It is becoming clear that consumers are increasingly at  risk from a growing “fringe legal market” in will writing and probate work.

A recent inquiry into solicitors’ regulation found that large areas of legal activity are now being carried out by non-lawyers entirely unregulated, making consumers vulnerable to incompetence, negligence or even fraud across a wide range of transactions. The author of a report on the topic, Lord Hunt of the Wirral, wrote that : “Most of our fellow citizens would surely be taken aback to learn that anyone can currently set himself or herself up as a will-writer and also that some aspects of probate activity can take place outside the regulatory net.”

In the area of will-writing, where increasing numbers of non-lawyers offer services to the public, Lord Hunt noted that it is “not a straightforward contract”. He said: “Simple mistakes can lead to unjust outcomes and those outcomes will often occur a long time after the will has been written.”

In the area of probate, too, Lord Hunt noted that consumers would be surprised to find there is “no clear, universal and effective code of conduct or complaints or compensation procedure in place”.

These findings ought to make very worrying reading for consumers who do not always appreciate the value offered by solicitors both in terms of legal knowledge and expertise as well as, perhaps more importantly, full indemnity cover in the event of something going wrong. Unfortunately there will always be significant numbers of people who will be attracted by the cheap prices offered by these “fringe service providers”, who do not have to bear the same administrative and compliance overheads as qualified solicitors, and it may be that for the protection of the public a new regulatory regime will eventually have to be put in place.