We are pleased to publish a legal blog post from Will Aid, a well-respected charity Will making scheme that has been running since 1988. Please share this information with your contacts on Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Facebook and your other social networks.
Our research shows that around 60% of people don’t have Will, despite the plethora of online Will writing services and unregulated Will writers. The research also indicates that people prefer to deal face to face with a trusted professional to write their Will. If you multiply number of people in your catchment area by this figure that represents a huge number of potential new clients for your firm; clients who are likely to return later for other business and recommend you to family and friends.
Will Aid can help you tap into this source of new business while also providing a valuable service to your local community and helping charity at the same time.
Will Aid is a partnership of nine well known UK charities, who run an annual will making campaign each November. Participating solicitors write basic Wills for members of the public without charging their usual fee. Instead, they invite Willmakers to make a similar donation to the Will Aid charities. Everyone’s a winner – the public get the security of a properly drawn up Will, the charities raise much needed funds for their vital work and the participating solicitors benefit from the massive positive publicity that the scheme generates, attracting valuable new clients.
One Scottish firm who took part in 2011 said:
“We are delighted to have raised so much for the Will Aid charities. We feel it’s our duty as solicitors to educate the public about the importance of making a Will and Will Aid really helps us to do that. The scheme generates a huge amount of goodwill in the local community and we often find that we are receiving other business from the Will Aid clients.”
Solicitors are free to choose how many Will Aid clients they accept so have complete control over the workload and can charge their usual fees for any instructions in addition to a basic Will.
We are currently organising the 2012 campaign and are looking for solicitors to take part.
Last year over 70,000 potential Willmakers contacted us wanting to make a Will and we were simply not able to meet the demand so we urgently need more solicitors to join the scheme. We provide all the materials and run an extensive publicity campaign before, during and after the Will making month.
If you are a solicitor interested in taking part, go to www.willaid.org.uk, for more information, call us on 01460 271178 or email shirley@willaid.org.uk.
If you would like to make a Will in this year’s campaign, our list of participating solicitors will be available from late August. Go to www.willaid.org.uk to find a participating solicitor in your area or call the hotline on 0300 0300 013.
