The Importance of a correctly drawn up will

BBC2’s current Friday night series ‘Can’t Take It With You’ highlights the importance of a Will, and follows the recent investigation by Panorama into the need for regulation in the market to offer protection to the consumer.
The Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) is a unique professional body and full members of STEP are the most experienced and senior practitioners in the field of trusts and estates, and a recent report highlights and lends evidence to support the BBC’s media coverage, revealing that incompetence and dishonesty in the UK will-writing market is widespread. The findings showed that hapless consumers are subject to invalid wills, disappearing wills and will-writing companies, as well as hidden fees and fraud in estate administration.

There are examples of will-writing companies going out of business after charging consumers thousands of pounds for an upfront will administration service, and then vanishing with the wills and money leaving no recourse in the unregulated, often unqualified and uninsured will profession.

STEP believes that the public need to be made aware of this apparent low cost option and the dangers that it presents, calling for regulation, minimum standards of qualification and effective insurance.

For the full report please click http://www.step.org/pdf/step_Will%20Writing%20Report_4.pdf .

For further information please contact Elliot Lewis.