Writing a will

Sweetpea007

I would appreciate any help possible in going about writing a will. is it best to use a local solicitor? A specialist solicitor? Or is it OK to do a DIY CD Rom one?
Thanks

anniecave

I would say it would depend on how complicated your finances are.

If a couple have only have one house and one car and they are planning to leave everything equally to their children then that's easy, DIY would be fine.

If some other couple own three houses, two of which their children are living in then I would advise a specialist solicitor.

If a third person wants to say that her children should become the responsibility of a person in particular if she and her husband die then that's also a specialist.

All just my opinions of course....

bristol_pilot

In my view, you should always use a solicitor to write a will (but don't make the solicitor an executor). It costs about £100 or so to use a solicitor, the DIY route is easy to get wrong and there is so much potentially at stake.

A local solicitor will suffice, you only need the specialists to sort out the mess later after the DIY job has gone wrong, for example changing a will after death.

You may think your affairs are simple, but its amazing how many people need a Trust set up so that the spouse's IHT allowance does not get wasted.

The Will Aid scheme allows you to get your will done for free in exchange for a gift to charity. But I don't think its running at the moment.

peggydoodaa

There are also specialist Will Writers out there who visit your home and are just as if not more capable than solicitors no matter what the circumstances, whether the Will be simple or complicated and involve IHT planning.

Look around before going with the first solicitor you find

Jake'sGran

bristol_pilot wrote:

In my view, you should always use a solicitor to write a will (but don't make the solicitor an executor). It costs about £100 or so to
You may think your affairs are simple, but its amazing how many people need a Trust set up so that the spouse's IHT allowance does not get wasted.

The Will Aid scheme allows you to get your will done for free in exchange for a gift to charity. But I don't think its running at the moment.

The Will aid scheme is only available in November. You can check on line for solicitors in your area who offer this service. Some do say how much they expect you to pay even though it is donated to charity. I know because I telephoned a few last September. We went to see a solicitor this week about using both Nil Rate Bands and creating a discretionary trust as our savings exceed the maximum i.e. £285,000 at present - this allowance will be going up in increments over the next few years. I think the solicitor we saw was a little hesitant in advising us as she said that very often, the people who need to arrange these types of wills have most of their money tied up in their property. We will go back to her though.

I think the DIY ones are fine for a simple will as has already been said e.g. husband leaving everything to wife and vice versa or even plus a legacy for a child/children. Its important to have it properly witnessed.

Sweetpea007

Can you tell me how I would find a (kosher|) specialist will-writer? My local solicitor is a bit of a shark.

Sweetpea007

PS Thanks everyone for your sound advice.

cheerfulcat

Hi, Sweetpea,

Look here.

Newbees

I am going on a long haul holiday in 4 weeks and have just moved in with my partner(he is not coming with) to a house we have bought together . I am now thinking about writing a will before I go, if I don't write one, who get's my share as we are not married?

Andy_L

If the house is owned as tenants in common then your partner gets the house, otherwise:

Children, Parents, then other blood relatives (siblings then cousins) then the treasury (or, IIRC the Prince of Wales if you live in the Duchy of Cornwall).

cheerfulcat

There's a flowchart showing the rules of intestacy here ( scroll down ).