Free and Cheap Wills discussion area

lynsgarden

Can I leave sums of money to specific people in my 'letter of wishes' kept with my will? 

When the last one of us dies we want this money to go to my husband's children by a former marriage but we don't know if it will still be there because of possible care costs. So we don't want to put a specific gift in our mirror wills. We want our house and possessions to go to our son when we both have died but we don't want him to have to sell the house to fund the gift to his step-siblings.

I understand it will not be legally binding and that we have to trust our executor/son to carry out our wishes. We have talked to him about it and he is happy to do what we want.

Linton

lynsgarden said:

Can I leave sums of money to specific people in my 'letter of wishes' kept with my will? 

When the last one of us dies we want this money to go to my husband's children by a former marriage but we don't know if it will still be there because of possible care costs. So we don't want to put a specific gift in our mirror wills. We want our house and possessions to go to our son when we both have died but we don't want him to have to sell the house to fund the gift to his step-siblings.

I understand it will not be legally binding and that we have to trust our executor/son to carry out our wishes. We have talked to him about it and he is happy to do what we want.

I am not a lawyer, but rather an interested observer of such matters…

You can put whatever you like in a Statement of Wishes. It seems to me that you, and perhaps more importantly to them, their father,  would not be leaving your husband’s children anything but merely asking your son to make a gift on your behalf.  In any case as you say it would have no legal status. 

Are you using a solicitor to draft your will? If so perhaps they can suggest appropriate legally binding wording to best meet your wishes. Perhaps talking to the solicitor would help you clarify exactly what provision you do both want to make for your husband’s children. If you are not consulting a solicitor I suggest you should.

There are many what-ifs that need to be considered for which a SoW may not be appropriate. Eg what if your son dies before both of you - are his step siblings disinherited or not? What happens if your concerns about your son having to sell the house are irrelevant , fo example
- the house has had to be sold to meet your care costs
- your son has no need for the house when both of you are dead and so arranges for your estate to sell it.

 

GB1966

I have just started looking for solicitors who might provide a "free will" service, using those currently listed on a major charity's website.  So far, I have spoken to three solicitors and all of them did not seem to really understand what they had signed up for.  Two of them have told me that they do not offer this service anymore, even though they are listed on a charity website, and one said that the service "is not really free" as they have to ask clients to cover the shortfall between what the charity pays and what the solicitor charges - even for the most simple and straightforward will.  I cannot work out whether it is the solicitors who are taking advantage of a service that they are only partially signed up to, or the charities that are not being entirely transparent about what "free" means when it comes to free wills.

PMC629

Hello everyone,

I wanted to take a moment to express my sincere gratitude for the insights and knowledge shared in this forum. The information has been incredibly helpful, and I've learned a great deal from the discussions here.

Recently, I came across a company called Aatos that specialises in drafting Wills, and I was curious to see if anyone here has had any experience with them? I found their platform relatively easy to navigate, which was a pleasant surprise. Another interesting feature is their subscription model, which could be particularly useful for keeping the will up to date without any hassle.

I'd love to hear if any of you have had personal experiences with Aatos, particularly regarding the quality of their drafting service and the efficacy of their free legal advice.

Savvy_Sue

Will writers? I'm sure they're thrilled to sign you up for regular updates, but a well written will should be reasonably future proofed. And a solicitor is required to have indemnity insurance, whereas will writers come and go. 

poseidon1

PMC629 said:

Hello everyone,

I wanted to take a moment to express my sincere gratitude for the insights and knowledge shared in this forum. The information has been incredibly helpful, and I've learned a great deal from the discussions here.

Recently, I came across a company called Aatos that specialises in drafting Wills, and I was curious to see if anyone here has had any experience with them? I found their platform relatively easy to navigate, which was a pleasant surprise. Another interesting feature is their subscription model, which could be particularly useful for keeping the will up to date without any hassle.

I'd love to hear if any of you have had personal experiences with Aatos, particularly regarding the quality of their drafting service and the efficacy of their free legal advice.

Relatively new Will writing company supposedly established in 2020, but the underlying ltd  company only created in December 2023 by a 30 year old Finland born lady lawyer ( sole director and assumed sole share holder) .

There are no trading accounts to examine so no indication of the assets/ liabilities of the business. The lady concerned does not appear to be a solicitor with a UK practicing certificate from the  Law Society.

If this 30 year old sole director is the full extent of the businesses' legal knowledge/experience in UK private client matters, this would not fill me with confidence. 

Do wonder if PMC629 is a genuine OP, or simply trying to drive business to this new venture.

Savvy_Sue

poseidon1 said:

Do wonder if PMC629 is a genuine OP, or simply trying to drive business to this new venture.

Oh You Cynic ... But very impressed by your willingness to research!

PMC629

poseidon1 said:

PMC629 said:

Hello everyone,

I wanted to take a moment to express my sincere gratitude for the insights and knowledge shared in this forum. The information has been incredibly helpful, and I've learned a great deal from the discussions here.

Recently, I came across a company called Aatos that specialises in drafting Wills, and I was curious to see if anyone here has had any experience with them? I found their platform relatively easy to navigate, which was a pleasant surprise. Another interesting feature is their subscription model, which could be particularly useful for keeping the will up to date without any hassle.

I'd love to hear if any of you have had personal experiences with Aatos, particularly regarding the quality of their drafting service and the efficacy of their free legal advice.

Relatively new Will writing company supposedly established in 2020, but the underlying ltd  company only created in December 2023 by a 30 year old Finland born lady lawyer ( sole director and assumed sole share holder) .

There are no trading accounts to examine so no indication of the assets/ liabilities of the business. The lady concerned does not appear to be a solicitor with a UK practicing certificate from the  Law Society.

If this 30 year old sole director is the full extent of the businesses' legal knowledge/experience in UK private client matters, this would not fill me with confidence. 

Do wonder if PMC629 is a genuine OP, or simply trying to drive business to this new venture.

Thanks for finding that info. The service seems pretty basic right now, so it doesn't really make sense to sign up just yet. But after looking at what's available in places like Finland and Sweden, they've got a lot more on offer. I'm hoping they'll beef up their services soon.

I checked out Aatos LinkedIn page and noticed they've got at least one or two UK solicitors. I also checked SRA and they don't regulate the company but there are SRA regulated people working there based on the SRA website.

I gave the service a go and really liked how simple it was to use. I'm thinking of signing up later on, especially if they add more stuff. Once I get all the legal documents sorted, I'll probably just cancel the subscription