Which activities are reserved legal activities? Probate activities v will-writing (Legal Services Act 2007 s.12 and Sch 2)
Kwame Asante runs Cornerstone Estate Services, a small business that is not authorised by the SRA or any other approved regulator, and none of its staff is an authorised person. He plans to expand and lists the services he would like to offer clients for a fee from 2026: drafting wills, advising on inheritance tax planning, acting as a mediator in family disputes about estates, preparing the papers needed to apply for grants of probate, and writing letters to banks on behalf of executors asking for account balances.
Which of the following best identifies the service that is a reserved legal activity under the Legal Services Act 2007?
Choose one answer to see the reasoning.
Worked answer
Correct answer D: Preparing the papers on which to found an application for a grant of probate.
THE RULE TO REMEMBER
Preparing papers to found or oppose a grant of probate or letters of administration is a reserved legal activity; drafting a will is not (LSA 2007 s.12 and Sch 2 paras 5-6).
Which activities are reserved legal activities? Probate activities v will-writing (Legal Services Act 2007 s.12 and Sch 2)
Section 12(1) of the Legal Services Act 2007 lists six reserved legal activities: the exercise of a right of audience, the conduct of litigation, reserved instrument activities, probate activities, notarial activities and the administration of oaths. Schedule 2, para 6 defines "probate activities" as preparing any probate papers for the purposes of the law of England and Wales, and "probate papers" as papers on which to found or oppose a grant of probate or a grant of letters of administration. Preparing probate application papers is therefore a reserved legal activity, which Kwame's unauthorised business could not carry on lawfully.
Why A is wrong: Sch 2 para 5(3)(a) expressly provides that "instrument" does not include a will or other testamentary instrument, so will-writing is not reserved.
Why B is wrong: giving legal advice is a "legal activity" under s.12(3) but is not one of the six reserved legal activities in s.12(1).
Why C is wrong: s.12(4) provides that legal activity does not include activity of a judicial or quasi-judicial nature, including acting as a mediator.
Why E is wrong: routine correspondence asking for information falls within none of the reserved activities, and Sch 2 para 5(3)(c) excludes letters from "instrument".
That's today's practice done. Another featured question tomorrow.
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