About The Institute

The Institute has existed since 1991 and, as of its March 2025 AGM, has 860 members. It’s the natural home for practitioners who wish to demonstrate and build their expertise in wills and estate planning. Owned and run by its members, IPW/ISPW is a democratic organisation that prioritises its members and their clients—every member has a voice

The Institute is a not-for-profit self-regulatory organisation, attracting members from a range of areas including private practice and financial services, as well as solicitors, barristers and accountants. Sole member firms through to large national companies have chosen to join the organisation, having seen the benefits that membership has to offer. We have a simple set of standards.

Consumer protection is central to all that we do, and we have been at the forefront of the regulation debate over the years. We are pro-regulation and work directly to raise and enforce standards within our sector.

We work with such organisations as:

The Legal Services Board, (LSB)
The Competition and Markets Authority, (CMA)
The Office of the Public Guardian (OPG)
The Chartered Trading Standards Institute ( CTSI)

All of our members operate in the IPW self-regulatory environment, through a Code of Practice which is approved by the Chartered Trading Standards Institute.

Our Aims and Objectives:

To promote the importance of making a Will to the general public.
To promote the Institute and the services of its members.
To ensure the services provided by our members are delivered professionally, ethically
and competently.
To make representation to government on legislative matters which affect members of the Institute and their clients

We’d be delighted to hear from you — please get in touch via our Contact Us page