Free and Cheap Wills discussion area

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  • Sarahjovi
    Sarahjovi Posts: 1,017
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    It's one of those situations where we never got around to making a will, until I walked past a stall at the shopping centre and thought do it now or we never will! The adviser said if we made a will before she turned 18, we would have to do it again, once she turned 18!

    I am currently stalling the will writer whilst I investigate other options! But really want to get this done!
  • Mojisola
    Mojisola Posts: 35,551
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    Sarahjovi wrote: »
    The adviser said if we made a will before she turned 18, we would have to do it again, once she turned 18!

    Nonsense! I wouldn't trust someone who gave you this advice.

    The will could have had a clause about what happened if you died while any of the children were minors and another for what would happen if they were all adults before it happened.
  • Sarahjovi
    Sarahjovi Posts: 1,017
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    It did seem a bit strange at the time!
  • FreeBear
    FreeBear Posts: 14,416
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    Sarahjovi wrote: »
    I am currently stalling the will writer whilst I investigate other options! But really want to get this done!

    A couple of questions to ask them...

    How much will they charge to store the will ?

    Will they write themselves in as executors ?


    If they say "yes" to either question, book an appointment with a STEP trained solicitor. Whilst a solicitor may be more expensive initially, they won't charge for storage or insist on being an executor. A sol will also discuss various scenarios that might happen and give you unbiased advice. In the long run, a well written will will save heaps of money. A badly written will could involve (very) expensive legal action to sort out the mess.
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  • Sarahjovi
    Sarahjovi Posts: 1,017
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    We certainly don't intend for them to store nor be executors of the will. We just want straight forward mirror wills, no complications or special clauses or anything else!

    My original question was do we need to have our house in joint tenancy before we write the will?
  • Savvy_Sue
    Savvy_Sue Posts: 45,936
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    Sarahjovi wrote: »
    My original question was do we need to have our house in joint tenancy before we write the will?
    I think you do, yes. It isn't difficult (especially if it's mortgage free). This is a link which I think will explain it all with links to the forms you need.

    If you are at all concerned, then I think what Mum and Dad's solicitor did was draft the wills while dealing with the house ownership - there is usually a gap between writing the wills and getting them signed and witnessed.

    But we are pretty universally convinced on this board that it pays to use a 'proper' solicitor rather than a will writer ...
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  • Malthusian
    Malthusian Posts: 10,898
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    Sarahjovi wrote: »
    We certainly don't intend for them to store nor be executors of the will. We just want straight forward mirror wills, no complications or special clauses or anything else!

    My original question was do we need to have our house in joint tenancy before we write the will?

    No. Once it's in joint tenancy it isn't affected by the Will anyway, it will pass automatically to the spouse. While it isn't your husband should have a Will in place to cover the possibility that he dies while it is still in his sole name.

    There is nothing to stop you doing both simultaneously. But making the Will should be simplest and quickest.

    *edit* And even if it's a simple Will you still shouldn't use a will writer that doesn't know what they're talking about, as incompetent will writers are quite capable of making simple Wills complicated.
  • Every year this free wills appears on this newsletter and it really annoys me as I tried for years to get our wills done for free and failed every single year through this scheme as either the solicitors named in my area weren't actually taking part or they'd already filled up their quota when I got the email and contacted them all immediately!

    We couldn't afford to make wills - I knew it was important but we were living on a shoestring.

    What I'm getting to is that luckily we finally managed to get wills done for free through GMB, the union, which my husband is a member of, so if anyone wants to get a free will you can easily through them.

    We got mirror wills, it was extremely simple and GMB were excellent about it and very quick.

    Just thought I'd let people know in case they're going through difficulties like I previously had!
  • Yorkshireman99
    Yorkshireman99 Posts: 5,470 Forumite
    Every year this free wills appears on this newsletter and it really annoys me as I tried for years to get our wills done for free and failed every single year through this scheme as either the solicitors named in my area weren't actually taking part or they'd already filled up their quota when I got the email and contacted them all immediately!

    We couldn't afford to make wills - I knew it was important but we were living on a shoestring.

    What I'm getting to is that luckily we finally managed to get wills done for free through GMB, the union, which my husband is a member of, so if anyone wants to get a free will you can easily through them.

    We got mirror wills, it was extremely simple and GMB were excellent about it and very quick.

    Just thought I'd let people know in case they're going through difficulties like I previously had!
    While it is better than no will unless you saw a solicitor and had the various options explained it may not be what you really need.
  • Malthusian
    Malthusian Posts: 10,898
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    What I'm getting to is that luckily we finally managed to get wills done for free through GMB, the union, which my husband is a member of, so if anyone wants to get a free will you can easily through them.

    You could have written a free will yourself. Pen, paper and two witnesses cost nothing. I don't advocate DIY Wills, but that is essentially what you have now and you didn't have to go via a trade union to get it.

    There aren't that many people who have sufficient assets that intestacy becomes a problem for them, and yet can't afford to get the job done properly via a solicitor.
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