Need to make Wills

KayTM

Hope this is the right place on the forum to post, but I couldn't see a better one.

We (my husband and I) need to make new Wills due to a recent change in our circumstances, ie he's bought a house. Our earlier Wills are obsolete anyway (long ago!). We could make new ones online for not much money, but might we be better to build a relationship with our new solicitors? They seem to have done a good job on the conveyancing so maybe it's better to pay a bit more to build a relationship with them?

On the other hand, a Will is a Will. Any recommendations, please? There's no dispute, it's just a case of providing security for the other if one of us should die unexpectedly.

TBagpuss

I wouldvery strongly recommend that you see a solicitor and get the wills done professionally.

While you can get them done via an online trader, you are likely to have far less chance of resolving any issues which may arise if anything goes wrong - Solicitors are required to be very heavily insured, and they are one of the most tightly regulated professions in the country, the protection for clients (even if an individual solicitor's firm closes) is much, much better than a non-solicitor.

Also, solicitors firms tend to stick around in one form or another and most are very meticulous about keeping records, so the chances of a firm still having notes of

Prices vary and it would be worth your while to ring round a few local solcitors to check on the costs of wills - provided that the wills are fairly strightforward most solicitors will charge a fixed fee - in my local area this is usually well under £200 each, which for such an important document is not expensive at all. Mirror wills for a couple are usually less than double the cost of a single will.

FreeBear

Would agree with the above - Use a proper solicitor. If cost is an issue, wait for Will Aid to come round in November and see which firms are taking part in your area.

A decent solicitor will be able to offer advice, make copious notes, and store the will free of charge - Most will writing outfits will want an annual charge to store the will and expect to be named as executors. Rarely a good idea.

There is a certain style and wording used in a will. Doing one online or with a DIY pack runs the risk of the will being misinterpreted by the executors, or even worse, being found invalid. Employing a solicitor to draw up the will should avoid these problems - That said, don't be afraid to ask for sections to be rewritten if you struggle to understand it. I asked for one paragraph to be rewritten twice on the grounds that if I found it confusing, how would the executors manage.

KayTM

Thanks! That's pretty much confirmed what I thought. We'll be better with a real firm of solicitors dealing with our stuff rather than bits here and there and some of it just with online companies.

Good idea about the Will Aid too. But life is complicated enough for now, I'll go and set it in motion with the solicitors we're already doing business with. That said, if their fees seem high, we could look at other quotes.

Yorkshireman99

KayTM wrote: »

Thanks! That's pretty much confirmed what I thought. We'll be better with a real firm of solicitors dealing with our stuff rather than bits here and there and some of it just with online companies.

Good idea about the Will Aid too. But life is complicated enough for now, I'll go and set it in motion with the solicitors we're already doing business with. That said, if their fees seem high, we could look at other quotes.

Use a solicitor you feel happy with. The fees should not be too high i.e. £200 os so for two wills. Never ever use a will writer or a bank as the charges can be horrendous.

Savvy_Sue

You may find that the solicitor who dealt with the house doesn't do wills, so get a quote from their firm and maybe a couple of others. But if you've found the firm generally competent - messages passed on and responded to - during the house buying process, then there's a good chance they're generally competent in other areas too, which would be a plus for me!

GaleSF63

FreeBear wrote: »

That said, don't be afraid to ask for sections to be rewritten if you struggle to understand it. I asked for one paragraph to be rewritten twice on the grounds that if I found it confusing, how would the executors manage.

Yes!
I looked at my will when one of the beneficiaries died because I couldn't remember if I'd left his share to his children or it just made the other shares bigger. None the wiser - I couldn't interpret it!

I've made a new will now and this time asked a few questions of the solicitor and will probably leave a few notes on the copy explaining some of it for the executor.

The new one cost £120 inc VAT. (Very up to date price - I only paid it on Monday.)

It was a quite straightforward one.

KayTM

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

You may find that the solicitor who dealt with the house doesn't do wills, so get a quote from their firm and maybe a couple of others. But if you've found the firm generally competent - messages passed on and responded to - during the house buying process, then there's a good chance they're generally competent in other areas too, which would be a plus for me!

Thanks. Yes. That's the case here. The conveyancers are separate from their personal client department. Even so, I thought it might be convenient to have one firm for all the various bits.

That said, they do have a central contact person who farms you out to the right department and allocates your work to someone. She's been efficient and helpful so far. I suppose you have to weigh up the balance of having a traditional "family solicitor" who knows you and your business compared with having a larger firm who has specialists in each specific area of the law. Given that I'm happy with this firm so far, I'm inclined to think "better the devil you know...". But it wouldn't hurt to get quotes from elsewhere too.

Savvy_Sue

I don't think I'd ever go for the 'one man band' family solicitor who knows all my business these days. I feel you need specialists. For example, we needed some employment law advice, so I phoned the solicitors we've used for conveyancing and wills. They don't have an employment specialist, so I asked for a recommendation! My questions were quite straightforward, I was sure I knew the answers already, but even so I wanted a specialist to confirm it.

TBagpuss

I agree - a one-man band is likelyto be an expert in one or two areas and to be 'dabbling' in others - it is very rare to have anyone who is a true 'general practitioner' these days as it simply is not possible to sufficiently expert in everything.

If it is all one firm, however, then it makes it a lot simpler where there is anything to cross reference.

KayTM

Well, I've got two quotes so far. One for £275 + VAT, which includes a one hour consultation plus storage of the will and registration on the national database. (They didn't specify if this is for mirror wills so I'll need to check that.)

The other is for £150 + VAT for mirror wills. I've written to ask them about storage and registration on the database.

Quite a difference! The more expensive one is from the same firm who did the conveyancing and they were competitively priced for that. I wonder if it's a case of "you get what you pay for".