Second Edition of STEP Standard Provisions published

The second edition of the STEP standard provisions (England and Wales) have now been published.  They were mainly drafted by James Kessler QC with guidance notes by Toby Harris.  The introduction, by Jennie Pratt, Chair STEP England and Wales, is as follows:

The STEP Standard Provisions is a publication for practitioners who draft Wills subject to the law of England and Wales. It sets out clear provisions to include in a Will avoiding technical terms that may confuse the lay reader.

Any properly drafted Will or Settlement must contain a large amount of text dealing with routine administration matters. It had been necessary to set this out in full in each Will until STEP condensed this material into its Standard Provisions, which first published in 1992 and is now in its second edition.

Trust law has changed considerably since the first edition and the updated STEP Standard Provisions reflect this. The most significant amendment is that there is now a choice to incorporate either the ‘core’ provisions or the fuller form when drafting a document. The second edition also attempts to address an issue that concerned the drafters and consultees: the possible misuse of powers conferred by the Provisions.

The STEP Standard Provisions second edition was led and mainly drafted by James Kessler QC, and the accompanying Guidance notes, which are provided for Will-drafting practitioners who know the first edition and want to know what has changed, were drafted by Toby Harris TEP. The Society is grateful to James and to Toby and to all the consultants for their hard work on behalf of the entire profession.

At the time of publication, STEP is applying for a practice direction from the Principal Registry of the Family Division, as was granted for the first edition, permitting Wills incorporating the STEP Standard Provisions second edition by reference to be proved in the normal way, without providing text of the Provisions themselves. 

The standard provisions can be found here.