Writing a Will

willow_loulou

I know pretty much what I want to put in my will, I dont want to pay £90 though, can I just write one and get someone to witness it? Ive been putting this off for ages. Im sure you could buy wills in whsmiths once upon a time...

britannia6

You can certainly write a Will yourself, although I'd consider those who will be left behind when you go. Not spending the £90 now may cause them more expense and distress if you make a mistake or don't consider all eventualities. Are you sure you can afford not to take proper legal advice?

Mojisola

willow_loulou wrote: »

I know pretty much what I want to put in my will, I dont want to pay £90 though, can I just write one and get someone to witness it? Ive been putting this off for ages. Im sure you could buy wills in whsmiths once upon a time...

Not without doing a lot more research - your signature on a will has to witnessed by two people!

The Which? books are a good place to start to learn more about wills but solicitors always say they earn far more sorting out home-made wills then they make writing wills.

pauletruth

im not sure you can just cut your oh out. if your married at the time of your death they have a claim on your estate.

Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975


This act makes provisions for those who are connected to the deceased but did not receive "reasonable financial provision" from the estate of the deceased via a will or intestacy.

You may be entitled to seek financial provision from the deceased's estate if you are:

1. A spouse or civil partner
2. A former spouse / civil partner provided you have not remarried / entered into a new civil partnership
3. A child of the deceased
4. Any person (not being a child of the deceased) who was treated as a 'child of the family' of the deceased
5. Any person being partly or wholly maintained by the deceased

Claims must be made within 6 months of the date of the grant of representation. The court has jurisdiction to allow claims out of time.
A claim can only be made if the deceased died domiciled in England and Wales.

hayleythedaisy

Which wills - http://www.whichwills.com/make-a-will/start-making-your-will/ £89 for single or £149 for mirrored. Although as I said if you start but don't finish it they'll often email you with a discount code to make it cheaper. Or this is on the MSE main site...

Formally known as the Consumers Association, Which? offers an online will-writing service with single wills costing £89 and joint wills £149 (currently on offer for £60 and £100 respectively until 30 Sep 2011). It says it’s not suitable for those with overseas property, planning to emigrate, wanting to include a business in the will or not wanting to leave a jointly-owned property to the other owner.

To get the discount, you'll need to enter the code WH-SMSE60 for a single will or WH-MMSE100 for a joint will, at the payment stage.
You’re asked questions about your personal situation (you can call for telephone support, Mon to Fri 9am to 5pm, when filling in the online form) and an electronic document is sent to a solicitor to be checked. The document is sent back to you 7-10 days later and you can print and store the will.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/free-cheap-wills#which (2/3rds ish of the way down the page)



Lawpack wills (from WHSmiths etc) - http://www.lawpack.co.uk/wills/product702.asp £9.99 for online £15.99 for the kit.

finance_guy

Hi there. I made a will a few years ago with a solicitor which was perfectly ok but it a bit pricey! I recently got married so I needed to update it and searched online. There's a lot of choice with a huge range of prices. I made one in the end with glosslegal.co.uk for £27 which was checked by a solicitor as well. I even had a question which they answered over the phone. fab service.