DIY Will or Professional Will

Everybody is doing their best to save money where they can during the cost-of-living crisis, which is why DIY Wills or using cheap service providers like Will Writers, can be very appealing.  However, it is important to know that what you save now, your estate could pay ten times over after your death.

A DIY Will is where someone uses a standard template Will which can be found on the internet. It is not advisable for anyone to do a DIY Will due to the technical and legal nature of a Will.

There are several important factors that must be considered when making a Will, some of which include who will be responsible for administering your estate after death; who the individuals are that you would like to benefit from your estate; making suitable provisions for blended families and minor children or dependent or vulnerable people; and considering relevant tax planning and tax reliefs.

These important factors may not be considered properly or at all when making a DIY Will, whereas using a fully qualified legal professional ensures that these important factors will be discussed at the time of drafting a Will.

Another benefit of using a legal professional is that they will be suspicious and aware of any undue influence or coercion that someone may be facing when making their Will. If the legal professional believes that no undue influence or coercion is occurring, they are likely to have a file note to confirm that. A claim can be brought against a Will if an individual believes that a Will was made as a result of pressure or coercion. If a legal professional was used for drafting the Will, their file note can be used as evidence and dismiss a claim of undue influence or coercion. On the other hand, if someone prepared a DIY Will, there are no safeguards in place and no evidence to provide to a Court if a claim of undue influence was raised.  It is therefore more likely that the individual raising the claim would be successful. This scenario also applies if there is a doubt over the mental capacity of the person making the Will.

It may be suggested that a compromise between a DIY Will and using a legal professional is to use an unregulated Will Writer. Will writers do not usually have legal qualifications; they are not regulated by a professional code of conduct and they sometimes do not have professional insurance to cover any mistakes that they may make.

Will Writers have been known to overcharge for their services, mislead clients or create unnecessarily complicated documents, which result in the client having to use a legal professional to either understand the documents or correct the mistakes that have been made by the Will Writer.

Will writers also often fail to provide full information relating to their fees. Therefore, their final costs can be significantly more than what was initially advertised. As Will Writers are not regulated, they can include potentially unfair contract terms such as an exclusion of liability, or not including a client’s cancellation rights.  They can also include terms which give them an automatic appointment as an executor of your Will. Legal Professionals on the other hand are required to maintain professional indemnity insurance and there are strict regulations that solicitors must follow and abide by which ensures the client will know about the full costs up front and will not be misled at any stage.

As the saying goes, you get what you pay for and therefore we recommend that you use a fully qualified, regulated legal professional to ensure that your wishes are accurately represented in your Will.

To make an appointment with a member of our Wills and Estate Administration team, please contact Christa Foster on 01689 887884.