Will writing advice

MikeL1

Hi everyone, am new to the forum so go easy on me.

I recently had a cold call regarding will writing from a company called ILAWS, they call themselves Independant Legal and Will Solutions and are based in Glasgow in Scotland but with agents based in other cities in Scotland.

My first question is, has anyone on the forum heard of them.
They do seem legitimate and have offered me as part of a Scottish Government initiative a free will writing service for £180.
Depending on the complexity of any new will this cost may increase and I will have to pay the difference.

More info:
I took up their offer today and one of their consultants arrived at my home and gave me and my wife loads of advice on the different types available.
Due to some questions we answered and some complexity with property we own the consultant suggested we needed two Wills, a Protected Property Trust and a Life Rent Legacy.

Shock horror the bill is now £740, so much for the £180 free Will.

My problem is the consultant has now got loads of personal details, property details, income details.

I have always been very careful with personal details etc....but I am feeling like an intruder arrived tonight and I let them in.

I would be grateful for any comments on this matter.

Thanks in advance

MikeL

dzug1

MikeL1 wrote: »

My first question is, has anyone on the forum heard of them.
They do seem legitimate and have offered me as part of a Scottish Government initiative a free will writing service for £180.
Depending on the complexity of any new will this cost may increase and I will have to pay the difference.

I've not heard of them but your last sentence above is significant - what you've landed up with IS complex and it may well be a fair price

Due to some questions we answered and some complexity with property we own the consultant suggested we needed two Wills, a Protected Property Trust and a Life Rent Legacy.

Whether you actually needed all that is another matter on which I don't know enough to comment

My problem is the consultant has now got loads of personal details, property details, income details.

Assuming the firm is legit that's a non-problem. He needed all that info whether the recommendation he made on the basis of it was good or not

amcg100

These are con merchants - a will costs nothing actually, you can write it yourself and get a couple of witnesses. It is true that if your circumstances are very complicated you might want to employ a solicitor to iron out the detail.

I would ignore these clowns - if you do not feel able to do it yourself then go see a local lawyer.

Unfortunately you have given them some personal info, but I don't suspect they are crooks, just direct salespeople trying to up the bill. All the same - a police report would not do you any harm since this will help if they use your info.

MikeL1

Thanks for the prompt replies, below is some more info regarding some questions raised.
The company were offering a free Will service up to £180.
On advice given they said myself and wife required mirror wills, this would then cost £180 for the second Will.
The £740 total cost is the £180 plus additional fees to set up a Protected Property Trust and a Life Rent Legacy.
This is due to requests we made regarding our property / children and by including this info in the will we protect our two children from potential future Inheritance Tax and the property being used to fund care home fees should my wife or myself end up in a care home.

The actual Will is not very complicated at all it was a shock that what we thought was a simple process was now looking very complicated and also very expensive.

I am not familiar with Will writing at all, and having checked out the company last night I have discovered they are not members of the Institute of Professional Will Writers or the Institute of Scottish Will Writers, but do they need to be?

I do have a cooling off period of seven days and will now probably cancel this Will.
I do not believe I have been conned but I do think the company have not been completely truthful.

Regarding the Police report, what is this and how do I get one, do I have to contact my local police a report my concerns?

Any more help much appreciated.

dzug1

You go to the police station and report a crime

On the basis of what you have said you will have great problems convincing them that any crime has been committed

They've produced what they said they would. They have charged what seem to me reasonable prices for the two trust documents for which they declared upfront that there would be an extra charge - albeit unspecified. The only doubt is whether you actually need them. I don't know, and it sounds you don't either.

Maybe you need to pay a solicitor to redo the exercise - I can't see that being any cheaper though if the result is the same or similar documents

In E&W they don't need to be members of anything - don't know if Scotland is different

MikeL1

Thanks again
This is not about the cost of the documents, i know I should have gone to a solicitor / lawyer on my own terms at least they are fully up to speed with Wills and the Law.

I am wondering if all my requests can be contained within a well written Will.

getmore4less

MikeL1 wrote: »

Thanks again
This is not about the cost of the documents, i know I should have gone to a solicitor / lawyer on my own terms at least they are fully up to speed with Wills and the Law.

I am wondering if all my requests can be contained within a well written Will.

Depends what they are, and the rules in scotland.

Trying to protect IHT can be more complex but the esttate needs to be quite large for a couple, £650k+ to make that worth considering.

Mojisola

MikeL1 wrote: »

They do seem legitimate and have offered me as part of a Scottish Government initiative a free will writing service for £180.

Any company that phones out of the blue offering a free service that costs £180 as part of a government initiative that doesn't exist isn't a company I'd like to deal with.

Especially when they have "facts" like this on their website -
Fact: If you do not make a Will, your spouse or family will have to employ a solicitor to sort out the problems caused by your dying Intestate!

sleepless_saver

It's not very forthcoming is it. There's nothing on their website about what qualifications they have to carry out this work, no professional organisations mentioned, no named staff, and no sign of how to obtain redress if there is a problem - including no sign of professional indemnity insurance. Plus their address is a mail forwarding address used by 792 other companies.

There are plans to regulate these sorts of "services" in Scotland partly because of significant problems with nonlawyer will writing firms. But I don't think the new system has started yet.

Mojisola

MikeL1 wrote: »

I do have a cooling off period of seven days and will now probably cancel this Will.

I do not believe I have been conned but I do think the company have not been completely truthful.

I would certainly cancel this will. I wouldn't trust them to have written a good quality will when there are basic mistakes on their website.

You can't get your information back from them so, for peace of mind, you could keep a check on your credit score with a company like Experian.

Which? do some good books on wills and probate. Before you go to someone else for a will, read up on the subject. Make sure you get up-to-date books (because the figures change from year to year) and read the bits that apply to Scotland - Scottish inheritance law is different from English and Welsh law.

MikeL1

I have after several attempts today cancelled the Will writing service under my 'cooling off' period clause.
The consultant who set it all up yesterday was very disappointed but understood my concerns, her supervisor also contacted me 'by mobile' and tried very hard to keep going with the service but it was not going to happen.

Thanks for all the very prompt replies and help from all posters, it was all very much appreciated.

As for the comment "I would not have got myself into this position in the first place" I valued your other replies but hindsight is a great thing, one day you may fall foul of a potential con trick and I hope you realise we are all including yourself very vulnerable from tricksters, con men and bogus companies, you need to sometimes be a bit more sympathetic to people's plight and reply with helpful comments or do not reply at all.

Remember you may also need help one day......think about it.

MikeL