A YORK law firm is taking a stand against “supermarket-style” legal services by backing a call for the regulation of will writing.
Solicitors at Lupton Fawcett Denison Till are supporting an e-petition urging the Government to reverse its decision not to regulate will writing.
Their call comes less than a month after three men who ran Minster Legal Associates LLP from offices in Holgate Road were given suspended prison sentences at York Crown Court for charges of trading without professional diligence and engaging in unfair commercial practices, while another York will-writing firm, Yorkshire Asset Protection, has been under investigation by trading standards.
Lupton Fawcett Denison Till, which was formed last month when York’s Denison Till merged with Leeds firm Lupton Fawcett Lee & Priestley, joins other legal firms involved with will writing and estate administration in the belief that there should be “reserved activities” carried out only by authorised practitioners regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
Joanne Liversidge, an assistant solicitor in the Private Client department at Lupton Fawcett Denison Till, who is a member of the professional body Solicitors For The Elderly, said: “Will writing and estate administration are among legal disciplines which have been under attack from the ‘supermarket law’ approach to legal services with generalised, one-size-fits-all attitude to carrying out clients’ instructions.
“This has been particularly true during the tough financial climate of the last five years, when more people have been motivated to protect their wealth and their family’s inheritance by making a will.
“However, most people will not be able to distinguish between an unregulated and a regulated lawyer and the inherent dangers in having a will written by someone who is not a specialist or covered by the demands and protection of being regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
“For example, a will drawn up by an unregulated lawyer may never be traced if the will writer or their business disappears, while a will written by a regulated lawyer will always be traced and produced by the Solicitors Regulation Authority even decades later.
“This is crucial, as the legal sector is going through a period of rapid change with many law firms closing or merging.
“Will writing requires a detailed, holistic approach and cannot be carried out by pro forma as the risk is too great for the clients involved and I hope this crucial petition gains support in the north.”
The e-petition, launched by solicitor Ken McRae of Hatchers Solicitors, in Shropshire, currently has 1,353 supporters, but needs to get at least 10,000 signatories in order to get a Government response.
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