Unregulated will writers are causing havoc among members of the public and in some cases are failing to provide people with valid wills, the Law Society claimed today.

According to the Society, many solicitors specialising in will writing, trusts and probate have been handed invalid and badly drafted wills from unregulated will writers. The Society claimed that in some cases, will writers were appointing themselves as executors and charging for legal services that they were not trained or regulated to provide.

In some instances, will documents disappeared after will writing companies were wound up, and family members were being left out of wills against the wishes of the client. Solicitors also reported that will writers are hiding charges and giving poor tax advice.

Law Society president Robert Heslett said: ‘This is a widespread trend. We hear many stories of unregulated, uninsured will writers misleading too many people as to their supposed but absent expertise. What is most worrying is that their victims are often unaware that their will writers are not regulated, nor is there any mechanism for complaint. As the will writer is not insured, there is no means of redress if things go wrong.

‘Sadly, the feedback the Law Society has received from solicitors who are sorting out the mistakes left by will writers is just the tip of the iceberg. We also urge anyone who has used a will writer to check the accuracy and suitability of their will with a solicitor before it is too late and they leave their loved ones with unnecessary problems.’

In his recently published Law Society-commissioned review of regulation, Lord Hunt of Wirral said that a ‘fringe legal market’ in will writing, probate and claims handling was a risk to the public.