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Shopping around for wills

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Comments

  • Mojisola
    Mojisola Posts: 35,574 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    loulou41 wrote: »
    Will writer is asking as much as £300,

    That's likely to just be a starting price.

    Will writers are notorious for finding 'essential' things that add to the cost as you get further into the process.
  • loulou41
    loulou41 Posts: 2,871 Forumite
    Mojisola wrote: »
    Which you can do yourself for free!

    I understand it is just filling a form and send to registry office and it is quite simple to fill. Do you know whether you get any confirmation from land registry once you have sent the form? Paying £50 is for my piece of mind. Doubt whether I will get any cheaper.
  • FreeBear
    FreeBear Posts: 18,306 Forumite
    Tenth Anniversary 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    loulou41 wrote: »
    I will need to make sure I can understand what it is written. I have two friends who paid over £1000 for their wills incorporating life interest trusts. They let me read their wills one I could understand and the other one did not have any clue I asked my friend if he understands the jarhon he told me no. I think he paid £1200+ for the property trust wills for 4 people. I do have any idea what it should say,

    I returned to my solicitor twice to ask for various sections to be rewritten - If I couldn't understand it, how could I expect my executors to. Clarity without being couched in legaleze & jargon is essential in my opinion.

    The rewrites didn't cost any extra and it cost me £180 inc VAT - For that, they store the will free of charge (something a will writer normally charges an annual fee for).
    Any language construct that forces such insanity in this case should be abandoned without regrets. –
    Erik Aronesty, 2014

    Treasure the moments that you have. Savour them for as long as you can for they will never come back again.
  • Mojisola
    Mojisola Posts: 35,574 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    loulou41 wrote: »
    I understand it is just filling a form and send to registry office and it is quite simple to fill. Do you know whether you get any confirmation from land registry once you have sent the form? Paying £50 is for my piece of mind. Doubt whether I will get any cheaper.

    Have you read these?

    https://www.gov.uk/joint-property-ownership/change-from-joint-tenants-to-tenants-in-common
    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/enter-a-restriction-registration-rx1

    Your £50 won't make the severance 'more legal' - it's to pay the solicitor for filling in the forms.
  • loulou41
    loulou41 Posts: 2,871 Forumite
    Mojisola wrote: »
    Have you read these?

    https://www.gov.uk/joint-property-ownership/change-from-joint-tenants-to-tenants-in-common
    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/enter-a-restriction-registration-rx1

    Your £50 won't make the severance 'more legal' - it's to pay the solicitor for filling in the forms.

    Yes I have I need to fill and send sev form and send trust deed by trust deed I do not what it is. For what I understand I do not have to give notice of severance if both parties agree but when my friends did theirs they served notice of severance to each other as advised by the solicitor. No wiser except pay the £50. If I do go to diy route I guess I need to do the severance first and the will trust.
  • loulou41 wrote: »
    Yes I have I need to fill and send sev form and send trust deed by trust deed I do not what it is. For what I understand I do not have to give notice of severance if both parties agree but when my friends did theirs they served notice of severance to each other as advised by the solicitor. No wiser except pay the £50. If I do go to diy route I guess I need to do the severance first and the will trust.
    With respect you may be out of your depth. Given the potentially catastrophic consequences if you get it wrong £50 is dirt cheap. Why do you need a will trust? Many are both expensive and ineffectual.
  • TBagpuss
    TBagpuss Posts: 11,237 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Many solicitors offer fixed fees for straightforward wills. For many solicitors this fixed amount will be lower than the cost would be if you were paying at their normal hourly rate. The actual figures will vary from firm to firm.

    If you want to have more complex arrangements made, or if you are looking for advice about IHT planning or setting up trusts then I would normally expect the charges to be based on an hourly rate, although the solicitor should be able to give you an estimate of costs .

    I would expect somewhere in the region of £175-£250 for a will, with mirror wills being a bit less than double that, so the £375 - £400 figures you've been quoted sound reasonable to me. Severing the joint tenancy is not complex and yes, the LR will confirm receipt, but make sure that you do understand the pros and cons of doing it before you decide.
    All posts are my personal opinion, not formal advice Always get proper, professional advice (particularly about anything legal!)
  • Wills are a competitive market.halfbthose amounts would be realistic for a simplevwill unless you are in an expensive area..
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