Free and Cheap Wills discussion area

Yorkshireman99

cherry76 wrote: »

Interested for some opinions. Friend got her will written by a STEP solicitor a "will trust" which I believe is also called "post immediate post death interest trust". Her will is exactly to my requirements and she told she could draft it for me word for word and change her personal details. I am all for it after contacting a few solicitors who increase the price as soon as they heard the word "will trust". I do not mind paying and have asked a solicitor whether mine could mirror hers and she told me no she has to use her own wordings. I do not think I will get any solicitor who is willing to check it for me and pay them for their time. I have shown it to one of the executor and she is clueless although she agrees it is a well written will she is worried in case it is invalid due to DIY. She said in that case why doesn't everybody does I am sure some people do it that way.Mistakes are unlikely as she has got a template and she only needs to change the personal details. My niece is a solicitor but her field is in media I could ask her to read proof it but she is dead against will trust. It was expensive but her will cover all eventualities you can think of regarding giving half of share of property to adult children. Some opinions please. Thanks

Short answer is go to a solicitor who is a STEP member. Longer answer is go armed with what you want to do, not what somebody else has chosen. Trying to do it on the cheap is likly to cause problems for your executors. Let them use their own wording and don't try to second guess them.

oligopoly

Sorry if this has been asked before but if my assumption is correct then I'm surprised this isn't the first sentence in Martin's advice...

I am married with 1 kid. When I die I want all assets passed to my wife. This is the default action under UK law? So therefore I don't need a will? Is this correct? Thanks.

Savvy_Sue

oligopoly wrote: »

Sorry if this has been asked before but if my assumption is correct then I'm surprised this isn't the first sentence in Martin's advice...

I am married with 1 kid. When I die I want all assets passed to my wife. This is the default action under UK law? So therefore I don't need a will? Is this correct? Thanks.

It's not quite correct. The first £250,000 of your estate passes to your wife, the rest to your child(ren). It can be particularly difficult if you own a house worth more than that.

If your estate is less than that and always will be, happy days. But even then, intestacy doesn't answer any of the 'what if' questions:

What if

• Your wife dies first
• You both die together (in which case the eldest is presumed to have died first)
• You both die before your child is an adult

And there may be others, depending on your particular situation, and there's no substitute for 'proper' advice on what those questions might be.

Plus, if your estate is likely to be more than £325,000 and your wife's likewise, then your child(ren) may end up paying inheritance tax which could be avoided or reduced with a half-decent will.

JWarby

I apologise if this question has been asked before... it's about having an author estate. I need to know as a published author earning currently quite a small income from royalties from Amazon, (my publishers being KDP and Createspace in ebooks and paperback formats), and currently any royalties, small as they are each month, are paid into my current bank account.What can I do about someone inheriting my author estate, which has only materialised since my husbands and my mirror wills were drawn up and lodged with solicitors quite a few years ago? If I die I assume the payments from my Amazon book sales will still continue to go into my bank account, even though my husband will inherit my estate otherwise. Can he still recive the payments in my name? Also what can I do to make sure that once neither my husband or I are alive, but my books hopefully might still be selling and there will still be a small income from them, that my daughter can inherit this income/estate? What advice can anyone give me about this please?

Yorkshireman99

Everyone should have their will reviewed at regular intervals say five years. I would striongly recommend that you both visit avsolicitor and have both your wills done again. Don’t try to DIY it or use a will writer.

oligopoly

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

Plus, if your estate is likely to be more than £325,000 and your wife's likewise, then your child(ren) may end up paying inheritance tax which could be avoided or reduced with a half-decent will.

OK that last sentence sounds like main reason for me to have a will! Thank you

System

hi

anyone know how to find a cheaper executor than a bank/solicitor? these are the only possibilities i have..
2 - 4 % of my house sale as a fee is too much....crooks [yes i know its a lot of work]

or a charity who would act as [not hire] an executor, i will expect them then take a fee, they will also get 50% or more of the house , another charity will get the other half [just in case one runs off to Vegas with everyone's money]

ps: if you are one of those lovely solicitor fellows and are keen to do your piece for charity here's a chance

thanks

Yorkshireman99

qaz123123 wrote: »

hi

anyone know how to find a cheaper executor than a bank/solicitor? these are the only possibilities i have..
2 to 4 % of my house sale as a fee is too much....crooks! [yes i know its a lot of work]

or a charity who would act as [not hire] an executor, i will expect them then take a fee, they will also get 50% or more of the house sale

thanks

You should avoid the bank as they will just pass it to a tame solicitor and add their fee. Unless your estate is complex then use a lay executor or negotiate a fee based on work actually done rather than a percentage.

t33

It is free will writing month in Scotland and I really need to get mine sorted. There is a list available of participating lawyers but I really don't want to pick one at random. Does anyone have a recommendation? I'm in Edinburgh.

p.s. Not sure if it is allow to ask for recommendations, if not please delete.

Thanks

sevenonine

There haven't been any opinions on this website since 18 October 17 so I wonder if anyone will comment/advise on my special problem.

I'm single, no dependants, few friends willing to take on the work involved in executing my will. The only choice in this respect is a young man I've chosen in previous wills I've written, based on a legal product from a legal company. The young man, who lives nearby, does ring me from time to time to check on my health (I'm 82) but I don't necessarily trust him not to make off with some of my household goods.

An AGE UK representative who visited me told me the numerous tasks an executor would be faced with and asked me how much I would be prepared to pay. I said £5,000 but he indicated that was not enough...£10,000? No came the reply. As other posters above have indicated, there is no limit to what the institutions, eg banks and charities are prepared to pay themselves.

Are there any other institutions, such as a Government ombudsman who may help?