In the news: Absent staff told to witness 33 wills in disciplinary tribunal
The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has found that the director of a law firm acted dishonestly in presenting misleading documents. The concerns related to the witnessing and signing of wills.
The tribunal heard that a legal secretary at the firm confirmed she had signed a number of documents as a witness to the signature of the client. This was despite the fact she had not been present at the time and for wills that had been signed outside the office.
This was found to have been the case 33 times over two years and highlights the need to follow diligently policies and procedures around the witnessing of wills.
The tribunal stated the motivation had been to ‘cut corners’ in the mistaken belief this was helping and assisting clients. However, trust had been breached as the documents would be considered invalid, having not been properly witnessed.
Despite the pressures on us all, it is essential to follow the correct procedure when witnessing wills, to ensure their legality.
To read the Law Gazette report on to this case, you can click on this link.
This Citizen’s Advice Article on Wills and their legality can be found through this link.