Dear Applicant,
Thank you for requesting our introduction pack and
details on the Society and for the interest you have
shown. We hope that you will be interested enough and
that this pack will inform and encourage you enough to
become a member and to enjoy the benefits that
membership of The Society of Will Writers can bring.
The Society of Will Writers was established in 1994 and
is today the largest and most active organisation
representing Will Writers in the UK and around the
world. Apart from the UK we have members in Spain,
Malta, France, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Singapore and Hong Kong
and anywhere that ex-pats may be living and working in
large numbers.
This information pack will tell you much about what
membership means and of course what membership entails
and not only from a financial point of view. Being a
member is more than simply having letters after your
name it is about participation, standards, training and
education, in short being a professional and being seen
to be a professional. Members will carry Professional
Indemnity cover for their protection and for the
protection of their clients. All members will
participate in a minimum of sixteen hours Continuing
Professional Development (CPD) to maintain their
knowledge and to grow in experience and expertise.
This Introduction sets out our aims and objectives and
what membership to The Society can mean to you. As the
only independent and properly constituted
self-regulatory body representing the Will Writing
Profession, members and the public can be confident that
The Society is working for the advancement and
development of the profession, the rights of the client
and for the proper recognition of its Members. Our Code
of Practice to which every member has signed up to, has
been drafted in cooperation with the Office of Fair
Trading, the Citizens Advice Bureau, Age Concern and
LACORS and puts the consumer at the heart of our
objectives and those of our members.
The Society puts great store in local representation and
invests heavily in the future of our members. Thousands
of pounds each year are given over to regional groups to
ensure that members are able to achieve their required
CPD but importantly they are kept up to date with
changes in legislation and tax. The Society supports
some 16 in England alone and we are about to create our
first two in Scotland, many of these groups meet
monthly, others may only meet four or five times a year
but it is down to the members to support the group.
Training is very much at the heart of our philosophy and
each year more courses are added and more tutors
recruited. The two day training program has proved
enormously popular (see enclosed College information)
with both existing members and new applicants alike.
Held in small friendly groups, everyone has the
opportunity to develop at their own pace and not feel
left out, and with more planned specialised courses and
the ever-popular distance learning Paper One Certificate
course and Diploma Course, there is something for
everyone. The College is now developing a range of
courses on-line and will be available by the end of
2010.
If you are unsure ask for the Society of Will Writers
and College initiative under the “Earn While You Learn”
scheme. This provides for individuals who have done at
least the two day course or equivalent to work under the
umbrella of an organisation and get the help and support
they may need and also to take building their business
at a steady pace as well as spreading the start-up
costs.
It is only through the dedication and professionalism of
our members that we have become the leading
self-regulatory body for Will Writers and have
maintained this position consistently year upon year.
I and my team look forward to personally welcoming you
to our Society and in the meantime if you have any
questions at all please do not hesitate to contact me or
any member of the team.
Brian W McMillan
Director General
The Society of Will Writers & Estate Planning
Practitioners
INTRODUCTION
The role of the Society as a self-regulatory body is to
both ensure that its Members are properly trained and
indemnified and to ensure that the public are reassured
as to the competence of the practitioner and that they
have recourse in the event of a complaint
The Society of Will Writers is a non-profit making body
which seeks to serve the interests of those men and
women who are active professionals in our field, and by
formal study and experience, have built up the expertise
necessary to practice.
The designatory letters of the Society’s grades -
Cmpn.SWW, FSWW, ASWW, and MSWW and Aff.SWW- are a public
assurance of their bearers’ expertise and competence.
They indicate men and women who deserve proper
recognition for their valuable work.
The value of Membership to the individual lies in being
seen to belong to a professional body consisting
exclusively of people who have proved their ability as
Will Writers, and their willingness to uphold the
highest professional standards whilst working under the
Society’s Code of Practice.
The ‘Seal’ of the Society is seen as the ‘Seal of
Quality and Assurance’ and that it is the Members
responsibility to uphold this belief by ensuring that
they themselves are properly trained and keep themselves
abreast of changes in legislation relating to our
profession and that they “maintain in force a
Professional Indemnity policy either through the Society
or with an approved insurer with a wording that complies
with the Society’s minimum requirements”.
Will Writing practitioners who will not commit
themselves to ‘self-regulation’ fail their clients,
themselves and the profession. The public have a moral
as well as legal right to protection against poorly
trained practitioners.
EDUCATION
Education and training are of paramount importance, both
to the individual and for the profession.
The College of Will Writing, the personal development
division of The Society of Will Writers offers
correspondence, residential and soon on-line induction
and consultancy courses. A range of specialised training
courses of one day and half-day duration are being
planned dealing with all aspects of Will Writing and the
law relating to it.
With regular amendments and updates to the law, on-going
training to obtain your CPD is seen as essential to
ensure that practitioners are kept up to date with
changes as they occur.
Sales and marketing techniques are another area where
the Society has identified a need for additional
training and support.
The College Prospectus is enclosed with details of
courses and fees.
CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT (CPD)
CPD, is a means of the individual measuring their own
professional development and for others to visibly see
and gauge their progress, and is mandatory for all
members to achieve at least the minimum 16 hours each
year.
To help members, the College of Will Writing has now
launched an on-line system whereby members can achieve a
maximum of 12 hours CPD, the balance being achieved
through study, attendance at regional groups, conference
and external meetings where the subjects are relevant to
our profession.
Full details are included with this pack, but simply as
a full member, you will be required to attend a minimum
of 16 hours structured training each year work to
comply. As a consultant (Aff.SWW) the minimum is 16
hours total each year. Other relevant CPD work can be
used towards your requirement.
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
• To assist men and women with the necessary education,
ability and experience to advance in the Will Writing
profession, and to secure proper public recognition of
their professional status.
• To facilitate the advancement and spreading of
knowledge within the profession by, inter alia,
publishing a journal for periodic distribution to
Members and providing views on matters of professional
interest.
• To promote high standards of conduct and competence
within the profession by providing a means of measuring
professional competence by examination, practical
testing or otherwise. To encourage Members to develop
their skills and to progress with the profession.
• To assist Members to indemnify themselves against
claims in respect of liabilities incurred in the
exercise of their profession, and to protect the mutual
interests of Members.
• To provide opportunities for contact between Members,
to form local and regional groups and organise functions
for that purpose.
• To raise public awareness of the importance of a
legally valid Last Will and Testament
Membership Grades
There are three grades for FULL membership of which one
may apply:
Member (MSWW)
Associate (ASWW)
Fellow (FSWW)
Member
All applications for full membership will be based upon
this grade, applicants who have successfully completed a
recognised training course, may apply for Associate
Grade, applications should be supported by additional
information.
Associate Grade
This grade is recognition of those individuals who by
study have attained qualifications in their own
discipline which may be allied to, but not necessarily
Will Writing, i.e. FPC3 certification. Application to
this grade must be supported by evidence of satisfactory
pass.
Fellow
Applications to this grade will in all cases be subject
to the applicant meeting one or more of the following
criteria:
i) Successfully completed the College Diploma Course (CWW.dip)
ii) Successfully completed a fully recognised legal
course (L.LB.) and have studied Succession as a core
module
iii) Attained sufficient CPD's through ongoing training
iv) Passed an examination to demonstrate their ability
v) self-certification
Affiliated Membership
To further promote the standing of the Society and
Member Organisations, the Affiliated membership grade
exists to encourage ‘Consultants’ to join the Society at
reduced rates. This grade carries the designatory
letters Aff.SWW. Affiliated members can avail themselves
of any or all of the facilities offered by the Society.
The individual must work within a company or
organisations who are themselves FULL Members of the
Society, and as such accept liability for that
individual. Affiliated members are allowed to show on
their business cards that are “Affiliated Members” of
[Name of Company] who are Members of the Society of Will
Writers. A member who employs consultants must register
all their consultants either employed or self-employed,
to enable the company to call itself ‘Members of The
Society of Will Writers’.
MEMBERSHIP
Membership to the Society may take the form of
individual, accredited organisation or Affiliated
Membership. The Society reserves the right to refuse any
application without having to give any reason.
The Society shall have the right in its absolute
discretion to request documentary evidence or other
proof it deems necessary to support any application.
Election to a specific grade of Membership may be
subject to receipt of references or further references.
Where election is made subject to references, the
applicant may not publicise or display the fact that
they are Members until such time as full registration
has been completed and confirmed by the Society.
Only membership of the Society confers the right to use
the crest of the Society and the approved wording and
the designatory letters denoting the grade. In the event
of membership being revoked, suspended or not renewed by
failure to forward the annual subscription, the member
must cease to display all and any reference to the
Society.
HOW TO JOIN
The criteria given in the section relating to ‘Grades’
will assist applicants to judge their appropriate grade,
but the Applications Committee will decide the grade at
which the applicant should be admitted.
1) The application form should be completed, signed and
dated, returned to the Society’s head office together
with the application fee and first year’s annual
subscription.
2) The Applications Committee meet at least every two
weeks, more frequently if there is a high intake of
applications. Applicants are informed of the outcome
following the meeting.
3) The New Members Certificate and Welcome Pack will
follow, usually within ten days. Once elected Members
have the right to use the designatory letters and
display the Society’s Seal on their paperwork.
4) If any applicant is unsure of any details they are
advised to telephone the Society’s head office for
further information.
FURTHER INFORMATION
All the products and services contained within this
Introduction to the Society of Will Writers are covered
in more detail in their own individual leaflets. All new
Members will receive the information and fee structures
as part of their Welcome Pack.
However if, in the meantime, you would like more
detailed information and costs, please contact our
office direct who will be pleased to discuss these with
you or send the information, or visit our web site at
www.willwriters.com
The Society is constantly reviewing the services and
products that it offers to Members and if you have any
comments or suggestions we would like to hear from you.
We look forward to welcoming you to our Society in the
near future.
MEMBERSHIP FEES (Feb 2010)
Application Fee £50 (single payment)
All applications to full membership carry an application fee and must be
included with the application form.
Public Indemnity Fund £25 (single payment)
All applications must include this payment at the time of application (further
details enclosed)
ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION
First subscription should be submitted with the completed application form or
a completed standing order mandate enclosed.
Fellow Member (FSWW) £250 pa (£22.10* per month)
Associate Member (ASWW) £250 pa (£22.10* per month)
Member (MSWW) £250 pa (£22.10* per month)
All applications will be based on Member grade and applicants should support
an application for a higher grade with as much supporting documentation and
information with regard to relevant qualifications and experience as possible
Notification of the Applications Committee decision that requirements have
been met and the grade awarded will be forwarded to the applicant within two
weeks
*Monthly payments of subscriptions do incur small admin charge
Contact The Society on 0800 838270 if you require further information
You can download the Application form in pdf format here (right click save as) or complete the form online
