STEP Advanced Certificate in Will Preparation (England & Wales)
This qualification is a collaboration between STEP and Central
Law Training (CLT).
Why should I study this qualification?
- Gain a recognised qualification in this field.
- Enhance your ability to give holistic advice to clients as a
“trusted advisor”.
- Develop your own technical competence.
- Support you in building your reputation and business as a will
draftsman in particular and in enhancing your private client
services more generally.
- Fulfil your annual STEP and SRA CPD requirements.
- If you are not already a STEP member, you can become an
affiliate on completion of the Certificate.
What are the entry requirements?
The course is set at the level of a STEP Diploma paper and
applicants are advised they should have some prior knowledge of
basic will drafting and the underlying estate and tax
considerations.
Non-members of STEP who enrol on this
Advanced Certificate become student members of STEP
whilst studying. Upon completion of the qualification you can
become an affiliate of STEP or go
on to study the Diploma, which provides a
route to full STEP membership.
What does the programme cover?
- Will preparation as a business
- The process of will preparation
- Client interviews and taking instructions
- Mental capacity and undue influence
- The foreign element
- Joint property
- Inheritance Act 1975 claims
- Tax 1: general issues
- Tax 2: specific issues
- Drafting the will
- Non-standard wills
- The execution of the will
- Traps you must be aware of in preparing a will
- Miscellaneous law
Introduction from STEP
Even well drafted wills may not reflect the circumstances or
real needs of the individual unless the will draftsman possesses
the breadth and depth of knowledge to ask the right questions and
to advise the client appropriately. To be a truly "trusted advisor"
the practitioner needs a holistic knowledge across a range of
technical areas and the client-facing skills to apply that
knowledge in the right way.
This Advanced Certificate, the first of its kind at this
level in will preparation, has been designed with this aim in mind:
to develop the trusted will draftsman who can demonstrate through
qualification that they have the knowledge and skills to provide an
excellent service to their clients, whatever the client's needs and
circumstances.