Free and Cheap Wills discussion area

longtimelurker54

Hi Malthusian,

Many thanks for taking the time to reply, it's much appreciated and I'll pass on what you've said.

I appreciate what you say about getting a professional will, but if he can he'd like to try and use a simple standard one either free from the internet or at lower cost than solicitors tend to charge. If anyone has any suggestions for sourcing one, we'd be grateful.

He's not over 55 so can't participate in the scheme you mentioned.

It's a good point you raise re life insurance but I think usually this is expensive for what it actually paid out on death and I guess he will rely upon the value of his property and savings providing for this instead. Although will look to get some life insurance quotes.

Savvy_Sue

longtimelurker54 wrote: »

I appreciate what you say about getting a professional will, but if he can he'd like to try and use a simple standard one either free from the internet or at lower cost than solicitors tend to charge. If anyone has any suggestions for sourcing one, we'd be grateful.

His choice, of course, but he is NOT in a simple standard situation. He is divorced, he has a daughter under 18. No matter how good the relationship with his ex wife, he NEEDS a will (IMO) which leaves his property to his daughter, in trust until she is 18, with suitable provisions in place. Otherwise, if he leaves everything to his ex, and she starts a new relationship, then DD could end up seriously disadvantaged.

He might do well to consult an IFA as well.

For example: the simplest thing might be that his flat is sold, and the proceeds put in trust for his DD. But it might be better if the flat was rented out, and the income used to a) cover the mortgage and b) provide an ongoing income for his DD's needs. Or, initially renting it out, but giving discretion to sell it at a future date.

So there needs to be protection, but also discretion.

And there need to be at least two trustees - one of which could easily be his ex-wife.

longtimelurker54 wrote: »

It's a good point you raise re life insurance but I think usually this is expensive for what it actually paid out on death and I guess he will rely upon the value of his property and savings providing for this instead. Although will look to get some life insurance quotes.

Term life insurance - ie it pays out only if you die before the 'term' ends - is definitely cheaper than endowments, which pay out on death, but also on a future date if you survive that long (and keep paying the premiums). Do make sure he's getting the right kind of quotes.

longtimelurker54

Hello

Many thanks for the further helpful reply.

I agree it would be better if the had a Will in place. I know there are sources for free simple wills. I guess where we're struggling is with why he can't make use of one of these? Surely a standard simple will could also be used by a married person to leave property in favour of their children in trust (if for whatever reason they didn't want to leave it to their husband/wife).

Is the complicating factor that he is "divorced" and so special wording is needed? If so, can't a clause just be added to the Will to say that he has decided not to benefit his wife (as they are divorced) but to leave all his assets directly to his daughter, in trust if she is under 18 yrs (or whatever age is agreed upon), for the trustees to decide at the time the best way to produce income, i.e. to rent the flat out as you suggest, or to sell it.

Wouldn't it be the case that whatever wording is in a simple will providing for a trust for children in a married parent scenario would also apply to a divorced person?

If he can make use of one of the free standard forms it would be helpful as he's had a lot of unexpected expenditure recently but his ex-wife is due to travel and would like peace of mind knowing that a Will is in place.

One other question: could he appoint a family member as a second executor/trustee who lives in Europe but outside the UK, or must they live in the UK?

Thank you for the advice regarding life insurance - I will pass that on so that he can get some more quotes for the correct type to see if this is affordable.

Mojisola

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

His choice, of course, but he is NOT in a simple standard situation.

longtimelurker54 wrote: »

I agree it would be better if the had a Will in place. I know there are sources for free simple wills. I guess where we're struggling is with why he can't make use of one of these?

As Sue said - his situation is not simple and so a simple free will won't do the job!

Savvy_Sue

longtimelurker54 wrote: »

I agree it would be better if the had a Will in place. I know there are sources for free simple wills. I guess where we're struggling is with why he can't make use of one of these? Surely a standard simple will could also be used by a married person to leave property in favour of their children in trust (if for whatever reason they didn't want to leave it to their husband/wife).

Is the complicating factor that he is "divorced" and so special wording is needed? If so, can't a clause just be added to the Will to say that he has decided not to benefit his wife (as they are divorced) but to leave all his assets directly to his daughter, in trust if she is under 18 yrs (or whatever age is agreed upon), for the trustees to decide at the time the best way to produce income, i.e. to rent the flat out as you suggest, or to sell it.

Wouldn't it be the case that whatever wording is in a simple will providing for a trust for children in a married parent scenario would also apply to a divorced person?

If he can make use of one of the free standard forms it would be helpful as he's had a lot of unexpected expenditure recently but his ex-wife is due to travel and would like peace of mind knowing that a Will is in place.

At the risk of repeating ourselves ...

The free standard forms just don't cover any situation where a trust needs to be set up, married or not. For DH and I, we don't have much to leave, so we could safely leave it to each other, and leave the survivor to take care of the children. But in situations where a Trust is needed - and this is one of them - it's just not simple. And a Trust is needed because a minor (child) cannot inherit directly, and however lovely the current relationship is with his EX wife, you cannot guarantee that all will remain lovely in future.

Seeing a solicitor will enable all the 'What If' questions to be asked and answered.

longtimelurker54 wrote: »

One other question: could he appoint a family member as a second executor/trustee who lives in Europe but outside the UK, or must they live in the UK?

Fairly sure it would make life far simpler if they live in the UK, but that is precisely the kind of question you need a solicitor for ...

Irratus_Rusticus

I am content to pay a solicitor for a will. No IHT or other complexities but wish to avoid any mis-steps using other options.

Reading the MSE article I was interested in the so-called free will option where you agree to bequest a charity and get a simple Will done "free". Not too shabby.

Per MSE I looked into Cancer Research UK's Free Will Scheme. I found a local participating solicitor and was told to download the form and come for an interview. I asked if their basic will writing fee (£240 including VAT) would be part of the Free Will Scheme - I would need to ask when I came in. I had found cheaper local solicitors but not in the scheme.

I rang the number on the CR UK form and asked if there were any eligibility hurdles other than age and "Simple" will.

CR UK advised me that they pay a fixed limit of (I think) £120 or £140 and I pay the rest, so "Simple" is not the way to approach it. Depends on what the solicitor charges.

Mind you, they don't seem to demand any bequest at all to qualify.

Personally I don't think these are fairly advertised as "FREE" will schemes, simply a helpful contribution off the fee up front, no? I can't find a local solicitor who quotes £120-140 even for a simple Will.

I am happy with the 'deduction' mind, and happy to make a bequest for the same value.

Can't see what is in it for the charity unless they hope for a bigger bequest? Seems to me it just gets folks to go to certain solicitors they might not otherwise, expecting a simple Will from them will be free?

t0rt0ise

The idea with the free will scheme is that they attempt to shame you into leaving a large bequest in your will.

I got my will via my union. Many unions offer this free service with no strings. A good option for anyone to look into.

Keep_pedalling

t0rt0ise wrote: »

The idea with the free will scheme is that they attempt to shame you into leaving a large bequest in your will.

I got my will via my union. Many unions offer this free service with no strings. A good option for anyone to look into.

We had our first wills drawn up through a union scheme, however we got new ones drawn up soon after through a local solicitor. There is no chance of a face to face meeting via a free union will, so no chance for the solicitor to go though all the what if situations that you probably have not thought about.

Malthusian

longtimelurker54 wrote: »

I appreciate what you say about getting a professional will, but if he can he'd like to try and use a simple standard one either free from the internet or at lower cost than solicitors tend to charge. If anyone has any suggestions for sourcing one, we'd be grateful.

This may be the Deaths forum but we're not here to help people hang themselves.

He needs a professional Will from an SRA-registered solicitor. The entire point of a Will from a selfish perspective is peace of mind, so downloading a Will with no idea whether it's going to achieve what you want it to achieve makes no sense.

A Will from a solicitor costs peanuts compared with the potential cost of getting it wrong. If he wants to save money on solicitors then he should pay one for a professionally written Will. Solicitors make serious money when someone gets their Will wrong and it has to go to court.

It's a good point you raise re life insurance but I think usually this is expensive for what it actually paid out on death and I guess he will rely upon the value of his property and savings providing for this instead. Although will look to get some life insurance quotes.

Life insurance is dirt cheap, unless he has significant health issues. Assuming he doesn't, if he is happy to pay voluntary maintenance then he should be happy to pay for life insurance as well, as the cost will be trivial compared with the maintenance payments themselves.

He wants to leave everything to his daughter when he dies so his property and savings will not replace the voluntary maintenance, as that will go to his daughter and his ex-wife will not be able to benefit.

pff

Hi, I have a query about getting a will witnessed please that I've not seen answered elsewhere. The difficulty I'm having is that my partner and I don't know anyone we can ask to be witnesses for us. We've recently moved to a new town and don't know anyone here, I'm also self-employed so don't have colleagues and partner is out of work. The best I can do is take my Mum off as a beneficiary (which she's fine with) so she can witness when she visits, but that still leaves us one short. I'm making the will myself with a template so we can't ask someone in the lawyer's office to do it (I know this isn't ideal, but we're very poor and can't afford to do otherwise). We're unmarried so we do need the wills.

Is it possible to go to the police station or some other public official and have them witness the signing (for free)? I know lots of GPs are saying they won't witness passport applications anymore so I don't know if they'd do this.

Thanks in advance!