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TO AVOID DISAPPOINTMENT - USE SOLICITORS

Posted by: admin    Tags:      Posted date:  February 25, 2013

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An update from the Legal Ombudsman (“LO”) revealed
various cases, one reported recently in the Law Society’s Gazette being as
follows:

Mrs C was suffering with a degenerative illness that was progressively
worsening. To protect her assets she
instructed a will-writing company to produce a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA).

Unfortunately, when Mrs C saw the final documentation she noticed four
major errors. However, the company had
already registered the LPA. Mrs C was
extremely cross since the company did not give her an opportunity to review the
LPA before it was sent off.

When Mrs C brought her complaint to us we discovered the company was
unregulated and therefore outside our jurisdiction. Though we sympathised with Mrs C’s situation
we simply could not get involved.

Please therefore ALWAYS choose someone to draft your Will
who is regulated by the SRA such as a solicitor. That way you will ensure a smoother more
caring service with the peace of mind that should a mistake be made, you, as
the client will have some redress, whether from the firm itself or, if no
agreement can be reached, from the Legal Ombudsman. The LO cannot intervene in the provision of
unregulated services as Mrs C and many others discover to their cost.

If in doubt, do not be afraid to ask. An easy way to check is, if you have
correspondence from the firm, it should state on the headed notepaper or email
communication that the firm is regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority
and give the firm’s SRA number. Ours is
63110.

At Ziadies we have a long tradition of will drafting, administration of estates
and the preparation of powers of attorney so please give us a call to see how
we can help you.