The BBC’s The One Show highlighted again this week the risks people face when instructing unregulated Will Writers to safeguard their affairs.

The programme, screened on Wednesday evening, covered the story of Patricia and Jim Hodges who were persuaded to instruct a Will Writer after receiving a series of cold calls. Impressed by his sales patter they agreed to him preparing Wills for them and paid a staggering £1830.00 for the documents there and then.

It was only after the cheque was cashed that the couple realised that the Wills were not worth the paper they were written on, naming the wrong son as Executor, failing to deal with the joint tenancy of their house and not even being properly executed. The Wills themselves were invalid.

“Despite trying to get their money back the couple eventually discovered that the Will Writer had disappeared and they had spent all that money but still did not have valid Wills” explains Barry Matthews, Head of the Private Client team at QualitySolicitors Wilson Browne and a member of Solicitors for the Elderly. The firm is recognised by the Legal 500 for its expertise in will writing and the administration of estates.

“The trouble with Will Writers – as The One Show programme pointed out – is that they are untrained, unregulated and uninsured so if something goes wrong you have no safety net. Solicitors are subject to heavy regulation and have to train to qualify. Not all solicitors have experience of drafting Wills, however, and specialist advice should be sought from a firm with a good reputation and specific lawyers who only deal with Wills and Probate advice” Barry Matthews confirms. “If something goes wrong with a Will drafted by a solicitor you have the comfort of knowing they are insured and that you can go to the Legal Services Ombudsman to make a complaint if necessary. Wills are vitally important documents and going to unregulated, untrained Will Writers to have them drawn up can cost you more in the first place and an awful lot more in the long run”.