Tayside's leading law firm has welcomed proposals announced this week by the Scottish Government to toughen up laws on non-lawyer will writers.
Thorntons Solicitors specialist Private Client team has backed the recent proposals designed to ensure that the services provided by non-lawyer will-writers who charge fees for their services conform to acceptable practice. This follows concern that members of the public are sometimes being exploited by these unregulated non-lawyer will-writers.
Malcolm Farquhar, partner and head of Thorntons' Private Client law team, says tighter control should aim to stop people in some cases ending up with a Will which may not reflect their wishes or – in the worst case scenario – end up invalid. He said: "At the moment there is no requirement for a non-lawyer will-writer to belong to a professional body or to even to have any formal training. "Such will-writers may have poor knowledge of inheritance tax, no professional indemnity insurance, and give advice based on English law. There are also sometimes problems around poor storage of Wills and finding these when the need arises.
"The danger is also that the sometimes low advertised costs often result in substantial fees when a simple Will prepared by a fully qualified solicitor will often cost much less.
"If a member of the public consults a solicitor to prepare a Will on their behalf, they do so knowing that they are consulting a legally qualified professional who has the required skills and knowledge to fully advise them on the most appropriate steps to be taken."
Issued by Beattie Communications on behalf of Thorntons Solicitors.
Contact: Kimberley Hamilton, Tel 01698 787878