Professional Negligence

19-Sep-08



Recently, this firm had the opportunity to advise on a will which had been prepared from a do-it-yourself website for a client.  The will had been prepared by an accountant for his client.

The will was fairly complex and failed to address a number of crucial issues.

If a professional person prepares a will from a do-it-yourself website they incur a duty of care to the will maker and it is highly likely that if they were the subject of litigation they would not be covered by their professional indemnity insurance.

If the person charged a fee, however nominal, for the advice given and time taken to prepare the will then the person would be expected to have the same obligations and duty of care as a legal practitioner.

Think twice about using standard forms off a website for complex documents such as wills.  If in doubt, have a lawyer prepare the document.  A small expenditure now might save a costly legal battle later.

Articles