Free and Cheap Wills discussion area

melipona

One site that offers a selection of free editable will templates is:

http://www.compactlaw.co.uk/free-legal-documents.html

If your needs are simple it may be a solution.

bazwaldo

Thought it may be of interest to those reading this thread that Skipton Building Society are offering free wills for society members.
This free service is not shown on the website, however i was in my local branch yesterday and was offered this service for free.
You have to book a review with one of their advisers and they will arrange the free will for you.
The costs of these services are normally £114 for a single will or £180 for a mirror will.
I guess the only snag is sitting through the financial review with the adviser.
HTH.

oliverSG8

As a will writer I have no issue with people wanting free wills, and am happy to point them in the right direction. what I would say is that every will I draft where the client says it will be a simple and easy will never is - there are always issues where my clients say - oh I hadn't thought of that. Don't just jump online without a good deal of research if you want a cheap online will or want to do it yourself. Go to the libary and read up on all the main issues.

The common mistakes I stop are people having no beneficiaries beyond husband and wife or kids (families do die at the same time sometimes), having no reserve executors, trustees or guardians (i.e. don't leave the choice to the court after you die if one of them can't act) and although a minor point, put something in about your funeral wishes. It makes things much easier for the family you leave behind knowing what you want to do, because everyone has their own individual idea.

Someone here mentioned that you should never appoint a professional trustee or executor. Where possible I always try to get a relative to fill this role, but it is time consuming and for some people a professional makes perfect sense. There are many options, but a fee of around 1% is not unreasonable - which is why appointing a bank is often a bad idea as they have charged 4-5% or more for this role, although fees may be lower depending on the bank.

Good luck!

Mojisola

oliverSG8 wrote: »

Someone here mentioned that you should never appoint a professional trustee or executor. Where possible I always try to get a relative to fill this role, but it is time consuming and for some people a professional makes perfect sense.

It's worth appointing a relative or friend but make sure they know that they can appoint a solicitor to do the work if they can't cope and that the solicitor would be paid from the estate.

oliverSG8

Mojisola wrote: »

It's worth appointing a relative or friend but make sure they know that they can appoint a solicitor to do the work if they can't cope and that the solicitor would be paid from the estate.

Absolutely. Another really good idea is to leave a letter of wishes. This can outline simple things from what to do with the cat, or guiding the trustees with how and when to use the trust funds to look after your children. It is a really, really simple but powerful thing to do. Just write it like a normal letter but I would always sign it, date it, and even get a witness - although this is not all necessary but will help show you wrote it.

msph321

Single expatriate here. No children (don't want any ever), no husband (would like to get married but may never get married at this rate; just gonna be realistic), no relatives at all in this country, no home ownership, no property ownership, nothing (unless you count my student loan & credit card debts).

Would it be best for me to have a will done in my home country, or have one done here, or have one done in both countries? Since there's nothing much (if anything at all) aside from the debt that's truly mine, is there even a point to having a will drafted? This is something that has been on my mind - on & off - for a long time, so this topic came right on time.

John_Pierpoint

Which country are you in? - This is UK based.

What do you want to do with your body?
Have you any family who would care to take responsibility?

I had a foreign colleague, who died in debt.
The pauper's funeral at about 09:00 on a wet winter morning was somehow evocative.

msph321

UK based, United States born. Cremation. Not sure who'd want to take responsibility, as they're all in the States; gotta ask them.

John_Pierpoint wrote: »

Which country are you in? - This is UK based.

What do you want to do with your body?
Have you any family who would care to take responsibility?

I had a foreign colleague, who died in debt.
The pauper's funeral at about 09:00 on a wet winter morning was somehow evocative.

Savvy_Sue

I believe you need to do a will in each country dealing with your 'assets' in each separately.

msph321

Thank you. Gonna have to look into this further. Not old, but not young either; wanna get this out of the way just in case, since long life isn't guaranteed to anyone.

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

I believe you need to do a will in each country dealing with your 'assets' in each separately.