Will writing business advice

[helloall]

Hello
I set up a local online estate agency business working from home three months ago which is going OK but with all the uncertainty during that time and for the weeks and months ahead i am not as busy i was hoping. Because of this i am considering launching a second smaller scale business and am considering Will writing so would appreciate any advice on this subject and my idea generally. The reasons for doing this are as follows.

- My estate agency business is no sale, no fee so money is slow to come in whereas will writing should bring cash in pretty quickly.
- I can get the will writing up and running pretty quickly in terms of doing a training course etc.
- As part of my strategy i am personally delivering 300-800 leaflets a day between any appointments i have so a second leaflet advertising my Will writing service will not cost me very much at all and if i offer a good call to action and maybe a discount to act now i feel i should get a good response.
- The will writing process is not too drawn out so shouldn't impact on my main business to much if i suddenly get a busy period.

Any advice from anyone in Will writing directly would be appreciated especially the success of leaflet campaigns you may have run to generate business as i don't want to spend a lot of money in other areas to generate leads although i am doing a lot of networking so can pick up leads from that activity as well.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[Newchodge]

I take it you have professional liability insurance for will writing? It is not an easy process to do properly, you need a very good understanding of inheritance tax provisions, to start with. If it is just Auntie Mary wanting to leave all her money to her cat, it is also not easy. Getting it wrong could cost you a fortune.

I wasn't aware that you could do a training course in will writing.

 

[Scalloway]

It appears there are courses available. As @Newchodge says proper insurance is an essential.

http://www.cilexlawschool.ac.uk/Will-writing_courses

 

[helloall]

I haven't got to the stage of getting things in place as I'm purely looking into it at this stage but i would imagine this will be a necessity as it is for my current business.
As far as courses go there are various options, some of which don't look very good quality at all which i wouldn't consider as if i was doing it i would want to be confident of providing a good service.
I have been qualified to sell mortgages and associated protection in the past so am confident i could fly through the courses and pass any exams etc and would be able to offer a good service to any clients i dealt with.

 

[Newchodge]

It appears there are courses available. As @Newchodge says proper insurance is an essential.

http://www.cilexlawschool.ac.uk/Will-writing_courses

That looks pricey!

 

[The Byre]

The only thing here that makes me go 'Hmmm' is the fact that a simple will is easy, but the moment complexities start to rear their medusian heads, a specialist is required. Assets in different jurisdictions across Europe and elsewhere? The imposition of covenants? And then there is all that lovely complexity that is tax laws in the UK!

 

[Newchodge]

The CILEX courses look reasonably comprehensive. I did a course in Trusts as part of my legal qualification, which would be very useful, but CILEX only offer it as a recommendation for people dealing with high value estates. That is all very well, but who is going to turn away a high value (and therefore lucrative) client from their business, and clients won't necessarily know the difference.

 

[helloall]

Thanks for everyone's input.
I'm not really worried about the courses and learning what i need to know as I've found plenty of opportunities on that front.
What I'm keen to find out about is whether its realistic to run it as a part time business alongside my other venture and how easy/difficult it is to generate leads, specifically from leaflets as this is where the synergies lie in terms of the efforts I'm putting into generating leads for my estate agency business.

 

[Newchodge]

there are a huge number of organisations offering a free will service to their members - trade unions, credit card companies, all sorts. I don't know if the market is there.

Plus. although I may be unusual, I have had the opportunity to get a free will written at least 5 times, not just one offs, but ongoing offers. I've never bothered.

 

[Feldon]

I had a very similar background to you and was a mortgage adviser for a while, then the recession hit and I too thought of going into Will Writing. I got into it initially via a paid job working for a probate company for 12 months and then did a course with the Institute of Professional Will Writers, you have to pass an exam etc, if you passed CeMAP you shouldn't find it too difficult, they also offer a template leaflet. I delivered around 6,000 over a 2 month period and got, wait for it, 18 replies of which 5 went on to get me to write their Wills. I ran out of steam and money after about 4 months. I found it very interesting but like any business of this type difficult to get off the ground unless you have funds or anther source of income. Personally I would look very carefully at courses etc. and make sure you join an organisation that offers full back up and compliance and insists on professional indemnity insurance. I can highly recommend the I.P.W. but beware of other training organisations particularly anything franchise related as there have been some very unscrupulous organisations out there in the past.

 

[helloall]

Thanks for your response Feldon, exactly the kind of information i was hoping for and very useful.

 

[RFrayling]

On a complete side note "helloall" if you'd to discuss financial services referrals with a mortgage broker firm, I'd love to have a chat and see if I can help - I'm a mortgage broker working under a directly authorised firm - drop me a message if you'd like to have a chat about our referral package.

 

[beasty]

I used to be in Legal sales and our company provided software for law firms to produce Wills quickly, the idea being they might only get 100 or 150 quid for the bulk, but the software helped produce them quickly, as i recall it was a cd you put it in the pc an follow instructions, at the end hey presto a will

 

[helloall]

Thanks for all the input from everyone, some really good points in there and if anyone else has any insight into this industry feel free to contribute as I'm keen to get as much info as i can on the subject.

 

[Ross PI]

There are several organisations that you can join to help you grow your service. For example in Wales we have Legal Network Wales a collection of will writers and Law firms that will refer work to each other that they either can not deal with or do not have the capacity to cope with. It would be worth finding an organisation in your area similar to this that'll help you pick extra work up.

Cheers Ross,
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