Will Advice For Ex-Miners From Former Pit Manager

Sept. 21, 2010 - PRLog -- WILL ADVICE FOR EX-MINERS FROM FORMER PIT MANAGER

Now director of Staffordshire Wills, David Nixon will be appearing at Temple Street Methodist Church in Fenton, Stoke-on-Trent – the heart of the Staffordshire mining community – to speak to former miners and others about the importance of preparing a will.

A miner for 22 years until 1994, he was the Deputy Manager at Trentham Colliery and Florence Colliery, and has been member of the Institute of Professional Will-Writers since 2007.

His presentation will focus on the dangers of dealing with will-writers who have no formal qualifications or training, and the benefits of using a will-writer instead of buying a pre-written will from retailers like WHSmiths.

He said: “Buying wills off-the-shelf, as many people do, is okay as long as they’re done properly.

“However a simple will is not always the best option and many need advice tailored to their specific situation, particularly if they are unmarried with children, or have re-married and have children from a previous relationship, or wish to protect their assets from care costs.

“It’s also important to speak to an IPW-registered will-writer, because they are qualified, must abide by an Office of Fair Trading Code of Practice, and have to have professional indemnity insurance before they can start trading.

“They then have to undertake at least 12 hours’ professional development training a year to keep up to date.”

At the moment there is no legal requirement in England for a will-writer to have any formal training, which leaves the industry open to abuse from unscrupulous individuals.

The Scottish Government is planning to regulate the industry in a similar way to the financial services sector.

David Nixon said: “We’ve had warnings from Staffordshire County Council recently about the number of people being conned by bogus will-writers.

“And a recent BBC Panorama programme focussed on one unscrupulous individual in particular. This gives all will-writers a bad name which is not fair.

“The Scottish government will be legislating to ensure all will-writers conform to acceptable industry practice and I’d like to see our government do the same here.”

David Nixon will be appearing at Temple Street Methodist Church on Monday 27th September, from 7pm.

Media enquiries should be directed to Richard Swancott Associates on 01782 472035/07880 733138, or info@richardswancottassociates.co.uk.

References:
•   Council in warning over bogus will woe, This is Tamworth: http://www.thisistamworth.co.uk/news/Council-warning-bogu...

•   New laws tabled for will writing, BBC website, 2nd June: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10214287

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