A guide to SWW Technical Advice

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With family situations and taxation becoming ever more complex, the need to give correct advice is essential and not only to ensure your client’s peace of mind, but also for your own protection. With that said it’s likely that at some point in your career as an Estate Planner you’re going to get a question from a client that you don’t know the answer to. Perhaps you’ll find yourself struggling to work through a complicated scenario, or even if you’re trying to draft something and can’t quite get it right the Society of Will Writers Technical Advice Team is here to help you.

Who is entitled to advice?

Technical Advice is a benefit of full membership only, it’s a big part of what we do and the yearly subscription fee of £325 goes towards covering the time of our advisors. This means any member of the Society with the grade MSWW and above can access the help of the technical team. Affiliate members (Aff.SWW) who need advice should instead seek assistance from their full member, who of course is welcome to forward the question on if necessary. Your membership must be active and up-to-date, including subscriptions paid and audits returned otherwise no advice will be given.

How do I get advice?

To get advice from the technical team you should submit your query to them via email – [email protected]. The Society is unable to give any advice over the phone. This is not to be obstructive and for no reason should you be denied technical advice providing the above conditions have been met. The reason advice is only given by email is for both yours and our protection. We’re fully insured for the advice that we give, however should a claim ever be brought about where it is alleged that the wrong advice was given it’s essential that a written record is available.

Once the technical team have received your query, they will conduct any necessary research and provide you with a written response within 2 working days. The more complex the query, the longer it is likely for a response to take so please be patient. If your query is urgent it should be marked as such and where possible it will be prioritised, however this is not to be abused and the 2-working day turnaround time should still be respected. Due to the number of queries the technical team often receive, it may be that sometimes responses take longer than they would during quieter periods. In many cases responses are delivered within the same day, however please be patient if not.

The technical team’s inbox is monitored between 9am-5pm Monday – Thursday and 9am-4pm on Friday and all emails are fielded out to the most appropriate advisor. Responses will not be sent outside of these times.

What can I get advice on?

No matter the complexity of the question it’s always best practice to seek advice if you’re even the slightest bit unsure about the answer. You certainly wouldn’t want to be responsible for giving your client’s the wrong advice, even if it’s on the simplest of subjects. Even if you’ve been practicing for decades there’s bound to be something the team can help with. Whether it’s to do with Wills, LPAs, tax, trusts or software, the team can advise on it.

For a comprehensive list of what technical advice can be provided please see the Technical Help page on the website here.

Sure Will Writer – Professional Will Suite

Users of Sure Will Writer – Professional Will Suite can access the technical team directly through the software by clicking ‘Request Help’, found under the support tab.

Please be aware that queries must be restricted to software use only.

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2 comments

  • Simon Eburne

    25th February 2021 at 4:56 pm

    Good Afternoon,
    I have a client which is single and his parents don’t own their own property, should he die before them he would like his parents be able to live in his property, but then pass the property on to his nieces and nephew’s on his parents death. on the will instruction form it doesn’t have an option for the trust to end on death so can this be done? after the parents have died would you suggest another trust for the ultimate beneficiaries? so would a right to occupy or reside trust work?

    Reply

    • Siobhan Smith

      13th April 2021 at 10:19 am

      Hi Simon

      It’s fine for this type of trust (a life interest/IPDI) to end on the life tenant’s death – or in this case the death of the last surviving life tenant as there are multiple.

      I’m afraid I couldn’t say whether a further trust for the final beneficiaries would be a good recommendation without further information.

      Reply

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The Society of Will Writers is a non-profit making self-regulatory organisation whose primary objectives are the advancement, education and ethical standards within the will writing profession.

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