The Society of Will Writers’ Technical Team offers to its members a Will checking service. Unlike the majority of technical advice we offer which is included as part of full membership, the Will checking service is a chargeable service in addition to the membership fee. In this article we’ll cover what is offered with this service, how to access it, and what it costs.
What is a Will Check?
We will check a Will to ensure that it has been drafted correctly and none of the clauses are either uncertain, invalid, or otherwise likely to fail.
If you provide the instructions alongside the Will we will also check that the Will meets the client’s aims and does what you expect it to do.
If any clauses are invalid, or the Will fails to meet the client’s aims for any reason, we will explain why and will offer suggestions for amendments that you may need to discuss further with your client.
Some examples of common issues a Will check is designed to check for include:
- Naming a single beneficiary in a discretionary trust.
- Failing to include default clauses in discretionary or FLIT trusts.
- Including conditions that are invalid, against public policy, in terrorem or uncertain and will fail.
- Failing to deal with 100% of the residue.
- Including instructions asking executors and trustees to go beyond the powers given to them by law.
Clause Checks
On occasion, the Technical Team are asked to check particular clauses in a Will for clarity and that they have been drafted correctly.
We are happy to do this, however any clause check is limited to a maximum of 2 clauses in the Will with the inclusion of one trust. If we are asked to check more than this, this will constitute a Will check and a member of the team will notify you prior to the Will check being carried out.
Entitlement to Free Will Checks
If you are a user of the SWW’s recommended drafting software Sure Will Writer – Professional Will Suite, whether a full member, affiliate member, or even a non-member, you are entitled to a total of 6 free Will checks included within your subscription. We offer this service free initially as an extra layer of support for the software so that new users can build their confidence in drafting using the software.
There is no requirement for the Will checks to be used on the first 6 Wills you draft using the software, and you may prefer to use your free Will checks on any complex Wills you are required to draft.
Once the 6 free checks have been used up, we will still provide further checks, however these will be chargeable. Please continue reading for more details.
How to Request a Check
To request a check, you must send a request to the SWW Technical Team. You can do this either by sending an email to [email protected], or if you are using Sure Will Writer – Professional Will Suite, you can click the support tab and then ‘request help’ to send a message to us directly from the software.
What We Need From Uou
To carry out a will check we will need:
- A copy of the Will(s) you would like checking
These can be sent to us by email. If you are using Sure Will Writer and are sending your request via the ‘request help’ button from within the case you want checking, you should tick the option to grant us remote access to that case so no Wills need to be emailed to us. This is far more secure and is the method we would recommend using.
- A copy of the instruction form to check against the Will
Alternatively you can send us an overview of what the client’s aims are and what you are expecting the will to achieve.
If no instruction form or overview is provided then we can still carry out the Will check, however this will be less comprehensive. We will only be able to check the Will for drafting errors, and not that it actually matches the client’s wishes. For example, we won’t point out that the way you have drafted a clause will mean that no RNRB is available if we aren’t made aware that the intention is to preserve the RNRB because no instructions or estate values have been provided.
- Any peripheral documents relevant to the drafting of the Will
This includes copies of:
- Title deeds if you would like us to confirm whether the property is held as joint tenants or tenants in common
- Any declarations of trust relevant to the provisions of the Will; or
- Any letter of wishes for trusts you would like checking.
Checking Lasting Powers of Attorney
We do not check LPAs as part of the Will checking service, however we do offer an separate LPA checking service. This can be combined with a Will check if desired.
Please note that the free checks for users of Sure Will Writer – Professional Will Suite does not extend to LPAs.
We will require the LPAs you would like checking as well as the instruction form(s). These can be sent to us in the same manner as Wills for will checks (See “what we need from you” above).
Some examples of common errors the LPA check is designed to pick up:
- Misspellings of the donor or attorneys’ names.
- Incorrect or missing DOBs.
- Instructions and preferences that are invalid or conflict with other aspects of the LPA.
- Replacement attorney appointments that aren’t valid (e.g. making appointment conditional).
- Sections not being completed.
Checking Service Costs*
Prices are per case, not per individual testator. By ‘case’ we mean either single or mirror clients.
Wills:
The fee for a will check is £40 per case for a mirror Will or single Will.
If you are entitled to the 6 free checks for being a Sure Will Writer – Professional Will Suite subscriber, after you have used these 6, you will be charged the same rate as above for any further checks.
LPAs:
The fee for an LPA check is £40. This covers up to four LPAs per case.
Dual Check:
If requesting a Will and LPA check at the same time the fee is £60 per case.
*Prices as of 1st June 2025.
Please note: This service is available only to members of The Society of Will Writers. If you are a member of the public and require advice about your own Will or estate planning, please contact one of our members. To find a member in your area, please click here.
