We’re incredibly proud to report that The Society of Will Writers is celebrating 25 years trading this year.
When the SWW was first formed in 1994 it had a very simple objective – To provide a framework of support and self-regulation for will writers. Combined with this, we sought to highlight the need for a will amongst the general public.
Since 1994 we have grown to become the largest organisation of our type. We provide support and assistance to over 1700 members who span not only the United Kingdom but across the world.
We take pride in providing a voice for our members when we meet with leading industry stakeholders like the Competitions and Market Authority (CMA) or with the Legal Services Board (LSB) and have been involved in many discussions surrounding the regulation of Will writing – which we expected in 2013.
Over the last 25 years we’ve adapted, grown and developed.
It had been said in the early 1990’s that an organisation like ours would never work. This did nothing but give us the determination to press forward and prove the nay-sayers wrong. Our members now write in excess of 250,000 Wills per year.
One thing that has changed over the last 25 years is that we’ve seen changes in the complexity in the make up of someone’s estate. It’s much more common for someone to divorce and remarry, we’re seeing blended families, and legislation surrounding estate planning has changed. The need for professional advice is much more apparent and our members have risen to meet the demands of the public.
It’s great to look back over the achievements that the SWW have made. Achievements like launching a dedicated training facility – the College of Will Writing back in 2014, launching a storage facility to ensure that a Will could be stored safely without the fear of it being lost and of course providing a source of information to members of the public.
As well as reflecting on what has been a rich history, we’re planning well into the future too. The work our Professional Standards Board are doing will inform the direction the SWW take over the next 25 years. One thing we are sure about is that we’ll continue to drive the profession forward through clear and transparent membership requirements.
We’d like to issue a big ‘thank you’ to our members for their continued support and dedication and encourage those that would like to forge relationships with us over the coming months to get in touch.
We’re raising a glass to the next 25 years!
