tenminutewill.co.uk

nigel_clements

As a newbie to these forums, i apologise if my query has already been covered elsewhere. My F.A wants £2000 to set up a new will involving discretionary trusts to avoid Inheritace Tax on our estate. The website: www.tenminutewill.co.uk will apparently do the same thing for less than £100. It seems perfectly legit and I am seriously tempted to go for it but wondered whether anyone out there has experience of using this particular site. The adobe downloads from this site seem to be crystal clear and helpful.

In anticipation of some helpful sugestions,

Nigel.

Cook_County

There are very few solicitors currently drafting discretionary trusts because of this year's Budget changes which subject these to initial and ren-year charges. Why does your IFA think these are suitable for you?

dunstonh

I just wrote out a response but having re-read the post, I have deleted it. This looks more like one of these self advertising spams trying to drum up business by pretending to be a real client.

I may be wrong but it just reads that way to me. Don't take offence if you are real but take as much offence as you like if you are fake

If you are real, then we know nothing of your estate or the workload and liability that would exist in utilising the will trust. £2000 sounds expensive with £500-£1500 being closer to average but it could be priced on the work required with your estate. We don't have enough to go on.

Given the budget changes, which haven't affected discretionary trusts as much as people think, I would pay for someone to do it as they are liable for what is done. Its not a good time to go into these things without knowing what you are doing despite how many "crystal clear and helpful" pdfs there are.

For reference, I may be an IFA but I do not transact in discretionary will trusts by choice. I have someone else do that who is a specialist in that area. Just stating that in case anyone thinks I am posting with a bias.

Tiggs_2

Typical cost for a Will with full IHT planning is between 500-1300, £2000 is VERY expensive and £100 is simply not going to come with the advice required to make a choice as to whether its right for you.

and the finance act will be done and dusted by the end of the month so if anyone (advising in this area) is still unsure how the new rules will work they need to get a book and start reading real quick!

nigel_clements

Basically. our F.A states that he can provide my wife and I with comprehensive wills which will also ensure that BOTh nil rate bands can be used. Apparently, the advantage of this scheme is that the surviving partner retains full control of the estate i.e none of it passes into a trust nor as to be gifted to the children to utilise the first nil rate band.
Nigel.

nigel_clements

The first reply of mine was for Cook-County; i forgot to mention this. This is for Dunstonh who seems to doubt my intent in posting my initial post. Let me assure you that i am in fact 'real' at least i was when i last checked. No offence has been taken by your suggestion that it was spam advertising, however, all i wanted to know was whether anyone had used this particular website. i stumbled across it by accident and it seemed really good.
I have had two quotes for inheritance tax avoidance both, come in at £2000. You can appreciate why i am attracted to a site which offers the same service for considerably less. I hoped that someone out there had actually used the site. Please note, i have no other interests in the site whatsoever.
i didn't really consider it necessary to divulge the value of our estate as as my enquiry centred on the above mentioned site.

Have a nice day

Nigel.

dunstonh

If its real, thats fair enough. It just reads like some of the self advertising spams we see from time to time. i.e. a focus on the company in question in title and post and the wording promoting the ease of information. Plus being a first post from a new sign up.

As we have said, £2000 is a lot but if your IFAs are based in expensive areas or from prestige firms, or your estate is of high value or requires specialist writing then it is quite possible that £2000 is fine. There is a firm of accountants near me that charge £2400 on transactions. Well over the odds but they have enough takers to keep doing it. Companies will price themselves to match the demand.

This is a specialist area and with all the recent changes and some ongoing, I wouldnt do it without advice. But then I wouldnt pay £2000 when you dont need to either. If something looks too cheap, then there is usually a good reason for it.

savingforoz

I have used the https://www.tenminutewill.co.uk site and found it incredibly quick, easy and convenient to use.

Tiggs_2

nigel....ten min will costs are about right....in that that is the true "cost" of a will, after all its just some bits of paper!

it is probable that your FA will pass off your Will to a will writing firm who will, in turn, charge him the £100.....he then adds on his time.

so......is a few meetings with him worth £2000? as i have said, its a lot for a simple IHT effeceint will, i work in a town with the highest average house price in the UK and wouldnt charge half that (although will writing is a bit of a loss leader for me)....even the big London firms "Only" charge around £1200 for simple disc will trusts.

nigel_clements

Thanks for that Tiggs. I think I will ask my FA what he thinks of https://www.tenminute will.co.uk and see how he justifies his charges. For what it's worth, my estate is probably worth about £400,000 at the moment with further interests pending so it't not exactly going to require heaps of work.

Nigel

impy78

Damn it - I thought this might be some kind of escort agency! :rolleyes: