ATTENTION: Sure Will Writer Users

It has recently come to our attention that for a period of time there was an error with the wording of certain trusts over property in the previous desktop (disc) version of the software Sure Will Writer.

What does it affect?

The error affected the wording of the trust period for the life interest trust and right to occupy trust over property. Specifically, the definition of the trust period. Wills with the error present will have a trust period that reads:

“the Trust Period” is the period between my death and the death of the Life Tenant if earlier. 

The inclusion of the words “if earlier” means that the clause fails and consequently no life interest is set up by the will. The words “if earlier” should only be included if there are multiple events that may end the life interest, for example “….the period between my death and the death of the Life Tenant or her remarriage if earlier.”

Please note that this does not affect users of the current cloud based package, Sure Will Writer – Professional Will Suite.

When was the error active?

This affects wills that include a life interest or right to occupy trust over property and that were drafted between February 2016 and August 2016. Due to how updates to Sure Will Writer were issued at the time the actual date of the fix may be later into 2017, as it will depend on when the user actually downloaded and applied the update that included the fix.

What should I do now?

If you were a Sure Will Writer user during this time period we strongly recommend you audit your files. If any wills are affected by this error and a subsequent update hasn’t already been carried out the client should be contacted and the will amended. The Society of Will Writers technical team have produced a template codicil that may be used to remove the erroneous wording from any wills affected, which is available upon request by emailing [email protected].

If you have any queries please contact [email protected].