The Law Society and the North East Trading Standards Association (NETSA) have issued a warning to consumers to alert them to the risks of using an unregulated will writer to prepare a Property Protection Trust Will.
The warning comes following numerous complaints to North East Trading Standards from members of the public in relation to an influx of firms promoting these products and using scare tactics and high pressure selling to sell them.
The complaints follow a similar pattern and focus on attempts to sell Property Protection Trust Wills or Asset Protection Trusts, which are designed to help home owners protect the value of their home and safeguard their share of a property in the event of changing circumstances, such as the death of a partner. It has been claimed that transferring ownership of the property concernedinto the trust would mean that a local authority would not be able to class the house as an asset when carrying out a means test to assess whether it will pay care home fees.
Trading Standards Watchdogs are greatly concerned that such products are being mis-sold.
Howard Turton the Regional Enforcement manager of NETSA warned: 'We are concerned that the victims are typically elderly and are subjected to high pressure sales in their own homes. The average person would have very little knowledge of such products and therefore would be at a significant disadvantage to the caller, who they perceive to be an expert. Wild claims could be made with little likelihood for the homeowner to doubt them. The potential limitations of such products are also not always conveyed to the homeowner. Local authorities have a legal right to overturn any gifts into such trusts where they can prove that there has been a 'deliberate deprivation of assets'.For this reason, customers who take out an Asset Protection Trust or similar could find themselves challenged by the local authority at a later date, especially if care home fees are required soon after the trust arrangement is put in place.
'There have been complaints that the companies involved in selling these products are charging considerably higher fees than would be charged by a qualified Solicitor.'
The firms making these calls are unregulated and may not even be qualified or entitled to undertake this work.
The Law Society has been running a campaign to warn consumers of the dangers of using will writers who are not properly qualified. The Society is calling for will writers to be regulated at the earliest opportunity to stop the exploitation of consumers.
The Legal Services Board, the independent body responsible for overseeing the regulation of legal services in England and Wales, released proposals at the end of April to bring will-writing and estate administration services within the scope of legal services regulation. The proposals would, for the first time, see these services brought within the list of 'reserved activities' and all those who provide these services will be regulated. The Law Society has described the proposals as a major boost for consumers.However, it will take some time for the changes to be implemented and, until then, it consumers should exercise extreme care when choosing who to engage to provide their will writing and estate administration services.
Law Society President John Wotton said: 'Without regulation, will writing providers have the freedom to market and deliver services without meeting any professional standards to the detriment of consumers or, very frequently, their families.The preparation of trust deeds relating to real or personal estate for the purposes of law, in particular, is an offence, unless a person is authorised or exempt under the 2007 Legal Services Act. Key elements of preparing a Property Protection Trust fall within the definition of a reserved activity.Consumers need to be aware that reserved activities can only be carried out by a solicitor or other authorised person, or an exempt person, and that unregulated will writers may not be legally entitled to prepare these sorts of trusts'.
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Notes to editors:
The Law Society is the independent professional body, established for solicitors in 1825, that works globally to support and represent its members, promoting the highest professional standards and the rule of law.
The Society has launched a dedicated 'issues' page on its website, which contains a campaign booklet, setting out the problems unregulated will writers cause and the arguments for their regulation.Visit the campaign page:
View the Law Society guide to making a will
Contact: Catherine Reed, The Law Society
+44 (0)20 7320 5902
The North East Trading Standards Association (NETSA) is a partnership of 12 local authority Trading Standards Services; Durham, Darlington, Gateshead, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Newcastle upon Tyne, North Tyneside, Northumberland, Redcar and Cleveland, South Tyneside, Stockton on Tees and Sunderland. The North East Trading Standards Association (NETSA) works to not only provide protection for consumers, but to encourage the viability of business within the North East of England, by providing a level field ground for business to operate.
It is believed that most of these products are sold door to door or by unsolicited telephone / email contact. NETSA advice is to always shop around, obtain a number of quotes and do not deal with unsolicited contacts at your doorstep. However, if you have purchased a product or have concerns about the sale of such a product to a fried or relative you should contact the Citizens Advice Consumer Helpline on 08454 04 05 06.
Contact: Howard Turton, NETSA
01642 232940