Article by Phil
Your local Financial Consultant Christina is potentially concerned about The Law Commissions introduction of digital Wills, currently under consideration.
The idea is to speed up the Will writing process and reduce the costs. Hopefully this will then increase the number of people writing Wills. This does need to happen because the number of Wills has fallen and intestacy is becoming a real problem, putting pressure on the system and causing delays for beneficiaries. Being able to change Wills online could also be a benefit which might lead to fewer legal challenges.
But there are concerns from solicitors and your local financial consultant that the new system could be easily abused. It will be difficult to ensure that Wills aren’t being created under the undue influence of beneficiaries, when its being done online. There are real concerns about this.
Alongside the opportunity for fraud with people’s identification documents being stolen. The new system will need robust controls in place to make it secure. Solicitors say that using their services face to face will continue to be the safest option.
A cautionary tale, however. Do not assume that using a solicitor to write your Will means that there won’t be any problems. As a Financial Consultant we’ve encountered a situation where a firm of solicitors has been closed down leaving the Wills to be dealt with by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA).
So far, they’ve taken over 18 months to try to locate a Will, leaving the beneficiaries in financial difficulties.
Scams continue to be a big problem.
Two fraudsters were jailed this month for their part in a crypto fraud worth £1.5 million between 2017 and 2019.
Meanwhile regulated crypto firm Ziglu has been intervened by the FCA and placed into administration. Two people have also been arrested for running unregulated crypto ATMs would you believe.
The FCA has also continued to take action against scams online. In 2024 over 50 Apps were removed from Apple and Google stores to prevent scams. In addition, over 1,600 websites were closed down. That’s a lot of scam websites. Plus, action was taken against 20,000 financial promotions which didn’t meet the required standards. A huge amount of activity but still the costs of scams ran into hundreds of millions. Please stay safe online.
Financial Consultant asks why are there so many scams?
Perhaps one of the reasons we are so susceptible to scams is down to our unrealistic expectations of financial returns. According to Fidelity they found that clients expected returns of 9% on average on their investments. That was despite of the fact that over 65% of their clients had no appetite to take risks. These expectations are completely unrealistic but not unexpected. As a Financial Consultant we talk to many prospective clients whose only interest is what financial returns they will make, rather than considering their long-term goals and aspirations. It is often these people who are tempted by the lure of supposedly high returns on crypto to those on investments which are too good to be true and turn out to be scams. Perhaps we need to work harder on managing clients’ expectations of how financial advice can help.
However, it’s not all our own fault. Barclays have just been fined £42 million by the FCA for failing to have sufficient financial crime checks in place for their customers. This was in relation to failed investment firms Wealth Tek and Stunt & Co. You’d expect better from one of the big four.
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If you need a Financial Consultant then why not contact Christina today. We offer a free initial meeting to discuss your requirements and explain how our service works. You are under no obligation to use us after that if you don’t want to and we won’t pester you.
So why not call us today on 01282 614444 or e mail us enquiries@ccfps.co.uk or use our contact form online.
