Joint or single will???

Bossyboots

miaxmia wrote:

Yes, I know it isn't unusual to give some money up front, but they want the money up front even before we have made an appointment. I could pay the money up front and then be told there isn't an appointment for a month or be very disappointed with the service, then I am stuffed because they've had their money. Also they have sent a questionnaire to fill out which, although I haven't discussed this with them yet, looks to me like they plan to draft the will from our completion of the questionnaire. I have had two wills prepared in the distant past, but never paid monies up front. As for "ensuring they get paid" , I wouldn't like to play dirty with a Solicitor!!

I understand what everyone on here is saying about the "cheap" wills and I think it would depend how complicated your estate is - after all you can go into WH Smith's and buy a will to complete and this could be just as effective, but I too am apprehensive and would only use a Solicitor. However, the last Solicitor we used (several years ago) made loads of errors in the draft will - some of the names weren't even spelt consistently the same!

The questionnaire is a starting point for your wills and is quite a usual way of setting out, so don't worry about that. If you have requests/bequests outside the norm, then you can discuss these in person with the solicitor.

They should not be asking for money up front before making you an appointment. Until they see you, you are not technically their client and they should not be holding your money before then. That is a very poor way of conducting themselves and I can only guess that they have many people making appointments who don't turn up. At least if they have your money, they know you will turn up but I don't agree with what they are doing. As for "playing dirty", it costs any firm time and money in respect of staff hours to take unpaid bills to court and is often simply not worth it as those costs are not recouped. Far better for them to get the money up front if they can but this firm obviously have a lot of no shows.

There is no excuse for making errors of the sort you describe and I hope you took them to task over it.

dunstonh

I have recently amended my views on wills and the amount you should pay.

I referred a client to a solicitor and it cost just over £500. However, the amount of IHT that will be saved runs into the hundreds of thousands and the property/will/trust has been arranged that should either need to go into long term care, the council cannot touch the property as an asset.

In the past I tended to think a will was just a will and they cost around £75-£100. However, you can do so much more with a will then most people realise and paying cheap for a basic will may be doing you no favours at all. I wouldnt use a will writer unless the will writing service involves a solicitor firm (that bit is important as some will writing firms have people that get the information but pass it to solicitors to draw up the will).

Tiggs_2

It very much depends on what the OP needs in the Will...from the sounds of things it will be very simple and any good will writing company should be able to handle it.

As an IFA i used to pass loads of clients to solicitors for Wills and found the service they got was far from anything special....as such i signed up to a willw riting company and now take all instructions myslef and pass on to them for completion. (costs range from £100 - £600 for an IHT complex estate)

I have had many of these wills tested post deaths and all have worked perfectly....in addition many will writters will give a BETTER level of service to clients...theyw ill visit them at home, spend more time and (if they are FA's) can discuss finacial issues that solicitors arent able to.

In summary, a GOOD will writer (esp one that is also an IFA/adviser) can be easily on a par with a solicitor.

as for the fees up front, i charge on completion and would suggest the ONLY reason firms charge upfront is because they loose business if they dont - that reflects on their average client type which may be relevant.

T

miaxmia

With regard to the past two reviews, I have put off doing anything about our "new" wills because I really want to know a bit more about discretionary trust wills and the one Solicitor who I really would like to go to is the one who states £200 + VAT, then £184 per hour for more complex wills involving IHT etc. (would prefer to be given a set figure, even if it is £500) and the money up front. Does anybody have any advice/knowledge regarding discretionary trust wills?

My queries/concerns are that if my husband/myself should die, I want either one of us to have free access to our joint savings and I don't want to feel that I have to live in the same house forever and that, if I chose to sell, I would only own half - it would be fair to say that it may be that I am not fully understanding how discretionary trust wills work. I want to protect as much of our assets from inheritance tax for our children, but at the same time I think that both my husband and myself have worked hard together for what we've got that I want us to both have the freedom to do as we see fit if either one of us should prematurely die! Any advice welcome.

Dora_the_Explorer_5

In summary, a GOOD will writer (esp one that is also an IFA/adviser) can be easily on a par with a solicitor

How will the average consumer who knows nothing about wills know whether a will writing firm is a good one, or rubbish?

Murtle

Dora_the_Explorer wrote:

How will the average consumer who knows nothing about wills know whether a will writing firm is a good one, or rubbish?

They don't hence my confusion (which I think is what you are saying

x x

Dora_the_Explorer_5

Why not total up all the assets you hold between you - property, pension etc then figure out what percentage of the total a solicitor's charges would be for drawing up wills for both of you? It may be miniscule and prove to be a sound investment.

Tiggs_2

Dora_the_Explorer wrote:

How will the average consumer who knows nothing about wills know whether a will writing firm is a good one, or rubbish?

You could ask the same of anything though.....how do you know the solicitor you choose isnt a complete moron?

My advice would be the same for seeking any professional, use personal referals, ask about experience, length of time in that field, qualifications, etc, etc

Tiggs_2

miaxmia wrote:

Does anybody have any advice/knowledge regarding discretionary trust wills?

With regards IHT what most are describing when they mention discretionary will trusts is a trust set up when the first spouse dies to take the nil rate band in value from their estate.....with the rest going to the spouse. In this way the assets in the trust do not form part of the spouses estate (although they can access them) so when spouse dies they use their own nil band on their assets and the trust pays out to the kids at that time.....= 2 nil rate bands.

Thats a grossly oversimplified version and if the house is the bulk of the esate you need to start looking at tenants in common, use of the home, debts against the trust....etc, etc.

The reason i charge a lot is that it can often take a couple of very long meetings to make sure a client is 100% happy with how it works, so the payment is for the time.

My suggestion, and i'm biased, is to find an IFA that can also sort the Will or refer on to someone else for the Will. An IFA (that knows his IHT) will be very well placed to advise on the best way forward and can do so with the ability to advise on ALL aspects of the issue. A will writer only and most solicitors have to limit the advice to just their field (which may or may not be sufficient)

But be prepared to pay £500+ if you need IHT complexities incorporated into the planning.

miaxmia

Tiggs wrote:

With regards IHT what most are describing when they mention discretionary will trusts is a trust set up when the first spouse dies to take the nil rate band in value from their estate.....with the rest going to the spouse. In this way the assets in the trust do not form part of the spouses estate (although they can access them) so when spouse dies they use their own nil band on their assets and the trust pays out to the kids at that time.....= 2 nil rate bands.
QUOTE]

Thank you - I understand this part, but to quote an example if my husband and I took out discretionary wills and one of us became widowed, would either of us be able to sell our house and still have access to all the proceeds or would any of the money pass to the "kids" as they would be the ones who ultimately the money will go to. The point I am trying to find out is that we are only in our 40s and, when planning for the future, you ensure that the mortgage will be paid off and that you can go on living comfortably if either of you are left on your own and I understand that you have access to the spouse's estate through a discretionary will, but I am just wondering if selling a house would still give you the same access rights to your spouse's estate or if at this point half the money from the house (as technically half the house would ultimately belong to the children) would go to those it had been left to in the discretionary will or even at this stage would the children have any say. I hope I am getting my point over clearly, just want to be clear about all this before deciding the best way forward!! Also I have heard about tenants in common, but not sure what the effects of this would be upon one of us dying - thank you for any information.