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"We saw in a local newspaper an advertisement saying that there was a will writer that would come to your home to write your will. In he came, with his briefcase and his laptop and he seemed quite plausible. And my father went through everything with him, he wrote it all down, put it all on his laptop and he went away."

A draft arrived for approval and then the will was signed, sealed and forgotten about until after Colin’s father’s death a few months later.

Colin took the will to his solicitor only to be told that his father had left the bulk of his estate to his wife, who had died some fifteen years previously, and his accountant, even though he had never had one.

Colin had to apply to the court to have the will rectified which involved him and his family in unnecessary cost and emotional turmoil just at a time they didn’t need it.

This is just one of many things that can go wrong when making a will, the most common of which are errors in signing and witnessing the will and non-witnessed amendments to the will.

Despite the fact that a will is one of the most important documents you will ever sign, a will writer does not have to be qualified and the industry is not regulated in the way that solicitors are.

Some people choose will writers for the convenience of a home visit.  At Gard & Co. we are aware that it is difficult for some of our clients to attend the office and we regularly make visits to their homes to ensure they get a robust will that fully expresses their wishes.