Solicitors urged to share in Will Aid's success
13 October 2010
Will Aid is the UK’s most successful charity Will scheme, run by nine charities: ActionAid, Age UK, British Red Cross, Christian Aid, NSPCC, Save the Children UK, Sightsavers, SCIAF (Scotland) and Trocaire (N. Ireland).
The campaign has a simple yet compelling objective - to help people draw up their Will with a qualified solicitor and at the same time to raise money for the charities involved.
Will Aid research shows that only 40% of people have made a Will. Most of those without one simply say they have not got around to it. Other reasons include having no idea of the cost and thinking that the whole process will be difficult.
Will Aid helps overcome these barriers by offering the prospect of giving money to charity instead of paying a fee. The time-limited nature of the offer means that people have to take swift action. The suggested donation level, whilst designed to recognise the time put in by the solicitor, also reassures people that they will not need to give a small fortune. The Will Aid website contains lots of information to help people prepare their Will, including a useful Will Planner. The real benefit of Will Aid to the client is that they meet and can be guided by a qualified and experienced professional.
Last November, over 1,100 solicitors donated their time for Will Aid. Seventeen thousand clients, many of whom had never set foot in a legal firm before, began new relationships with solicitors up and down the country. The Will Aid charities shared over £1.25 million, donated by Will-makers to Will Aid.
This is an achievement for which the legal profession can be justly proud. But public interest is such that there is the potential to achieve even more.
Will Aid is urgently seeking more solicitors to participate in this year’s campaign because demand from the public continues to grow. In 2009, Will Aid’s massive publicity campaign prompted over 70,000 people to seek a convenient solicitor but many of them were unable to complete their Wills under the scheme due to lack of available appointments.
Participating solicitors offer to write basic Wills without charging their normal fee for the month of November and request a donation be made to Will Aid. The suggested minimum donation is £75 for a single basic Will, £110 for mirror Wills. The solicitor is able, after having obtained the client’s agreement, to charge their normal fees for work that lies outside the definition of a basic Will. Broadly speaking, for Will Aid, a basic Will is suitable for anyone whose assets are below the inheritance tax threshold and/or they are simply leaving their assets to a few loved ones and perhaps leaving a legacy to charity.
Will Aid donations are distributed amongst the participating charities and go a long way to help the widest number of people. For example, they could install a hand pump in a schoolyard for clean drinking water in a remote village school in Tibet, save the sight of a child in India, or protect a child from abuse here in the UK.
Firms, large and small, take part in Will Aid and seem to really enjoy the challenge presented by the campaign. Many solicitors tell us that Will Aid offers them a unique opportunity to put something back into their own community. They are helping local people get their affairs in order and at the same time raising vital funds to help people in desperate need get access to the things most of us take for granted, like basic health care and clean water.
Jaffe Porter Crossick LLP solicitors of Belsize Road, NW6 took part in the 2009 campaign and raised over £2,000 by preparing around 30 Wills.
Yael Torn-Hibler, trainee solicitor, said:
“Virtually every client expressed their appreciation and gratitude for the advice we gave them. Almost all the clients assured us that they would use the firm for future legal work.”
Hart Brown solicitors raised in excess of £10,000 across its participating offices in Guildford, Cobham, Godalming, Cranleigh and Wimbledon Village.
Bettina Brueggemann, managing partner, said:
“Our involvement in Will Aid was met with a tremendous response from clients, both old and new. We are pleased that the scheme clearly impressed upon many, not only the importance of making a Will - but also of having it professionally drawn up. This, in turn, gave us the opportunity to provide a service to many first-time Will makers who might not otherwise have taken that step.”
Will Aid solicitors gain new, valuable clients who tend to have higher than average incomes and are likely to choose their Will Aid solicitor for their future legal work. Satisfied Will-makers also tend to recommend their new solicitor to family and friends.
So why not be part of Will Aid’s success this year?
Sign up online at:
www.willaid.org.uk Call us on: 01460 271178 or email:
enquiries@willaid.org.uk