Getting a Will in place - Advice

jabbie1129

This may be in wrong place but wasn't sure where to ask but I was recently thinking of sorting a will. I'm still young but I have 3 children and would like to have one in place to ensure my children are cared for.

I don't have a clue where to start. I have seen companies offering wills online. Does anyone have a company they would recommend or would I just be best going to a solicitor? Are the online ones reliable. Any advice appreciated.

Crabapple

As with most services, your best bet is to ask friends/family/colleagues for anyone they can recommend.

That said, personally I would favour using a Solicitors firm for making Wills. It's an unregulated legal sector and companies can set up in person and online offering to make them, and you have no guarantees of the qualifications, experience or training someone may have received.

G6JNS

Crabapple wrote: »

As with most services, your best bet is to ask friends/family/colleagues for anyone they can recommend.

That said, personally I would favour using a Solicitors firm for making Wills. It's an unregulated legal sector and companies can set up in person and online offering to make them, and you have no guarantees of the qualifications, experience or training someone may have received.

Sound advice. Avoid so called "Will writers" like the plague. MAke sure you choose your executor carefully. Friends and family can be a good choice but a solicitor will be more impartial.

SevenOfNine

G6JNS wrote: »

MAke sure you choose your executor carefully. Friends and family can be a good choice but a solicitor will be more impartial.

A solicitor will also charge for every task they undertake in the administration of the estate. Choose sensible family or friends for the task, much of which (unless your Will is particularly complex) they can undertake themselves.

If they need the help of the legal profession with any of it then they can employ a solicitor for SOME of the tasks & have better control over exactly what they charge & the speed they get it done! :beer:

TonyMMM

Get a local solicitor to write the will, and a reliable family member/friend to be the executor.

TBagpuss

do not use a will writer. They are cheaper because they do not have the same level of experience, nor the same level of regulation and accountability of a proper solicitor.

Given that you have young children, getting the will right to ensure that arrangements for your children are as you would wish should something happen to you is vital, and a solicitor is best placed to advise you.

AngelOfTheNorth

Yes. You pay not just for the service but also for more chance at comeback if anything goes wrong.

jabbie1129

Thanks for all the advice. I don't really have any friends or family to ask for recommendations unfortunately. I am just going to contact our local solicitors as suggested as I suppose you can't really put a price on having peace of mind where it comes to your children whatever the cost so I think that's the best thing for us to do.

jackyann

I agree with getting a solicitor at this stage. We have had 4 wills at different stages in our lives: 2 simple ones written using Law Pack, when our lives were simple, and 2 done using a solicitor when we needed to ensure children were properly looked after.

I would just add a couple of pieces of advice based on experience: solicitors get bothered about money. Because of family circumstances we have had to be firm about situations where we felt leaving our money in a certain way was better than following solicitors' advice. We went away, thought about it carefully, then told hem exactly what we wanted, and they followed it. At their advice, we included a letter stating why and put conditions on he bequest.
Also, I would agree with appointing a trusted friend or relative as executor.

Remember, you can change your will as circumstances change, if just a codicil, solicitors tend not to charge extra.