Wills and Inheritance Quality Scheme announced

The Law Society recently announced that it would create an accreditation scheme for firms providing Will-writing, probate and estate administration services in order to differentiate solicitors from other providers.

Desmond Hudson, Law Society chief executive said that the new Wills and Inheritance Quality Scheme (WIQS) will help firms create ‘national branding opportunities to compete with national brands’. He also said that in a market that was both increasingly competitive and fast-moving, firms need to ‘provide a differentiation’ so that their services ‘stand head and shoulders above the rest’.

Mr Hudson named ‘significant drivers’ in the legal market place including the entry of the AA, Co-operative and Saga. He also noted other threats to solicitors which could see them getting a smaller share of the probate market such as the application by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales to become a probate regulator and the Chartered Institute of Legal Executive’s move to obtain licensing powers to authorise Will and inheritance services.

He said: ‘Implicit in this approach is that simply being a solicitor is not enough. We need to add more value, the scheme will give firms a clear point of differentiation from those with infrequent experience, generalists and new market entrants’.

The scheme will open for applications on 31 October. Applicants will undergo a ‘rigorous assessment’ and will be required to undertake compulsory training, self-reporting, random audits and annual reviews in order to maintain the new status.

If you’d like to discuss making a Will with a qualified solicitor please contact Alistair Dobson at Lawson-West on 01858 445 480.

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