From TimesOnline today, I’ve been reading that a retired civil servant in South London is bringing a High Court test case today over the fees charged to thousands of bereaved relatives each year by will-writing firms when they act as executor of a will.
David Khan, 69, from Norwood, South London, is taking legal action against Will Drafters, the Croydon-based firm, claiming that it will charge twice as much as a competitive quote obtained elsewhere.
His case will test whether families have a right to appoint whom they wish as executors to obtain probate and carry out the wishes of the deceased.
Will Drafters, was appointed executor when it drew up the will of Mr Khan’s late stepfather. It is refusing to stand down as executor so that Mr Khan can appoint solicitors of his choosing to administer the estate.
An estimated 90,000 people a year find themselves forced into accepting executors specified in their relatives’ wills, whether will-writing companies, solicitors or banks, and to accept the charges they impose.
The case to be heard today at the Royal Courts of Justice involves the estate of Dennis Griffiths, of Bromley, Kent, who died in October 2008.
In 1999 Will Drafters wrote a will for him which appointed itself the sole executor of his estate on his death. The company said they would charge a fee of 1.75 per cent of the estate — a total of £6,510 plus VAT.
The family has obtained a quote of half that figure from a firm called Final Duties who quoted £3,250 plus VAT. The family has asked Will Drafters to stand down as executor and be replaced by family members or to reduce their fees to a competitive quote.
Mr Khan said: “What happens in these cases is that the person making the will is visited by a will consultant, who draws up the will, but it is really a case of ticking boxes. You can see how, when it comes to who will be the executor, and the elderly person does not have anyone in mind, they might just suggest themselves.” He said that he and his sister, Ruth Savidge, had asked the firm if they would stand down as executors so they could appoint their own.
Will Writers, a large firm that was set up 20 years ago, prides itself on giving a quality will-writing and probate service, and rejects any suggestion that it persuaded Mr Griffiths to appoint it as executor for its benefit.
The firm says that at the time it drew up Mr Griffiths’ will in 1999, it was uncommon for it to be appointed executor and at the time it did so in less than 5 per cent of cases. But to step aside as executor would be in breach of Mr Griffiths’ wishes.
Its charges tend to be between 1.75 per cent and two per cent of the gross value of the estate, which it says compares favourably with the charges of other will writers, banks and solicitors.
Adam Walker, of Final Duties, is backing Mr Khan in his High Court action: He said: “This is an important test case that will determine whether beneficiaries in a will have the right to appoint executors of their choosing, or carry out the work themselves, or whether the court will compel them to accept a professional executor against their wishes where a suitable alternative has been proposed.”
He added that it was important that in this case the two beneficiaries were adults and were in full agreement with each other.
There is debate over whether will-writing companies should be regulated. The only will-writing association to offer accreditation — the Fellowship of Professional Willwriters and Probate Practitioners — says that its research shows that two thirds of people wrongly thought the willwriters they used were all trained solicitors.
A recent report on regulation of legal services by Lord Hunt of the Wirral expressed concern about the “fringe legal market” in will-writing, probate and claims handling.