Beyond.life, a company that offers probate and funeral director broker services, have introduced free online wills that claim to be legally binding.
The company’s advert claims: “When there’s a solicitor, there’s a solicitor’s bill. Until now.” However, a company spokesperson has also reassured legal service providers that they are “not trying to replace solicitors.”
Will a free system, with so much consumer freedom and control, encourage more people to write a will?
Maya Traykova, Beyond.Life head of digital marketing, has said: “Our system was written with STEP [Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners] lawyers to ensure that the texts are solicitor-approved and legally-binding”.
“If it turns out that their affairs are too complex, then we would refer people to solicitors we have relationships with.”
“It’s important to understand that we don’t see our will-writing service as a substitute for solicitors and complex wills, we see our service as the legally-binding way of creating a simple will.
“We use a solicitor approved-template for our wills, just like solicitors would do to write up a simple will, the only difference is that ours is free of charge.
“Why should people pay for something that doesn’t take any time and effort to produce?
“The system is perfect for millennials who are short of cash and prefer handling their affairs online.
“Quite frankly, the vast majority of young people, say with a newborn or just after getting a house, are not going to have the time or cash to go and sit with a solicitor to make a bespoke will.
“Our product perfectly fits their situation.”
When claims, under the Inheritance Act, over the past five years, have increased by almost three times, from 88 in 2013, rising to over 158 cases in recent years, it would seem that more people are contesting wills. One fear that could arise from an increased use of free self-made wills could be a further increase in will contestation because of a perceived lack of authenticity and expertise.
However, With a service that offers its users the opportunity to “get peace of mind in just 10 minutes with our free online will writing tool,” that is also “solicitor-approved,” could we see more people creating legally binding wills without the use of legally trained professionals?
When only 75% of GB adults aged over 55 have a Will, and even more worrying, 24% of adults with wills under the age of 35, will this new, free system help to improve the amount of people that write a legally binding will?
What are the inherent pitfalls that people must consider if they omit or bypass a legal services professional from the will writing process? Will this system encourage more people to make a will? Is this service a concern for will-writers? Do you see this as a positive that could spark greater interest that could encourage more people to write a will?
3 Responses
If you google “mutual Wills” you’ll see a million entries of solicitors, over the years, recommending so strongly that couples should not make these. As a solicitor myself, I’m happy that individuals should make them, because they’ll have to come to me in the end to pick up the pieces, and pay my legal fees.
Absolutely horrendous, I have just produced my ‘free will’ and it appoints Beyond, a trading name of Funeralbooker, automatically as the executor even where you have named who you want to act. It includes cash gifts to the guardians where the questionnaire doesn’t ask if you want this. It doesn’t give you the option to pick an age for minor children to inherit. All on top of providing no advice. Companies like this really give the industry a bad name.
There’s a big difference between a ‘solicitor-approved will’ and a template that was prepared by a solicitor. There’s no mention of the wills being checked by a solicitor post-completion so how can the wills be ‘solicitor-approved’. There’s no such thing as a ‘free’ will – someone always pays in the end and it’s likely to be the deceased person’s family.