The Office of Fair Trading is not opposed to will-writing becoming a reserved activity, but is seeking a costs benefit assessment before there is any extension of regulation in the field, it has told the Legal Services Board.

Speaking at a recent LSB seminar on the regulation of will writing, OFT representative Mark Pratt said there should be an analysis of what problems exist in the will-writing market, what is causing them, how effective current regulation is and how this can be improved.

The research should also examine what positive and negative effects reserving the will-writing market would have, he said.

Pratt noted that the Scottish government is introducing a regulatory framework for non-lawyer will-writers. In its consultation response to the new regime, the OFT said that such regulation was likely to be ‘disproportionate’ without evidence that, among other things, there is currently consumer detriment from will-writers who are not members of professional bodies.

The LSB is currently examining whether will-writing should become a reserved activity that may only be conducted by qualified professionals.