Free and Cheap Wills discussion area

Yorkshireman99

Lost_old_lady wrote: »

My husband is only relative and executor to his late uncles will. The estate (mainly a house) is to be sold and divided amongst the beneficiaries, (in declared percentages) three of whom are charities. When we collected the original will, the solicitor advised we contact the relevant charities when we have an offer on the house to let them know. We were shocked to find out that these three can (and have been known to) reply that it is not enough!!!
As executor and only relative does my husband have any control?

Asking them is not a good idea as the three may well no agree. In any case then what about the other beneficiaries view? The executor should not allow beneficiaries to dictate how they do the job. As long as the executor acts reasonably then they are not responsible if the sales value is lower by 10% or less as no valuer can be exact. Charities do get copies of wills after probate and are known to chase executors but they should be politely told they will just have to wait. A prudent executor will wait six months to ensure no claimants come forward and make sure the statutory notices are published in a London Gazette and a local paper.

itmakessense

I have a friend who's mother passed away and when they found her will she had done it herself. She had managed to complete the forms incorrectly and ended up leaving 8 wills!!
The problem for the solicitor was how could any of them be used when they had all been completed at the same time?
There were 4 children 2 of which were estranged from the deceased years earlier and the deceased had meant not to include them in her will leaving everything to the other 2 who had cared for her in her old age. She managed to end up with wills leaving everything to her children, all 4 of them. The lawyer had to declare an intestacy which means all will be divided equally between all 4. Not the wishes of the deceased, but instead of paying a solicitor who specialises in will writing (not a will writer) a couple of hundred pounds to have the job done properly the whole of her estate will go to people she did not want it to go to. Also the estate will be taxed to the hilt as no provisions were made to avoid it.
A really sound piece of advice, get your will done now! Get it done by a qualified solicitor or better still a legal executive (more trustworthy) show it to a trusted friend who doesn't expect anything from you when you die just to make sure it provides exactly what you want it to. Lastly do not leave anything to the professional person writing your will, if a professional person such as your lawyer, carer, doctor attempts to be included in your will report them immediately to the Solicitors regulation authority and or the police. They get paid by you to do your will or to look after you. Any professional person trying to be included with a legacy is corrupt and taking advantage of you.

Malthusian

itmakessense wrote: »

Not the wishes of the deceased, but instead of paying a solicitor who specialises in will writing (not a will writer) a couple of hundred pounds to have the job done properly the whole of her estate will go to people she did not want it to go to.

Surely only half the estate goes to people she didn't want it to go to.

How do you know she didn't have second thoughts and decide that her other children didn't deserve to be cut off, estranged or not, and that her carer children would manage with half? It may not seem likely, but it is possible, and if she left several contradictory Wills your friend can't be certain which one represented her final wishes.

Also the estate will be taxed to the hilt as no provisions were made to avoid it.

It was too late by then anyway. You can't reduce Inheritance Tax by saying you'd like to avoid it in your Will.

You can reduce the Inheritance Tax bill by leaving gifts to charity, but then the money goes to charity and not your children.

But I fully agree with the main point in your post - Wills should not be done on the cheap.

System

A quick warning, do not use Simplewills (https://www.simplewills.net/login) There are problems with their website and several parts of it do not work, I created an online will but now I can't edit it. They do not have a phone number and they don't answer emails or messages via Facebook. AVOID

Keep_pedalling

hullfiona wrote: »

A quick warning, do not use Simplewills (https://www.simplewills.net/login) There are problems with their website and several parts of it do not work, I created an online will but now I can't edit it. They do not have a phone number and they don't answer emails or messages via Facebook. AVOID

I hope you are now going to do it properly through a solisitor now.

Ken68

Didn't get much joy yesterday when dealing with a participating solicitor in Peterborough.
The lady I saw didn't get beyond the first page before stating they didn;t do complicated wills. It wasn't complicated , just a long list of nephews and neices and and the list of charity donations itself totalled £20k.
So back to the drawing board.

Savvy_Sue

Ken68 wrote: »

Didn't get much joy yesterday when dealing with a participating solicitor in Peterborough.
The lady I saw didn't get beyond the first page before stating they didn;t do complicated wills. It wasn't complicated , just a long list of nephews and neices and and the list of charity donations itself totalled £20k.
So back to the drawing board.

You may not consider that complicated, but it is not simple. Anything more than 'all to X or if they pre-decease then to Y' is not simple.

For example, the charity donations: are they out of the residue or the main estate? Either way, what if there's not enough to pay them all? The nephews and nieces: what about any future additions? What about if any of them pre-decease you? A solicitor needs to ask these questions, make sure you understand the options, and take your instructions on your chosen option.

Ken68

I see your point Sue, but everything was typed out on the forms provided by FreeWillsMonth even Charity numbers.,and they and friends and neighbours and other nominated bequests get first dibs.
Anything left over goes to the neices and nephews by percentage.
Anyway got an appointment next Thursday with a local firm though only £100 knocked off regular charge.

oligopoly

Hi. My wife has persuaded me that it would be prudent to get a will sorted. We are mid 30s with 2 kids, a cat and a mortgaged house. The Which.co.uk offer of £103 for a joint/mirrored will looks good but it doesn’t mention anything about changes.

What if we have another kid/move house/acquire assets? Do they offer free amendments? Or would I need to create a new will (~£100) again?

Savvy_Sue

Unlikely they will offer free amendments, but in any case it is usually recommended NOT to amend, but to re-write.

A half-decent solicitor will draft a will which covers the likely 'what if' questions, eg it will cover actual and future children, current and future houses, and have a 'what to do with the rest' clause. it should also cover what if you both die before your children, or your children die before you.

A well-written will should see you through until the children are adults, imo, although reviewing it periodically is no bad thing, especially if your circumstances change for good or ill.