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The ticking time bomb

14 February 2008 / Paul Sharpe
Issue: 7308 / Categories: Features , Procedure & practice , Regulatory , Wills & Probate
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Paul Sharpe bemoans the lack of regulation in willwriting

To regulate, or not to regulate, that is the question—or at least it should be. Willwriting is a huge responsibility, the level of accuracy and clarity of a will making the difference between a deceased person’s last wishes being enacted, or their loved ones being caught up in years of expensive legal wrangling.

Unfortunately, however, in a world where even the sale of a £10.99 travel insurance policy has to be regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA), a will, potentially dictating what happens to six figure sums of money, can be drawn up by anyone. If a consumer approaches the milkman, or the student who flunked all their exams and needs some fast cash, they will find someone able to draw up a will for them without any fear of the law hitting them hard. This is the sorry state of affairs existing in willwriting. Fundamentally, those professionals who wish to distance themselves from the incompetent, fraudulent and fly-by-night operators only have
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Ceri Morgan, knowledge counsel at Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer LLP, analyses the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Johnson v FirstRand Bank Ltd, which reshapes the law of fiduciary relationships and common law bribery
The boundaries of media access in family law are scrutinised by Nicholas Dobson in NLJ this week
Reflecting on personal experience, Professor Graham Zellick KC, Senior Master of the Bench and former Reader of the Middle Temple, questions the unchecked power of parliamentary privilege
Geoff Dover, managing director at Heirloom Fair Legal, sets out a blueprint for ethical litigation funding in the wake of high-profile law firm collapses
James Grice, head of innovation and AI at Lawfront, explores how artificial intelligence is transforming the legal sector
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