Free Will: November's WillAid Month

steward_2

To try and respond to points made in several posts. Most solicitors in the WillAid scheme (it happens every second November) will allow you as their client to nominate which charity should benefit - or share it between all none charities. As Martin said originally, and Will Aid's publicity says, after making a WillAid appointment "You can then choose to make a donation to participating charities. The suggested donation level is £75 for a single will, £110 for a pair of matching or mirror wills or £40 for a codicil to an existing will."

These are typical kinds of fees that many solicitors around the country charge for reasonably straightforward wills that don't require specialist tax or trust advice. In essence the solicitors are donating their fees to charity. If you don't make a reasonable donation they have no incentive to write your will - many WillAid solicitors are flooded with new clients in November, and they will naturally try and maximise their donations to charity. But the suggested donations are not obligatory, and if you genuinely can't pay that much, donate as much as you can. Life (and death) is too important NOT to have a reasonably up-to-date will.

Codicils (amendments to existing wills) are cheaper, but are really only useful to make minor changes like new addresses. If your existing will is more than say 5 years old, your circumstances, and those of the rest of your family, are likely to have changed. So its probably better to ask your solicitor to draw up a new will - though take the old one with you.

Its worth getting the WillAid pack, as it will help you to organise your thinking and requirements before you visit the solicitor.

Ian Clark

TaBunny

Well I'm not happy I rung 6 of the listed solicitors in my area and each one said they would not do it for free as they were giving their time to raise money for charity and would want the £75 fee paid. Also they said that as I do not own property and have no money to speak of then there was absolutely no point me having a will, charming! One even said quite rudely that unless your well off there's no point thinking you need a will after all what have you got to leave'!! I stressed that I was worried what may happen to my kids if the un thinkable happened and each one told me to just write a letter containing my wishes of who should care for the kids if I were to pop off and just put it 'somewhere safe' and tell a relative where it is! Sigh oh well I tried I can't keep ringing them all to get treated like I have the plague for having no money so I give up with it all.

pinkfluffybabe

I emailed a lawyer on my local list and arranged the appointment. She was very nice and I am going in to see her in November. She didn't ask if I was single, or if I had kids or how much I was worth.

My dad then decided it would be good to go to the same lawyer and dropped into her office to make an appoinment. She made an appointment for him too and said that it is very simple to make a will if you are worth less than £285,000 as you won't incur inheritance tax which would then make it more complicated.

She didn't mention the payment, so my dad will tell me what he did when he goes to his appointment, which is before mine.

Elixir

No animal charities on the list I see.

Jake'sGran

katskorner wrote:

I have a basic will but I need to make a change to it - do you think that I could do that for free or am I best simply making a brand new will that then superceeds the first?

You can make a codicil to your original will. This would not be too expensive. Or, you can make a completely new will and I think a Willaid solicitor will do either for you under the scheme. I phoned a few of them last week and got a better response than from the staff of some I had already asked. For example, a few weeks ago a solicitor told me I would need to pay their normal will charge and then they will send it a charity I choose. But this week I spoke to another solicitors clerk who told me that on the signing of the will they ask for £75 which is less than the average one would expect to pay and they send the money to be split between a few charities. It seems they all interpret the scheme in different ways. Another one told me it is free and then I can give a sum of money to send to a charity of my choice. As I undersand it, the idea is to encourage more people make a will and also to raise money for charities.

Gordie_2

pinkfluffybabe wrote:

..it is very simple to make a will if you are worth less than £285,000 as you won't incur inheritance tax which would then make it more complicated.

I am married, have a mortgage on my house (£200k) and on a flat that I rent out (£220k). I have no savings or other assets. Does this mean that I am "worth" £420k and therefore should watch out and not go for this WillAid basic will?

TIA
Gordie

pinkfluffybabe

Gordie wrote:

I am married, have a mortgage on my house (£200k) and on a flat that I rent out (£220k). I have no savings or other assets. Does this mean that I am "worth" £420k and therefore should watch out and not go for this WillAid basic will?

TIA
Gordie

I don't think it means you shouldn't get the Will Aid one, I think she just meant that where inheritance tax comes into play, it can be more complicated than if there is not.

Gordie_2

Thanks for the reply. I will definitely get one done in the next few weeks, but I was wondering if I'd be wasting my money going for a WillAid one and then having to pay out again to add in the IHT stuff soon after.

I don't understand what counts towards the £285k - do "my" (the bank's!) 2 properties count towards it? Is it the total value of the properties or just the equity after the mortgages are paid that counts?

Thanks again,
Gordie

pinkfluffybabe

Gordie wrote:

Thanks for the reply. I will definitely get one done in the next few weeks, but I was wondering if I'd be wasting my money going for a WillAid one and then having to pay out again to add in the IHT stuff soon after.

I don't understand what counts towards the £285k - do "my" (the bank's!) 2 properties count towards it? Is it the total value of the properties or just the equity after the mortgages are paid that counts?

Thanks again,
Gordie

I think that would depend on what, if any, insurances you have that would detail how your mortgage was dealt with on the event of your death.

For example, some people with joint mortgages have policies that mean on the event of one persons death, the mortgage is paid off in full and the house then belongs to the other party, with no mortgage remaining. In which case, the full value of the house would count towards your estate. If this is not the case, then your estate would be what was yours of your house once the bank had its mortgage repaid.

Bear in mind, also, that your 'worth' will alter on a daily, weekly, monthly and so on basis. You have no idea what situation you might be in when your time does finally come, so inheritance tax may or may not be an issue.

I would suggest you contact a local will aid lawyer, tell them your situation and ask their advice. They may suggest that the basic one wouldn't be enough, or they may say it would be fine. Either way, it is your decision, but probably best to ensure that in the event of your death, that your loved ones and so on are provided for from your estate, so might be worth paying the extra for a more complicated will if the lawyer suggests it.

poorbutrich

Have just been to make my will through willaid, and just wanted to share how delighted I am that it's done. The solicitor was awesome - patient, thorough and not at all patronising. I've been putting it off for so long (mainly because it usually costs more than I wil be leaving!) but am quite relieved that it's now taken care of.