Will Aid and Certainty Partnership looks to a bright future

Tuesday 27th July 2010

Will Aid and the Certainty National Will Register joined forces on a trial basis in 2009 to motivate people to get around to doing two of the most important things they can do for their loved ones - first write their Will and then register it to make sure it can be found later.

Working together produced some very positive results. More than 17,000 people visited solicitors and made a Will during last year's Will Aid Make a Will month, with solicitors waiving their usual fee to raise a fantastic £1.25 million for the 9 charities in the scheme. On average, people donated nearly £100 for every Will written.

Over 3,500 of these people registered their Will free with Certainty. Ordinarily, this registration would cost £29.38, including VAT.

Will Aid and Certainty are pleased to announce that this partnership will now continue indefinitely.

Iain McAndrew, Head of Legacies at Save the Children UK and newly elected Chair of Will Aid says:

"The Will Aid and Certainty partnership was very successful and beneficial to both parties. Certainty helped encourage the participation of additional solicitors from its large national network of Law Firms to help write Wills for Will Aid and Will Aid resulted in 3,500 new free registrations with Certainty."

Robert Cox, Senior Executive at Stephen Rimmer LLP Solicitor, said:

"During this campaign we wrote 79 Wills for Will Aid clients and raised just under £4,000. We have taken part in many Will Aid campaigns and are delighted to use our skills to help charities in this way. This time around we also encouraged clients to take advantage of the offer of free Will registration with Certainty and registered 71 Wills. Registration is an important safeguard since clients write a Will in the expectation that loved ones and charities are remembered according to their wishes. But if the latest Will cannot be found, the estate may be distributed according to an earlier Will or under the Intestacy Rules."

The next Will Aid campaign will run in November and Will Aid clients will again be offered the opportunity to make a donation to the Will Aid charities instead of paying the solicitor. The suggested donation is £75 for a single Will and £110 for a pair of Wills. As an added bonus, Will Aid clients and solicitors will once again be able to register a Will free with Certainty National Will Register.