Should you DIY a Life Interest Trust?

I write wills and trusts and see peoples DIY will efforts. Sometimes they work out and this is would be the situation is simple and the person writing the will is very careful.

Apart from the legal side as someone who is involved with running a handful of websites I can check what people are searching for. Today I am driven to comment on searches for DIY Life Interest trust templates. This really is a step too far for DIY.

The thing is there is plenty of scope to get things wrong in an everyday will but this is another level of complexity which amongst other things requires an understanding of joint tenancy, tenancy in common and severance.

The desire to save money is understandable of course but we don’t go in for DIY surgery and most people will not attempt DIY electrics and DIY gas plumbing is all but completely illegal. Just ask why!

For the avoidance of doubt, DO NOT even consider doing your own life interest trust unless you have some legal training in this area. It is far too risky and you could end up passing a non-effective sentiment to your loved ones so they can see it go all wrong and fail to do what you want.

Economy, straitened circumstances whatever, but do not do this one.

Should will writing be regulated?
There is an on going debate about whether will writing should be a reserved occupation which can only be carried out by certain specified lawyers e.g. barristers and solicitors.

Every now and again there is a big scandal about unregulated will writers scamming the unsuspecting public but the recent secret buyer survey concluded that many solicitors were not exactly offering a glowing service either.

In fact in July 2011 the Legal Services Consumer Panel report submitted to the Legal Services Board observed that solicitors despite having a detailed code of conduct are equally likely to produce sub-standard wills as unregulated will writers.

There does seem to be a good argument for insisting that a minimum level of training is undertaken and that CPD is required too but that may be a long way off still.

So the answer might well be to ask the right questions at the outset and at least that will help you stay away from the cowboys who don’t even have professional indemnity insurance.

After that, get recommendations and try to find out who actually will draft your will. Some arrangements are very lightly trained people who tale instructions for others to write the will. The problem with this system is that the instruction taker may not know much beyond the ‘bog standard’ solution and Offer that when a better solution is available.

So whilst will writing remains unregulated and to some extent even after it is, should that happen, try to ask questions about who will do what when they have the will instructions.

You may have heard of the Court of Protection. This is the place that deals with people who cannot take decisions for themselves. It covers all types of cases including any adults who have lost mental capacity through dementia or injury.

These cases would not go before the Court of Protection (COP) if these individuals had made a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA). If s/he has an LPA the attorney or attorneys nominated will have the legal authority to do what they have been charged with by the donor (the person who made the LPA).

Apart from the delay and inherent problems caused by the delay, such as frozen bank accounts and bills going unpaid as a result, the whole process of making a Lasting Power of attorney is likely to be considerably cheaper than using the COP. In addition there is an annual fee to have a deputy appointed which means the total cost can mount up if this goes on for a number of years.

Some people have had a very bad experience using the Court of Protection and you can see more in this article: Why You Should Avoid the Court of Protection by Making a Lasting Power of Attorney

All in all it is a good advert for making your Lasting Power of Attorney while you can.

Wills and Probate services: Rip off Britain

Today’s BBC programme “Rip Off Britain” (9th December 2011) highlighted problems with using a certain probate company called ITC which charged very high fees to act as executor and to deal with probate. After some complaints they reduced their fees for the particular person featured on the show to a more acceptable level.

This highlights some important issues about using certain will writing companies who act as professional executors or who offer such services.

Always beware of anyone putting themselves forward as professional executors in any forceful way. It may be a service someone might regret you taking up.

Firstly, find out exactly how much the professional executor much they are going to charge and secondly never appoint a professional executor who will not give an undertaking to vacate their executor ship if asked by beneficiaries. This is a safeguard against fees being ramped up at a later date.

There are the unscrupulous companies and the expensive ones out there but by asking the right questions they can be avoided.

On a similar subject it is not a good idea to pay for probate in advance. You never know if you will need them when the time comes and even if the company offering the service will be around to deliver.

So with probate services it is a case of buyer beware and some.

I looked at this for the first time a few days ago and I thought it was a very good presentation from Sue Medder. I watched all of the series and not surprisingly I found it very interesting.

She comments on the reasons why so many people do not make a Will, which she characterises as practical reasons more than legal reasons.

She also mentions some of the good reasons to write your Will and what might happen if you don’t and you die intestate. This can cause serious problems for your surviving family members which she illustrates in an example. In the straightforward situation she describes, dying intestate can cause the sale of the matrimonial home.

In my view a good account all around and I strongly recommend you look at this if you are thinking about making your Will.

When you have done that you can come back and see about me helping you or go and see Sue .

You Can’t Take it With You – Sue Medder on Wills

I am going to moan about DIY Wills again.

Why should I do this? Well it is simply that a whole new raft of people are looking for a cheap ticket to do their Will and they need to know about the pitfalls.

Need to know what? Well that if you get it wrong you could seriously jeopardise your family if you died. It could force the sale of the house to pay Inheritance tax if your Will is invalid and your estate is distributed under the rules of intestacy.

That saving £100-£250 for this by going DIY will seem like a pittance if the will is invalid. You won’t get to find out but other will.

Now the biggie. How do you know it is valid? I have seen DIY wills done so badly that they were invalid 5 times over. How can people get it so wrong if the instructions are there?

Good question but they do just like people mess up Ikea furniture. Can’t follow the instructions.

At the very least have it checked by a lawyer if you can find one who will do it for a reasonable fee. Get it wrong and earn the ultimate epitaph of cheapskate!

I was at a meeting yesterday where one of the people made a statement that caught my attention.

He said that people who make Wills live longer. I asked for some more details to back up this assertion.

Ah, he said, it was not that making a Will makes you live longer as such but the type of people who do make Wills actually live longer. I accept that there are plently of decent sociological type studies that do make a strong correlation between wealth/class etc and what they do and don’t do.

I will not be making this a selling feature for making a Will as it might be misunderstood.

Has your Financial Advisor told you to make your Will?

If you use an Independent Financial Advisor (IFA) you will naturally have to let them know a lot about your financial circumstances, in most situations. They must ahve this information to help build a strong picture about your circumstances to enable them to give give you the best advice.


At the end of the fact find about your circumstances an IFA is required under FSa guidelines to ask if you have a Will. If you have one they should ask you when was it last reviewed and if it wasn’t for a few years they should recommend you have it done ASAP.

IF you don’t have a Will they should recommend you get one ASAP. This is really important as having a Will is a fundamental part of financial planning. As the infamous meerkat might say “Simples”!

What happens next is a moveable feast. If you are pointed in the direction of a Will Writer or solicitor did the IFA know who you were actually going to get you involved with?

It surprises me that in some cases your IFA will not know who is coming to see you. w

What can happen is that your details are sent to a company and someone ‘local’ contacts you to make an appointment about making your Will. Pot luck sometimes.

Have a look at this forum post on Cash Questions to see what can happen How many personal details should we disclose to a Will-Writing company?

And if you are an IFA why would you do this?

DIY Wills meets Freemium –  a new offering?

If you have any interest in Wills you probably understand the idea of a DIY Will. You may be aware of the concept of Freemium or you may have used a Freemium system without realising. So what about the two together?

Well how about a free Will template (or free Will form as is often searched for on the web) for someone to download and use. If they want to have a lawyer check it to see it has been done properly that will be at a charge. That is the ‘upgrade’, as it were, from the free product.

If you like the sound of that come back here in a week or so and you will find details of such an offer from a qualified practising lawyer.

It may not be the best answer for lots of people but as DIY wills are popular and this is almost all to do with cost it could be a very useful way or letting someone do a will and ensure that the DIY effort was not done badly. So DIY Wills based on a free Will template and the chance to get it checked for a modest fee. DIY Will Freemium sounds interesting.

DIY Wills

I get to think about Do It Yourself Wills (or DIY Wills) quite a lot.

Knocking the use of DIY wills is easy and can be justified because, for certain, it is a risky way to ensure your inheritance is goes where you want it to.

Why is that?

Firstly, many family/property situations are not understood by an average person. For example, the issues surrounding joint-ownership of property and about second marriage inheritance problems when there are children from the first marriage.

Secondly, how does anyone know it has been written and signed correctly? Normally no lawyer gets to check that it has been attested (signed in accordance with the legal rules) properly.

So to get the right DIY Will and ensure it is valid you need to be clear about your own circumstances and what the particular Do It Yourself Will kit can offer.
You need to have the DIY Will checked by a qualified lawyer or a properly qualified Will Writer to see that it is OK.

Be careful who you ask to do the check. Many proper and professional and Will Writing companies produce good Wills for clients use Instruction Takers. These people do not have the facility to check them. They are agents or franchisee’s who are qualified to take instructions only and not to write Wills.

So maybe you could check local lawyers to see if they do it and how much they might charge for it.

It might be the only way you can get peace of mind.

So the mantra should be if you must make a Will using a DIY Will kit do ensure it is checked before you put it away.