A will-writing firm, which secured an alternative business structure licence amid aspirations of market domination, has folded. 

According to a notice published with London Gazette, Nottingham-based The Will Writing Company Limited appointed administrators last week to handle the firm’s affairs. 

The Solicitors Regulation Authority, which authorised the firm as an ABS less than two years ago, confirms on its website that it ceased to practise at the end of 2017. 

No reasons have yet been given for the collapse of the company, with administrators’ reports still to be published. 

But the appointment of administrators marks a dramatic fall for a business which had applied for the ABS to allow its legal department to undertake reserved work such as sign-offs for family trusts and deeds of variation.  

In June 2016, when the licence became effective, the firm’s chief executive stated that becoming an entity regulated by the SRA was ‘our proudest day ever’. The business model involved two solicitors and two legal executives working with 50 ‘consultants’ across the country meeting clients in person. 

According to the firm’s most recently published accounts, covering the year to 31 December 2015, finances were in reasonable health: The Will Writing Company had assets valued at £766,000 and owed £611,000 to creditors within the next year.