Making a Will

[moggy]

Anyone recommend a solicitor between Portslade and shoreham to get a Will done and how much should I expect to pay for it?

 

[drew]

Anyone recommend a solicitor between Portslade and shoreham to get a Will done and how much should I expect to pay for it?

Are you in a union or maybe your partner is as they normally provide free will making service. We used the service provided by the RCN.

 

[Dan Aitch]

Where there's a will there's a long-term injury.

 

[Alex Alex Dawson oo! oo!]

My wife and I made totally new wills (not just updates) last year; total bill from the solicitor was £168 incl VAT. He's based in Tismans Common nr Rudgwick (around 5 miles N/W of Billingshurst) so maybe too far out of area for you? Feel free to PM me if you want contact details.

 

[dougdeep]

You can do your own for nothing. Start Googling.

 

[readingstockport]

You can do your own for nothing. Start Googling.

And leave your family/beneficiaries with the potential of years of expensive ligitation because you **** it up. It is really far better to pay the money to someone who knows what they are doing.

 

[dazzer6666]

And leave your family/beneficiaries with the potential of years of expensive ligitation because you **** it up. It is really far better to pay the money to someone who knows what they are doing.

100% this. Unless your affairs are extremely simple (almost so simple that you don't need a will, basically) get professional help. It's not expensive (as noted above).

http://www.which.co.uk/money/retirement/guides/writing-a-will/how-to-make-a-will/

 

[phoenix]

You can do your own for nothing. Start Googling.

My Mother was always pretty smart. She did her own will, Turned out we nearly lost the house. Because the Deeds (hadn't been amended) said it (the house) would go to the surviving person (My Stepfather).
All sorted now, luckily.
I would say a pretty good reason to NOT do your own will.

 

[dejavuatbtn]

Find a solicitor that has a Will Aid scheme to keep costs low. I used Sussex Law in Ladies Mile Road, Patcham. As suggested above, it's well worth using professionals, they come up with useful stuff you won't have considered.

 

[Alex Alex Dawson oo! oo!]

100% this. Unless your affairs are extremely simple (almost so simple that you don't need a will, basically) get professional help. It's not expensive (as noted above).

http://www.which.co.uk/money/retirement/guides/writing-a-will/how-to-make-a-will/

Absolutely but if you don't write a will and therefore die intestate, as my father did, then some poor bugger who's probably had no prior warning has to administrate the estate, sort out the probate etc. Depending on the estate's value then you may find that the beneficiaries (these and the %age amount they receive is laid down in law if there's no valid will) are not quite what the deceased and immediate family may have expected. Whilst my father's affairs weren't complicated, him not leaving a will was a real pain and I wouldn't take on administrating an intestate estate again.

 

[theboybilly]

I've bumped this thread as we've recently sorted our funeral arrangements (better to do it while we're in decent health than have something else to worry about when we're not was my way of thinking) Part of the deal was a man being sent round to write out Wills. I don't think we have circumstances out of the ordinary by any means and we know where we want our legacy to go. But the cost seems to be out of all proportion to what we expected (we didn't know about probate for example, and hadn't considered Power of Attorney) the cost for my partner and I looks to be heading towards £3k, maybe more. Surely this can't be right can it? As it is I have the 'cooling-down' period to consider things and was wondering if I should start again by using a local solicitor (with the aforementioned Will-Aid)

 

[symyjym]

I've bumped this thread as we've recently sorted our funeral arrangements (better to do it while we're in decent health than have something else to worry about when we're not was my way of thinking) Part of the deal was a man being sent round to write out Wills. I don't think we have circumstances out of the ordinary by any means and we know where we want our legacy to go. But the cost seems to be out of all proportion to what we expected (we didn't know about probate for example, and hadn't considered Power of Attorney) the cost for my partner and I looks to be heading towards £3k, maybe more. Surely this can't be right can it? As it is I have the 'cooling-down' period to consider things and was wondering if I should start again by using a local solicitor (with the aforementioned Will-Aid)

3k sounds an awful lot of money. By googling it says;

A single will drawn up by a solicitor can cost between £150 and £300, depending on which part of the country you are in. Joint wills for couples can cost between £200 and £400. If your affairs are complex, it will cost more – perhaps up to £600.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

I've bumped this thread as we've recently sorted our funeral arrangements (better to do it while we're in decent health than have something else to worry about when we're not was my way of thinking) Part of the deal was a man being sent round to write out Wills. I don't think we have circumstances out of the ordinary by any means and we know where we want our legacy to go. But the cost seems to be out of all proportion to what we expected (we didn't know about probate for example, and hadn't considered Power of Attorney) the cost for my partner and I looks to be heading towards £3k, maybe more. Surely this can't be right can it? As it is I have the 'cooling-down' period to consider things and was wondering if I should start again by using a local solicitor (with the aforementioned Will-Aid)

Far too much. The 'man sent round' and the company he represents will be on some humungous kind of commission that pays for their way of life. Start again with a local solicitor. If you can, use Will Aid, which covers a basic will, costs £95 and runs again in November this year. That's for a basic will. Solicitor might charge a bit more for a more complex will. But hard to see how the final bill would ever reach into £1k. If somebody's trying to charge you £3K with a hint that it might even be more, you're being scammed, pure and simple.

 

[theboybilly]

3k sounds an awful lot of money. By googling it says;

A single will drawn up by a solicitor can cost between £150 and £300, depending on which part of the country you are in. Joint wills for couples can cost between £200 and £400. If your affairs are complex, it will cost more – perhaps up to £600.

This is what we were thinking. We are not married and there are only kids on my partners side. If I were to go first I would like my partner to remain in the property (which I own now - mortgage free) for the rest of her days. Then my family will become executors. My partners family will be taken care of by her finances. I don't think any of this is overly complicated so I'm inclined to think I'm being mugged by this firm.

 

[theboybilly]

Far too much. The 'man sent round' and the company he represents will be on some humungous kind of commission that pays for their way of life. Start again with a local solicitor. If you can, use Will Aid, which covers a basic will, costs £95 and runs again in November this year. That's for a basic will. Solicitor might charge a bit more for a more complex will. But hard to see how the final bill would ever reach into £1k. If somebody's trying to charge you £3K with a hint that it might even be more, you're being scammed, pure and simple.

Thank you

 

[theboybilly]

One other thing I forgot to mention is he kept going on about a Trust. Something about a £5k limit on savings and a limit on the whole legacy (if you will) of £300,000 before the taxman starts taking his wedge? Does all this sound right? I can't put my ISA money into the Trust fund it would seem.
So to summarise we got 2 Wills free-of-charge in our funeral plans. Now we look to be being asked to stump up for organising a Trust (£2995 and also Power of Attorney at £995 for both of us) My missus has just come in and given me the figures

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

One other thing I forgot to mention is he kept going on about a Trust. Something about a £5k limit on savings and a limit on the whole legacy (if you will) of £300,000 before the taxman starts taking his wedge? Does all this sound right? I can't put my ISA money into the Trust fund it would seem.
So to summarise we got 2 Wills free-of-charge in our funeral plans. Now we look to be being asked to stump up for organising a Trust (£2995 and also Power of Attorney at £995 for both of us) My missus has just come in and given me the figures

Seriously, you need to tell him to just f*ck right off and never contact you again.

And on no account let your missus sign something on both your behalfs while you're not present.

 

[symyjym]

This is what we were thinking. We are not married and there are only kids on my partners side. If I were to go first I would like my partner to remain in the property (which I own now - mortgage free) for the rest of her days. Then my family will become executors. My partners family will be taken care of by her finances. I don't think any of this is overly complicated so I'm inclined to think I'm being mugged by this firm.

Doesn't sound complicated. The cheek of some people just amazes me.

I had a heating engineer who serviced my boiler each year, and when I had a problem with the hot water he quoted me £550 to fix it. Went to someone else and the price was £215 including a service. If anything sounds too expensive it probably is, and quotes are free.

 

[drew]

One other thing I forgot to mention is he kept going on about a Trust. Something about a £5k limit on savings and a limit on the whole legacy (if you will) of £300,000 before the taxman starts taking his wedge? Does all this sound right? I can't put my ISA money into the Trust fund it would seem.
So to summarise we got 2 Wills free-of-charge in our funeral plans. Now we look to be being asked to stump up for organising a Trust (£2995 and also Power of Attorney at £995 for both of us) My missus has just come in and given me the figures

What!!!!! You don't put your ISA money in a trust because you haven't died yet, unless of course you are setting up the trust now in order to avoid inheritance tax. He's probably right that you can't transfer your ISA into a trust but surely all you do is cash it in and use the cash to set up the trust fund. I'm no expert but it sounds like all you need to do is get your executors to set up the trusts when you pass on. Costly if you use solicitors as executors but free if your executors are family or friends.

My brother and I are executors on my mothers will and part of that was to set up two trusts of which we are the trustees. Nothing special to set up. The two trusts are basically investment accounts with my brother and I named as trustees. From recollection, all the finance companies needed to see was the will, confirming the trusts, and probate.

As for power of attorney, see the attached link.

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/lasting-power-of-attorney-forms

 

[narly101]

Good god - £3k. We've done it ourselves, and it only cost £20 for the paperwork from the Post Office.