Unregulated Will Writers - Why It Pays to Be Careful
It's a fact that surprises most people the first time they hear it: anyone in England and Wales can call themselves a "will writer," advertise their services, and charge people to draft a legally binding document deciding who inherits their home, savings, and possessions — with no qualifications, no insurance, and no regulator overseeing them at all. Concerns about exactly this gap led the Competition and Markets Authority to investigate the unregulated will-writing sector, after complaints about misleading advertising, unfair contract terms, and pressure-selling to vulnerable customers. With more people than ever making a will at home or online, it's worth understanding what that lack of regulation actually means for your family.
What "Unregulated" Really Means in Practice
Solicitors who draft wills are regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, must carry professional indemnity insurance, and are legally required to act in your best interests. A will writer operating outside that system has none of those obligations. There's no requirement for them to hold any qualification, no compulsory insurance to compensate you if they get something wrong, and — perhaps most importantly — no legal duty to put your interests first rather than their own. If an unregulated will writer makes a mistake that invalidates your will, or upsells you unnecessary trusts and products, you may have very limited routes to redress.
How a Small Mistake Can Undo an Entire Will
Wills are unforgiving documents. A signature witnessed incorrectly, ambiguous wording about who inherits what, or a failure to account for a change in circumstances — a divorce, a remarriage, a stepchild — can render all or part of a will invalid or open to challenge, sometimes without anyone realising until years later when it's too late to fix. Complaints commonly seen in this part of the market include wills that are more complicated than the person actually needed, unnecessary or poorly explained trust arrangements sold as an "asset protection" product, and, in the worst cases, coercion of elderly or vulnerable clients into decisions that don't reflect their real wishes.
Why This Matters More as Family Situations Get More Complex
A simple will for a straightforward estate is one thing, but most families today aren't quite that simple. Blended families, property owned jointly with a partner you're not married to, business assets, or dependents with additional needs all introduce legal nuances that a properly qualified solicitor is trained to spot and address — and that an unregulated will writer, however well-meaning, may not. Getting it right the first time matters because the person who discovers a problem with the will is rarely the person who wrote it — it's usually a grieving family, working out too late that the document doesn't do what everyone assumed it would.
How to Check Who You're Actually Dealing With
Before instructing anyone to write your will, it's reasonable to simply ask: are you a qualified solicitor, and are you regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority? A genuine solicitor will answer that question immediately and will be able to show you their SRA number. If a will-writing service is reluctant to answer, works only through high-pressure home visits, or pushes trust products you don't fully understand, treat that as a signal to get a second opinion before signing anything.
The Cost Difference Is Usually Smaller Than People Assume
Cost is often the reason people are drawn to unregulated will writers in the first place, but the price gap between a solicitor-drafted will and an unregulated alternative is usually far narrower than the marketing suggests — and it doesn't account for the cost of fixing, or contesting, a will that turns out to be flawed. Given that a will only has to work once, and typically decades after it's written, it's one of the few legal documents where it genuinely doesn't pay to cut corners.
What Should You Do Next?
If you're thinking about making or updating a will, or you're not sure whether a document a family member signed was properly drafted, it's worth getting clarity from someone properly qualified. QualitySolicitors' first contact team can match you with a local, regulated solicitor who'll make sure your will says exactly what you mean it to — and stands up if it's ever questioned.