New guidance has been published by the SRA on whether a copy of a donor’s will can be given to an attorney by a solicitor.
Having worked collaboratively with the Law Society, the Legal Ombudsman and the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners, the Solicitors Regulation Authority have recently produced guidance in order to clarify whether an attorney can receive a copy of a donor’s will.
Although it does not form part of the SRA handbook, when exercising its regulatory functions, the Authority may have regard to it.
The guidance establishes that the will forms part of the property belonging to the donor and therefore permits a copy to be released to them. This is unless, however, the donor has expressly stated that the will cannot be disclosed, or the solicitor has reason to believe that the attorney is not acting in the donor’s best interests.
The SRA’s guidance can be accessed here.
