News
News
14th July 2011
Institute of Professional Willwriters (IPW) welcomes recommendation to regulate
Will-writing
The IPW has welcomed today's report by the Legal Services Consumer Panel to recommend that will-writing services in England and Wales should be regulated. The recommendation follows a 10 month investigation into the provision of will-writing and related services which included mystery shopping and interviews with consumers who had recently made their Will.
For most of the 20 years that the IPW has been in existence it has campaigned for the provision of Willwriting services to be regulated and during that time has consistently led the way in setting the highest standards for its members, both in terms of technical competence and customer service. This was endorsed when in 2010 the IPW became only the tenth organisation, and the only one in the legal sector, to have a Code of Practice approved by the Office of Fair Trading under its Consumer Code Approval Scheme.
For some time the government has acknowledged that there have been issues in the will-writing sector, ranging from high pressure selling to poorly drafted Wills but has asked for hard evidence of detriment to consumers before taking action. Evidence has been difficult to provide because making a Will is an occasional event that makes it difficult for buyers to measure and quantify the quality of the product and service that they receive. And as the report points out, many problems with Wills don't surface until after death -when it's too late to find out whether the Will was up to the job intended - when it's often difficult and /or expensive to carry out corrective work.
IPW Chairman, Paul Sharpe said
"We are grateful to the Consumer Panel for this piece of work that provides so much evidence of serious and damaging consumer detriment. We call on the Legal Services Board and Government ministers to take prompt action to implement the recommendations of the report
The IPW is also encouraged that the Consumer Panel recognised the position of the IPW and its members in the sector and the strength of its Code of Practice by making the recommendation that the IPW Code of Practice is used as the basis of a new regulatory scheme.
Last year the Scottish Government announced that it was to regulate Willwriting services in Scotland and ahead of that decision we formed the Institute of Scottish Professional Willwriters to apply to be a regulator of will-writing services in Scotland, using the IPW Code of Practice as the basis of the application. The IPW has every intention of applying to be a regulator of will-writing services in England and Wales should the proposals of the Consumer Panel be acted upon - and will use its Code of Practice as the corner stone of such an application."
17th August 2010
Institute of Professional Willwriters (IPW) releases second annual report on its OFT Approved Code of Practice.
As part of its commitment to the OFT, the IPW is required to compile a report annually covering five aspects of the Code. These are:
Details of compliance monitoring
A report from the independent Chairman of the Compliance Board
Any changes that have been considered to the Code
A report detailing the complaints handled during the year and the outcomes of those complaints
Outcomes of performances measured against agreed performance indicators.
Highlights from this years report include:
No complaints have been reported to the independent complaints procedure - the Estate Planning Arbitration Scheme - EPAS.
No cases of non compliance with the Code of Practice have been referred to the Compliance Board.
75% of customers rated the service that they received from an IPW members as excellent, 21% as very good, 3% as good and practically nobody rated the service as poor.
The report can be downloaded in full here.
17th August 2010
Institue of Professional Willwriters (IPW) endorses call by MP Lorely Burt for Willwriting to be regulated.
Following the Panorama programme on will writing and probate, will campaigner Lorely Burt MP has called on the government to finally regulate the will-writing profession.
'Anyone can put a sign over their door and call themselves a will-writer' said Lorely, 'But people entrust the will writer with correctly ensuring their worldly goods are disposed of properly after their death. And of course they will never know if the instructions have been taken correctly. But grieving relatives will be left to pick up the pieces.'
Solihull MP Lorely Burt has been highlighting the need for regulation of the will-writing profession since 2006, when she commissioned a debate in Parliament to bring the government to answer her calls. In September the Legal Services Board will start to 'gather evidence' on the need to make Will writing a reserved activity.
Mrs Burt welcomes this decision, saying 'It can't come soon enough. Trusting elderly people have been quoted £30 and ended up paying £1,700 for their wills. When they write their will, literally everything they have is at stake, and they deserve protection through proper regulation.'
Paul Sharpe, Chairman of the Institute of Professional Willwriters said 'We welcome the stand that Lorely Burt is taking. Lorely used to work as a Willwriter and was a member of the IPW, so it's not too difficult for her to imagine the havoc that an untrained and unregulated Willwriter can cause - and of course she has first hand experience of protection and assurance that is afforded to consumers by IPW membership.'
5th August 2010
Institite of Professional Willwriters (IPW) and ISPW assures consumers that it is safe to use their members to write their Will and administer their estates
Ahead of the broadcast by the BBC 1 programme "Panorama" of an investigation into Willwriters and the fees charged by a wide range of Willwriting providers to administer an estate after someone has died, the Institute wishes to confirm the measures that it has in place in its OFT Approved Code of Practice to ensure that the antics that will be referred to in the programme are not exhibited by its members.
1) Members are not allowed to make the appointment of themselves, or an associated firm, as executors a condition of drawing up the Will.
2) Members, or an associated firm, who is appointed as an executor in a Will must step down if requested to do so by the executors and/or the beneficiaries.
3) At the time of making a Will, members are required to outline the duties of an executor and ALL of the options available to their clients for appointing an executor.
4) Members are not allowed to use high pressure selling techniques.
5) Members are only allowed to provide services for which they are technically competent - and the Institute has a training regime in place to ensure that its members acquire the competence that they need to provide a wide range of first class legal services.
6) Client funds must be kept in a separate client account.
7) Any fees collected at the time a Will is made which are payments for, or to allow access to, estate administration services must paid directly into independently managed trust fund until such time as the estate administration service is required.
16th June 2010
OFT warns consumers to be careful when preparing Wills and appointing Executors
The OFT has been working closely with the Solicitors Regulation Authority and the Institute of Professional Willwriters in order to help people preparing Wills understand that they have the option to shop around for professional executor services, or to appoint a non professional (such as a family member or friend) who can then choose to be assisted by a professional if required.
David Stalibrass, OFT Director of Services said 'Preparing a will is important to make sure that your wishes are respected after your death. We welcome the steps taken by the SRA and the IPW to provide greater clarity for consumers'.
April 2010
Three Shires Wills are full members of The Institute of Professional Willwriters who have recently announced that their code of practice has gained approval of the Office of Fair Trading. This is a first for any legal organisation and means that the general public has the peace of mind knowing that Three Shires Wills who are members of the Institute are fully compliant with the code.
9th December 2009
Chancellor announces that the intended increase in the Inheritance Allowance next April, will not happen now and will be kept at the current rate of £325,000. Don't forget, Three Shires Wills can advise on mitigating Inheritance tax
1st October 2009
From October 2009, Three Shires Wills are now able to offer thier client a special Home Protection Plan to potentially preserve the whole of the house from care costs. A double benefit means that the estate might even avoid the cost and inconveniece of probate. This enables you to put your house into this trust during your life time for the benefit of your chosen beneficiaries, whilst retaining control. This specialist trust is suitable for singles or couples. If you would like to learn more about this exciting new development, then please contact us as soon as possible to enable us to explain in more detail to you.
12th May 2009
Three Shires Wills have been chosen by a local charity called Guideposts Trust (www.guidepoststrust.org.uk) based in Witney, Oxfordshire, to offer a free basic Will to prospective clients. The idea behind the promotion is to encourage more people to leave a legacy to Guideposts in their Will, to enable them to continue their valuable work with children with special needs or older people with Alzheimers. Interested parties should contact Three Shires Wills head office on 01280 840388 for further information. This is a win/win offer, the client ends up with a free professionally drafted Will, and Guideposts increase the amount of revenue they receive from peoples Wills. Clients need to check to find out if this is still available.
New law of Intestacy from 1st February 2009
What happens if you die without making a Will:
Making a Will is relatively straightforward and not very expensive. However, in spite of this, seven out of ten people in the UK who could and should make a Will die without a Will. This often causes delays, hardship and worry - and even costly legal bills can result if there is confusion and disagreement among those left behind.
Should you die without a Will or if your Will is deemed to be invalid (e.g. if it wasn't completed or signed correctly) then you are said to have died intestate.
This results in the laws of the land deciding how your estate is distributed.
The distribution of your estate is determined by your marital situation at the time of your death. The following notes are meant for guidance only, and please note that the laws relating to Scotland and Northern Ireland differ in some aspects.
Married with Children (separated people are treated under these rules as still being married)
1) Your spouse gets:
a) personal chattels (eg car, house contents, jewellery etc), plus
b) first £250,000 of your estate, plus
c) the income on half of any surplus (only income, your spouse cannot
touch the capital)
2) Your children (stepchildren get nothing) get:
a) half of any excess over £250,000 outright, plus
b) the other half of the excess when your spouse has also died
Married with No Children but with Parents and/or Brothers and Sisters
1) Your spouse gets:
a) personal chattels (eg car, house contents, jewellery etc), plus
b) first £450,000 of your estate, plus
c) half of any excess over £450,000 outright
2) Your parents or (if none alive) your brothers and sisters get:
a) Balance i.e. half of any excess over £450,000 outright
Married with No children and No Parents and No Brothers and Sisters
Your spouse gets everything
Single, Widowed or Divorced (but not separated)
Everything goes to your children (if any), otherwise to your parents (if alive), otherwise to your brothers and sisters (or their children), otherwise your grandparents (if alive), otherwise your uncles and aunts (or their children), otherwise to the government
Important Note
If you have a co-habiting partner, he/she will get none of your estate even if you have been together for 50 years or more.
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