1. GENERAL NEWS
1.1. Will writing and estate administration
In July 2011 the Legal Services Board (LSB) launched
investigations under sections 24 and 26 of the Legal Services Act
2007, in order to form a view on whether the list of reserved legal
activities should be amended to include will-writing and estate
administration activities. The inclusion of activities on that list
would mean they may only be undertaken by individuals and entities
authorised and regulated by an approved legal services
regulator.
A consultation document entitled "Enhancing consumer
protection, reducing regulatory restrictions: will- writing,
probate and estate administration activities" was published on
23 April 2012, setting out the results of LSB's
investigations and their proposals for action. The investigations
indicated that many consumers were not adequately protected at the
time a will was written or an estate was administered and LSB
proposed that action needed to be taken to