Oswestry lawyer says call for will writing regulation is long overdue
A local lawyer has backed an announcement made today by the Legal Services Board (LSB), calling for all will writing and estate administration to be regulated.
Latest research by the LSB found serious systematic problems with services delivered by a range of different providers, together with indications that grieving families are being cheated out of their inheritances by criminals who are exploiting Britain’s lax wills regulations.
Richard Lloyd, a Partner in the Oswestry office of leading Shropshire and North Wales law firm GHP Legal, said today that the call for tighter regulations is long overdue.
“Huge numbers of people have been falling victim to fraudsters and cowboy companies who provide badly drafted documents for years,” says Mr Lloyd.
“In July last year the legal ombudsman stated that 13% of cases brought to him involved problems with unregulated will writing firms and research figures published last year showed that probate fraud now costs thousands of victims at least £200 million a year.
“By law in England and Wales beneficiaries are not given access to estate accounts, they have to rely on the honesty of the executor. And in some cases people are being persuaded by unregulated will writers to name them as executors.
“The Society of Estate and Trust Practitioners found 75% of its members encountered ‘cowboy’ will writers in the last year, including cases where people’s identities had been stolen allowing wills and property deeds changed.
“It is frightening how many different ways the system can currently be abused and it has to stop. Whilst it may be tempting to believe that you are saving money by making a will on line or using an unregulated will writer, or buying a will form from a stationers, the safest way to make a will is through a qualified lawyer who is regulated and can provide some protection.”
