Free and Cheap Wills discussion area

cherokee

Hi
Has anyone heard or used Honey Group/Honey legal to make a will?  I had some advice off them which sounds helpful, but their prices are high.  

Corvette

Hi
Yesterday I had a cold call from Honey Legal.   I had never heard of them.  I was softened by the caller telling me she lived in a village close to me, same accent as me.         This is something I've been considering for a long time and have been trying to get a reluctant partner to support me with, without success.    I know these things are expensive but I also thought there prices were high.     If anyone has had any experience with Honey Legal it would be very helpful to hear from them.     Thanks.

Mojisola

Corvette said:

Yesterday I had a cold call from Honey Legal.   I had never heard of them.  I was softened by the caller telling me she lived in a village close to me, same accent as me.         This is something I've been considering for a long time and have been trying to get a reluctant partner to support me with, without success.    I know these things are expensive but I also thought there prices were high.     If anyone has had any experience with Honey Legal it would be very helpful to hear from them.    

Don't make a will with anyone who cold calls you.

Ask around and see if you can get a recommendation for a local solicitor.

If not, phone a few and ask about their prices for a will and see chose one.

Corvette

Thanks very much.    I've cancelled the Honey Legal appointment and am going down the local solicitor route.

Bimbilou

Hi - Twelve years ago my husband and I made mirror wills. At the time we were just cohabiting, not married. We finally got round to getting married five years ago. Having spent the money getting our wills written by a solicitor, now we literally only want to change my name to my married name on the will (as we know marriage revokes previous wills) , what is the best way to go about this?  We don't want to go to the expense of a solicitor rewriting our wills for such a small change.  Can we just use the wording of our previous wills to my married name ourselves on a DIY kind of will or is there another way to do this legally and safely? Thank you for any advice

Doc_N

Bimbilou said:

Hi - Twelve years ago my husband and I made mirror wills. At the time we were just cohabiting, not married. We finally got round to getting married five years ago. Having spent the money getting our wills written by a solicitor, now we literally only want to change my name to my married name on the will (as we know marriage revokes previous wills) , what is the best way to go about this?  We don't want to go to the expense of a solicitor rewriting our wills for such a small change.  Can we just use the wording of our previous wills to my married name ourselves on a DIY kind of will or is there another way to do this legally and safely? Thank you for any advice

It can be done that way, but there are quite a few pitfalls and you could end up with invalid wills, which could be disastrous.

There are plenty of cheap ways of doing wills online, but usually there’s no comeback if things go wrong years later at the critical point.

I really would consider seriously using a solicitor, with the protection that brings.  Needn’t cost that much, but prices vary a lot so phone round.

DIY wills are perfectly feasible, but a lot can go wrong if you have no legal knowledge.

Savvy_Sue

part of the answer to the above depends on what your original wills said, and what you want your new wills to say. 

If the previous wills left everything to each other, then the effect of dying without a valid will become minimal. 

However, if there are children from previous relationships, children from this relationship and / or other beneficiaries, see a solicitor and do it again, properly. 

moneysaverpetethepolo

Called co-op to set up mirror wills and was given info about setting up wills in trust, which sound like a good way to maximise inheritance for kids. Costs quite a bit more (~700 instead of ~200), and it would protect kids inheritance e.g. protects the first spouse's inheritance in a trust so it can't be used to pay for care home fees for second spouse. (If you have savings >20K you have to pay for your own care home fees). I was surprised this wasn't addressed in the guide, although i suppose it may be too detailed. Keen to hear views from anyone with knowledge? 

Doc_N

moneysaverpetethepolo said:

Called co-op to set up mirror wills and was given info about setting up wills in trust, which sound like a good way to maximise inheritance for kids. Costs quite a bit more (~700 instead of ~200), and it would protect kids inheritance e.g. protects the first spouse's inheritance in a trust so it can't be used to pay for care home fees for second spouse. (If you have savings >20K you have to pay for your own care home fees). I was surprised this wasn't addressed in the guide, although i suppose it may be too detailed. Keen to hear views from anyone with knowledge? 

Not quite as easy as it sounds to protect assets against being included in the care home fees calculation of the £23,250 maximum.

It can be done, but it will depend very much on the individual circumstances of the donor.  The deprivation of assets rules allow local authorities to include any assets given away like this in very wide circumstances. Any hint of its being put into trust to avoid care home fees, and it fails.

Savvy_Sue

Not to mention the feeling that given a choice between paying for my own care or relying on the local authority to choose one for me at a knock down price, I'd rather pay for my own care and the children can fend for themselves. Which was also the message I gave to my own parents, who like the majority of the population did not need residential care.