation of tax using trusts.

Interesting you make the point regarding inheritance tax- we have recently had to go to court to rectify a Will, costing thousands, drafted by a Will-writer that would have cost the family £120,000.00 in IHT due to negligence and incompetence by the draftsman. Quid pro quo.......

My firm has 4 members of STEP by the way, I agree it is the gold standard.

RobS77

That first thread you have quoted is a classic by the way- any solicitor who agreed to draft a Will on the basis of those instructions needs their head examining.

sloughflint

Another company seems to be making the MSE news:

ITC Legal services
and here
and here

RobS77 wrote: »

Not that I have ever heard of, and I have worked as a private client solicitor for over 5 years. And would you really go to a will-writer for advice on mitigation of Inheritance Tax?

Well I don't think I'll be coming to you for advice.:eek:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=2177113

sloughflint

Maybe there's hope after all.

Will Drafters ltd ( already mentioned in this thread )are being taken to Court for excessive fees and refusing to renounce their role of executor.

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/article7010379.ece

Clearly the Times' positive reference to the fellowship of professional will writers means that what has been divulged in this thread is not a well known fact.

There is debate over whether will-writing companies should be regulated. The only will-writing association to offer accreditation — the Fellowship of Professional Willwriters and Probate Practitioners — says that its research shows that two thirds of people wrongly thought the willwriters they used were all trained solicitors.

More on will drafters ltd and the case:

http://www.independent.co.uk/money/spend-save/beware-the-curse-of-the-unwanted-executor-1797246.html
http://www.finalduties.co.uk/blog/2010/01/high-court-case-update.html
http://www.pressreleasepoint.com/final-duties-seeks-power-high-court-remove-professional-executor-will-overcharging

sloughflint

I wonder which company this is?

StiffeeSpamhead wrote: »

Evening all.. long time reader etc..

..ok.. I'm writing this while a bit narked.. so apologies if it's a bit ranty!!

Me and the wife have just had some company round to write a will for £50 each.. pretty cheap.. .. it's straightforward.. everything goes to the other on death or to the kids if we both cop it..

..anyway.. I wasn't massively impressed with the bloke (made a joke about my wife's recent car accident for example!).. I wasn't sure with some of the things he said (executors cannot be family or someone who would benefit from the will? executors liable for all the costs even if the will didn't cover it? we can share our inheritance tax limit so our threshold is £650k- I'm sure that's not right! told us if we stored the will and it was marked with a paperclip it would be invalid.. said we'd be looking at approx. 5% of our estate being taken up with paying to execute the will etc..).. but I'm no legal expert and confess my mind has been elsewhere with work and stuff..

BUT.. £50 each didn't seem too bad..

until he got to the hard sell.. when he turned into a flippin' doorstep salesman who just kept on prodding until we gave in..

basically they have a protection plan (is this normal?!) which I felt he pushed us into signing @ a pretty big cost! we have the right to cancel and will be refunded the monies.. which we intent to do (he said it covered storage of the will and other vital documents, annual contact from company to see if will needs updating,updates to will, help/advice to us and family on death etc..).. but..

they also made us pay for the will up front - which I found unusual..

I'm unhappy with the service I received and would now like to cancel the whole thing.. the small print says they undertake to refund the money paid if we change our mind but that they reserve the right to charge for the advice given.. not that I was given the chance to read through this as he kept on pushing asking me what the problem was with me signing..

I have the guys mobile number - do I contact him directly and advise him that I intend to cancel the whole thing and complain about the treatment I received or do I wait until Monday morning and ring the central company? This company was recommended by a family member who when I spoke to them received a similar deal but without the hard-sell that we got!

If I have to go ahead with the wills only (because they want to hit us with big cancellation fees).. can this will be 'transferred' to any solicitor of our choice should we have to have a codicil written for the will?

I've also just found that I can store the bleeding thing with the HMCS when written as well rather than the £50 approx. per year he told us it was as well!!

I accept I was poorly prepared for this guys visit (compounded by heavily pregnant wife and me having a stressful job!).. but can't help think he was a bit economical with the truth in order to get a sale.. I'm an adult and he didn't physically force us to sign but I do feel we were pressured into signing and he did not explain the charges we may incur if we cancel the whole thing..

Am I alone in the experience and where do I stand in terms of my grievance?

All help, advice, smacks round the head because I'm a plank who's just re-read his union membership and found he can get a free will gratefully received!!

StiffeeSpamhead wrote: »

well that's what this agreement covered.. it caps their fees @ 1% of the estate.. which seemed pretty good as he was quoting fees elsewhere of 3-5%... but I was unhappy on having to sign there and then and said so.. and he kept on pressuring until I gave in.. it's going to cost £3k in total for the agreement and then 1% of the estate upon death..

I can't work out if it's a good deal or if I've been mugged! The whole salesman routine has coloured my judgement plus I do feel he poured a bit of 'story-juice' on some of the figures and scenarios he quoted..