Lawyers take on the fight to stamp out Wills cowboys

Published: 01/07/2013

The launch of the Law Society designed Will-Writing Quality Scheme (WQS) and the introduction of a will-writing kite mark gives a second and much needed chance to tighten up will writing and estate administration.

‘We’ve been monitoring the situation closely since we heard earlier this month that the government had rejected the calls of the Legal Standards Board to regulate will writing despite their strong recommendation,’ explained Eddie Goldsmith, Senior Partner at Goldsmith Williams. ‘The proposal to develop a WQS scheme is one which we welcome and we’re delighted with the lead that the Law Society has taken here.

As a pioneer of the Conveyancing Quality Scheme my firm is an advocate of such standards frameworks because in our experience they give a measure of protection to clients and enable those lawyers who operate to a high standard to demonstrate that by means of an external, objective accreditation. As we understand it there will be separate protocols for will-writing and estate administration and whilst Lasting Powers of Attorney are not currently covered by the scheme there are plans to deal with these under a separate protocol in the future.

Whilst this is no replacement for government regulation of will-writing it is a step in the right direction. This development can put all brokers in the “driving seat” in recommending a reputable law firm to their clients to help them in this aspect of the law. In this way brokers can help to drive up the standards in this market whilst at the same time delivering a comprehensive and holistic service to their clients.’

Content correct at time of publication