(Today's Wills & Probate) - Three prominent estate planning membership organisations have come together with the aim of creating a “louder, joined-up voice to represent the sector”.
The Society of Will Writers (SWW), the Institute of Professional Willwriters (IPW), and the B.E.S.T Foundation met in Gloucestershire to discuss a variety of topics relating to the industry.
The meeting is not the first of its kind – in 2012, Trevor Worth and Peter Spillman (at the time of the IPW) and Nick Ash and Harvey Gelman (previously of the SWW) met on many occasions, but whilst positive strides were made to bring the organisations closer together, the leadership of both would not see eye to eye.
10 years later, however, the common ground is explicit. Their collaborative discussions focused on client care and professional standards, pre-paid probate and care fee planning, and the importance of working together to increase industry representation.
All organisations agreed they shared the objective of raising industry standards by setting a bar for entry, which they say is “still far too low at present”. They also intend to open a line of communication between them to warn of individuals or companies who have either left or been expelled from membership organisations for reasons not in the best interests of the client or the sector.
They also agreed to focus on educating the public about the great work that is being carried out by members, making campaigns to raise awareness of the importance of will writing to the public a priority.
What’s more, the organisations’ stance on pre-paid probate remains firm, with all three having explicitly prohibited their members from selling prepaid probate plans. While the professional community are well aware of the potential downfalls to such plans, they say more needs to be done to educate clients about this, adding “there is a real risk to the public in the promotion of these plans direct to the public via large salesforces, as can be seen currently on the recruitment pages of LinkedIn”.
“After all these years, why can’t we try and create a louder joined up voice to represent the sector?” asked Trevor Worth, Chair of B.E.S.T, adding:
“Everything we strive to do should be in the best interests of the client, the sector and our businesses – sharing best practice amongst the organisations and having one voice to represent our sector is surely a positive step.”
Paul Dodsworth, IPW Council Member, said the collaboration is “long overdue”, adding: “The only way to improve standards and have a louder voice is by working together on important industry initiatives.”
Anthony Belcher, Director General of The Society of Will Writers, said:
“Each of our organisations are working towards the same goals of encouraging more members of the public to write wills and make plans for the future, as well as supporting our members to ensure they’re providing such services to the best of their ability. Therefore, it makes perfect sense for us to communicate and collaborate where possible to guarantee positive outcomes for the profession and all those who depend on it.”
Regarding document storage, it was agreed that estate planning professionals should ensure that any documents they retain on behalf of a client are stored securely and safely with the appropriate insurance cover in place. The organisations added:
“Professionals should also always ensure that they retain an electronic copy of documents that they hold in storage in the event that any facility is affected by fire or flood, for example. This will allow the relevant representations to be made to the Probate Registry in the event that the documents are destroyed or damaged whilst in storage and the client dies before replacements can be arranged […] Joint guidance across the three organisations on this topic would be useful for members.”
All three organisations agreed it was a positive and productive meeting, therefore deciding that it would be beneficial to meet every six months going forward.
By Jamie Lennox
November 25, 2022
