By Isabel Joubert
The Law Society of South Africa (LSSA) National Wills Week was initially started by the then Law Society of the Northern Provinces and only attorneys registered with the law society could participate. In September 2008 – after the LSSA obtained buy-in from all the then constituents of the LSSA – the LSSA National Wills Week initiative went national.
The initiative went nationwide in order to assist members of the public who would not normally make use of the services of a legal practitioner, or who may hesitate to consult a legal practitioner, in fear of the possible fees resulting from the consultation.
The main aim of the initiative is to make legal practitioners services better known to the public and also to improve the image of the profession and to create an environment of client care.
The LSSA places a lot of emphasis on having a legal practitioner draft a will rather than a bank or other authorised entities because a practising legal practitioner has the necessary knowledge and expertise to ensure that the will is valid by complying with all the legal requirements in the Wills Act 7 of 1953, and importantly that it complies with the client’s wishes.
In 2022, there were 852 legal practitioners who took part in the LSSA National Wills Week and in 2023, there were a total of 1 007 legal practitioners who took part.
After the 2022 and 2023 LSSA National Wills Week took place a survey was sent out to the legal practitioners that participated. Below are the results to the questions asked in the surveys.
The LSSA anticipates an even better level of participation for 2024. All the information regarding the LSSA National Wills Week is available on the LSSA website: www.LSSA.org.za
Isabel Joubert BIS Publishing (Hons) (UP) is a Sub-editor at De Rebus and Communications Officer at the Law Society of South Africa.
This article was first published in SA Lawyer in 2024 (January) DR 16.
