Professional benefits?

If you look online for someone to make a will or advise on estate planning, you’ll discover a dizzying array of providers, many offering low costs and fast results. And the providers of these services – traditionally carried out by the legal profession – have changed significantly in recent years, a fact now causing considerable concern. 

While making applications for probate remains a reserved activity under the Legal Services Act 2007 (LSA), will writing in England and Wales and some estate management services can be carried out by individuals not overseen by any of the Legal Services Board (LSB) regulators or other regulators like the Financial Conduct Authority. Nor do those offering will writing, or some estate planning and management services, need any training at all.

Lack of regulation

The market is now serviced by a bevy of providers, from law firms and consumer organisations like the Co-op and Which?, to companies like Octopus Legacy and Honey Legal – many of which offer online services – and individuals who provide personal services delivered at home. More people and organisations are also entering the market, says Anthony Belcher, managing director of the Society of Will Writers (SWW). “Some of our members include independent financial advisers and insurance advisers, who previously would have outsourced this work,” he explains. “Now, they’re broadening their services as the work often goes hand in hand, and are doing it themselves.” 

And while many of these providers are regulated, others are not, and it is this lack of regulatory uniformity that has attracted the attention of government and regulatory bodies like the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). It’s also prompted concern among professional bodies like the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) and the SWW. STEP, in particular, has been calling for market regulation: its research report, Wills and Trusts: Buyer Beware, published in September 2023 and based on a survey of its members, details the impact of unqualified advisers in the estate planning sector.

Problems with unregulated providers

The report presents some sobering findings: 79% of survey respondents discovered wills prepared by unqualified providers containing errors. Many found cases where will writing companies had charged more than the costs outlined in their terms of business; over half uncovered cases of dishonesty in the drafting and administration of trusts; just over half found firms making false claims about the will they were selling; and a third came across cases where incompetence had led to significant tax bills – in several cases as high as £2m. 

Similarly, Belcher reports that members of the SWW also find it necessary to put right work carried out by untrained operators – a dispiriting experience for clients. “If people have a bad experience, they’re not likely to go to any will writing service again and may try to do their own work,” he says. 

A key concern is consumer confusion about regulation. The UK Wills & Probate Consumer Research Report 2025, published in April by IRN Legal Reports, the legal market intelligence company, revealed that 40% of consumers still believe that all will writing services are regulated. This represents a significant number of consumers who are unaware of the risks posed by some providers – chiefly, that some unregulated providers might not have the necessary skills to conduct the work or offer consumer protections, like adequate insurance or mechanisms for redress for poor advice or services.

Various factors and assumptions are now driving consumers’ choices of will writing and estate planning services, some of which may be uninformed. One is simply inertia: the IRN report revealed that the key reason individuals gave for not making a will was that they just “hadn’t got around to it”. Powerful considerations, however, are cost and convenience. The SRA report, Understanding the unreserved market (June 2023), notes that unregulated providers can offer affordable, highly accessible services that meet consumer needs. 

Consumers, it appears, especially look for certainty about costs. And while they may fear that law firms, in particular, won’t be affordable, the online services offered by some providers – who may be unregulated – can appear more convenient and have a broader appeal because they are carried out quickly, remotely and cheaply. 

In some cases, however, consumer concerns may be a matter of perception: STEP noted in its report that a standard, uncomplicated will made with accredited members cost less than £500 in 70% of cases and less than £300 in 46% of cases. Free wills, offered by numerous charities, are also now a popular choice, and these may well be made with regulated providers.

Size and shape of the market

So what does the current market really look like? Various studies have examined the size and shape of the will writing and estate planning market, both in terms of how many people use these services and who provides them. The 2025 IRN report noted that while year on year the percentage of adults with a will hardly changed, in 2025 it increased to over 40% for the first time since the survey began six years ago. It now stands at 41% – up from 38% in 2024 – and is growing as the adult population increases.

The 2023 SRA report found that the number of these providers not regulated by an LSA regulator is growing, yet still represents a fairly small proportion of all legal services – its estimate is around 6-8%. A quarter of them were concentrated on will and estate administration work, followed by family (12%) and employment work (11%). Some were regulated by non-LSA regulators, and many were members of professional bodies like STEP and the SWW. Some were not regulated at all or were not members of any professional body. 

What is certain is that while law firms and solicitors have been the favoured option for consumers looking for will writing, the number of individuals using them is decreasing each year. David Mort, founder and director of IRN Legal Reports, confirms that more people are making wills using providers in the unregulated sector or preparing one themselves. The IRN report found that in 2025 the use of law firms and solicitors slipped to below 50% of all respondents (49%) for the first time – down from 50% in 2024 and 55% in 2023. Find more information about IRN’s reports.

Specialist will writing services were the next most popular providers, at 19%, while the number of people making their own will has been steadily increasing – 13% in 2025, up from 11% in 2024. “People can buy templates for wills at a newsagent’s or buy one online,” Mort explains. 

Technology is also a big driver of change. “People are increasingly using online services, and newer, unregulated providers may be more adept at developing digital services,” he says. The use of the government’s online probate portal has also increased, to 59% of those taking part in probate, indicating that more people also want to handle it personally. 

More consumers, too, are favouring ‘unbundling services’, where the individual completes part of the will themselves and passes more complex parts to a legal professional. Some law firms may already offer these services, and this segment of the market is now up to 10%, from 7% in 2024. Some operators provide the form, which consumers can complete with prompting and guidance. Others provide a form that a client can complete, which is then checked by someone with – hopefully – legal training. Other providers are not even offering this. 

“Some services are not guided or attended services at all, with consumers just completing a questionnaire,” says Belcher. “But many people may be in circumstances that require more advice and guidance, and aren’t aware they need it.” He also fears for those using guided probate management services and points out that: the SWW maintains a register of its regulated members who can undertake probate work. Belcher believes that the unregulated market has grown – especially since the COVID-19 pandemic – as consumers become more focused on estate planning and online services become increasingly available, including those from providers who aren’t regulated or members of a professional body like his own.

Strategies for firms

Given the stiff market competition, what can firms do to protect and develop their own will writing and estate planning work? To begin with, regulated providers must ensure that their own service levels and charges are as sound and fair as possible – bearing in mind that wills and probate work account for the second-highest number of complaints about regulated providers made to the Legal Ombudsman. The number of complaints that STEP receives is also increasing, as well as becoming more complex, as consumers are increasingly aware of what to look for in professional advice.

More than ever, firms and solicitors need to consider current market trends and what clients want. Although many private client lawyers may focus on clients with complex circumstances, disregarding the high-volume consumer market aimed at people with simpler estates, smaller firms or sole practitioners who operate locally may have to take the shift to very accessible, lower cost services seriously. For all firms, it’s not just will writing but associated work that can be at stake as clients migrate to other providers offering broader services and more attractive packages.

Additional services

David Mort confirms that while will writing may not be growing significantly, the other services that go with it – like lasting powers of attorney (LPAs) and estate planning, including tax planning – are. The IRN report indicates a clear increase in interest in LPAs, advice on funeral plans and dealing with people who are losing their faculties. And it’s this work that often offers better margins than will writing, with the report finding that the median fee for a simple will is around £130. 

Octopus Legacy (which works with its subsidiary Octopus Legal Services, a law firm regulated by the SRA) offers a variety of services from will writing to LPAs, life insurance and probate to grief management. While firms and solicitors may not aim to compete in all these areas, they can certainly review what they do offer – and how they offer it. The number of contested will cases, for example, is certainly growing and many firms are well placed to develop a speciality in this area. 

Stephen Gold, a consultant to the legal profession, says that law firms haven’t been idle: “Firms have already done a lot and are offering services like fixed fee packages and low cost or free initial consultations.” Being transparent about costs is important, he asserts, and it’s often worthwhile for firms to develop more packages for clients with simpler needs, a classic example being a wills package for married couples.

Marketing 

Firms may also have to boost their profile in a crowded market and improve their branding to more effectively compete with other providers. Awareness of law firms among the public is generally poor, Gold explains. “If you ask people to name a law firm, often they can’t. The question is, how can firms combat that?”

In terms of marketing, Gold says many progressive firms already work hard to heighten their presence through the web, digital marketing and social media. For local firms, ‘old media’ such as local newspapers still have a role to play. Firms are well placed to emphasise that important documents, like wills, can have a profound effect on families, and that clients are in safe hands with regulated, highly trained providers such as themselves. That law firms are tightly regulated, unlike non-lawyer providers, is a useful competitive differentiator.

Fixed costs

Other parts of the IRN report are also worth noting. Fixed fees now dominate the market, with 85% of respondents writing wills paying their supplier this way, suggesting it’s a popular option. In 79% of cases, the fee paid was the fee quoted. Only 5% of respondents paid an hourly fee. In 2025, 66% of people using probate services paid a fixed fee, while 14% paid an hourly rate for more complicated or contested estates. 

A large percentage of people (32%) return to law firms and solicitors they’ve used before, but only 16% were offered will writing advice when they were completing another legal matter. 

So it seems there are opportunities for firms and solicitors who are proactive, develop new strands of work and packages, use new fee structures, keep in close contact with clients and monitor market intelligence and trends to compete with – and outshine – unregulated providers.

Breaches of consumer law: guidance and regulation

In recent years, the CMA has also been monitoring the market. In response to complaints about breaches of consumer protection laws in will writing, online divorce and prepaid probate services in the UK, it launched a consultation in

early 2024. That October, it published its final guidance for unregulated businesses that provide these services, which covered a range of existing consumer laws, including unfair commercial practices. At the same time, it published two relevant guides: What to consider when buying will writing services and What to look out for when buying divorce services. 

The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Act 2024 was also passed that year, updating the law on unfair commercial practices, and came into force in April 2025. This legislation has enabled the CMA to decide whether consumer law has been breached without first going to court, and to impose fines and order firms to pay compensation to affected consumers, where appropriate. But although the CMA has published guidance relating to the act, it says it’s currently not taking enforcement action in the unregulated legal services sector.

Meanwhile, self-regulating bodies like STEP and the SWW ensure that their members meet certain membership criteria and adhere to their rules and standards. STEP has a code for will preparation for its members in England and Wales. The SWW requires proof of proficiency from prospective members, who may be asked to sit an entrance exam. All members are also expected to adhere to its code of practice, complete a minimum of 24 hours of training each year and must also have professional indemnity insurance. Both bodies work to promote the use of trained professionals. 

Future consumer protection

The question remains: how well can the CMA and professional bodies like these can alert consumers to the risks involved in estate planning in the current unregulated market? STEP insists that regulation is essential to protect consumers and that high-quality training is also needed, both of which would provide consistent standards of service and competence. 

Anthony Belcher believes there needs to be some form of regulation, but raises concerns over a move towards outright regulation that could be detrimental to the sector’s ability to innovate and offer affordable solutions to consumers. “If will writing were to be made a reserved activity,” he argues, “the scope of the Legal Services Act would need to be expanded, along with the list of approved regulators. It shouldn’t just be handed over to those which exist already.” He suggests that something akin to a licensing scheme would be useful – even as an interim measure – to require that all people engaged in will writing, estate planning and estate management be members of an organisation like his own, to ensure they are competent and that consumers have access to redress if conflicts arise. 

STEP anticipates a trend towards improving consumer protection, transparency and legal certainty, particularly in relation to online services. But in the meantime, the CMA insists that decisions on whether to introduce legislation or regulate specific sectors rest with parliament. At this stage, however, the Department of Justice can only say that it recognises the importance of ensuring that legal services – particularly those involving wills – are delivered safely, and it will “continue to keep the area under review”. 

The question remains: when is it likely to act, and how?