York solicitor Rachel Roche has created a new online will writing service to aid those in the UK who do not have their own legal documents dealing with their estates after their deaths.
The new service, which took two years to develop and went live today, demystifies the processes of making a will and a lasting power of attorney.
Roche (pictured), a private client solicitor and founder of Roche Legal with offices in York and Harrogate, contributed to this year’s The Parliamentary Review, in which she called for more legal services to be made available online in a bid to make them more convenient to access and use.
She said: “Our system has just four sections for the client to complete making it, we believe, one of the most straightforward online will writing programmes available.”
“In my opinion, we have created something new to address the large number of people who don’t currently have a will by providing a service that is both cost effective and easily available, running alongside our face to face meetings, which some clients still prefer.”
Another point that came up in Roche’s contribution to The Parliamentary Review was how regulation of online legal services could drive competition and costs, while making them more accessible.
Roche said of her firm’s new will writing service: “Roche Legal Online is fully authorised and regulated by the Solicitors’ Regulation Authority (SRA) and staffed by real people. Once the client provides the information via the online system, he/she will then be contacted personally by one of our solicitors.”
“Once you have a valid will in place, you can be assured that if the unexpected did happen, your family and friends would be able to administer your estate according to your wishes. The ramifications of a person not having a will can be significant for their dependants who may be left out in the cold.”
The online lasting power of attorney service is similarly protected. Roche explained: “We use online identification checks to satisfy anti-money laundering requirements and have spent a great deal of time in ensuring that the system is user-friendly whilst also being mindful of the risks associated with taking instructions remotely.”
Besides addressing the need to get more people writing their wills, Roche Legal has also developed a series of pocket-sized booklets on dealing with a relative’s death and looking after the elderly, with six more planned in the series. The booklets are free to download from the firm’s website.
Roche added: “As part of our innovative approach to later life legal planning we have also developed and published a series of pocket-sized user-friendly booklets to help clients understand a legal process that can seem daunting. The booklets aim to be far more than a conversation over the phone with a solicitor, acting as a checklist when dealing with intensely emotional and complicated situations.”
