It comes as
a surprise to some that not all legal work has to be done by lawyers. In fact a
huge amount of very good work is done by those working in welfare rights
centres, Trade Unions etc.
There are areas
of work that do have to be done by qualified lawyers such as handling litigation,
conveyancing property and advocacy in most courts. These are known as reserved
activities.
One bizarre
exception to all this has been will writing. This is an unreserved activity
which means that anybody can do it and it is currently unregulated. As an
unregulated activity it means that there is no requirement for those writing
wills to have indemnity insurance, so if they make a major mistake which costs
beneficiaries thousands of pounds there might be no recourse if they have no
insurance and no money to pay a claim. There is no access to the Legal Services
Ombudsman in case of poor service
Making a
will is one of the most important documents that a person will ever make. It
will govern what happens to all that we have once we are gone.
Solicitors
have long campaigned for will writing to become regulated. Indeed I blogged on
this very topic last year when noises were being made about regulation –
The Legal
Services Board has, this week, finally recommended to the government that this
be changed –
This means
that if the government accept the advice then there will be far greater
protection for consumers. The Minister
of Justice has 90 days to decide whether to implement the advice so it is likely
to be a year or so before we see any change.But the sooner the better.
Of course
the safest thing to do is instruct a solicitor. Now I would say that wouldn’t
I?! But in fact it is the best way to ensure that a professional and
experienced person deals with the drafting of such an important document. It
also means that there is the full backing of professional regulation and
insurance!
Which reminds me - I really do need to make one myself!!
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