At Hart Reade we feel it important to draw people's attention to the pitfalls and potential disasters of using an online Will service.  Making a Will is an important step and needs to be carried out with an expert who can understand your circumstances and what you want to accomplish from your Will and can guide you through the law so that this can be achieved.

Solicitors are governed by the Solicitors Act and regulated by The Solicitors Regulation Authority, and will have undergone many years of training to qualify.  They will want to see a client face to face to ensure that the client understands what they want to do and that they have the mental capacity to sign a Will.  An identity check is carried out to ensure that the person is whom they claim to be.  The solicitor will provide advice ranging from tax considerations to preserving assets from care fees to ensure that what is proposed is the best way of achieving the client's desired outcome.

Solicitors are being asked to check many online Wills free of charge, but are unable to do so if they have never met the client.  Also it is understood that many online systems do not ask financial details so they are unable to check the Inheritance Tax and other legal implications.  Whilst a free of cheap Will may seem attractive, it is fraught with danger and the worst thing is that some problems will not manifest themselves until after the death of the person making the Will.