On the BBC TV programme \u201cYou\u2019ve Been Scammed\u201d recently it was highlighted what can go wrong even if a Will is in place. The BBC highlighted the case of a now defunct company who had in effect done the following:<\/p>\n
\u2022\tOffered very cheap Will Writing services.
\n\u2022\tOffered to store the documents for clients.
\n\u2022\tOffered to take the responsibility away from family and friends of being Executors.<\/p>\n
The company on the death of Testators walked away with the money!! Please note that the all the people in the company ended up in the Criminal Courts, and some but not all of the money was recovered!<\/p>\n
So what went wrong? These people were evidently crooks, but how do you do a Will and ensure nothing goes wrong?<\/p>\n
1.\tIf the amount being charged for a Will is very low. The person\/company is either going to \u201csell\u201d you more products, or make back its\u2019 money another way. Basically if the offer is too good to be true \u2013 it is!
\n2.\tIf a company is going to store documents for you. You need to know where they are being stored, and how easy they are to retrieve. If there is a cost involved in storage how much is it, and is there an annual charge?
\n3.\tOffering to be the Executors is NOT a good idea! Any company who acts as an Executor will be allowed to charge for their services. You should have full information as to the likely charges before having a company as the Executor. Remember if you appoint friends or family they can decide if they need assistance to deal with your Estate at that time.<\/p>\n
To avoid any problems only use a company or person who is a member of a professional body: The Society of Will Writers or the Institute of Professional Will Writers. To check this all you need do is log onto the website of the relevant body and look up the person\/company. All such people will abide by their Society\u2019s Code of Conduct and have full indemnity insurance.<\/p>\n
Remember there are some very good professional Will Writers out there! So do your home work, you would check out a builder so always check out the person or company who is going to do your Will!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
On the BBC TV programme \u201cYou\u2019ve Been Scammed\u201d recently it was highlighted what can go wrong even if a Will is in place. The BBC highlighted the case of a now defunct company who had in effect done the following: \u2022 Offered very cheap Will Writing services. \u2022 Offered to store the documents for clients. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-542","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"yoast_head":"\n