Will Aid

Just tried to have my new will prepared under this scheme. I took along a completed 'will planner' (template on the Will Aid site) and my previous will. The solicitor I saw then told me that my will was too complicated to qualify for the scheme which only covers 'basic' wills. Apparently the basis for this was that I was asking for the residual value of my estate to be shared equally between my two nephews and two charities. I was told that my will would be 'basic' if my estate was left to my nephews. I was then told that I could have my will prepared as requested but only if I paid £150. I was told that none of this would go to a charity, but would all go to the solicitors. I pointed out that:

*I wanted to use the company ONLY because they were part of the Will Aid scheme - they are not my preferred or most local solicitors.

*That I had thought a major objective of the Will Aid scheme was to encourage legacies for charities, which would not be possible in the proposed 'basic' will suggested by them.

No alternatives were suggested to me in order to fulfill my wish to donate and to leave a legacy to charities. I therefore expressed my disappointment and left. :mad:

I appreciate that solicitors are giving their time for free (in theory), and that they cannot be expected to spend long hours on wills under the scheme. However, I do not believe that my will was very complex, I did not require advice or consultation on it's contents, and I was also offering the opportunity for the company to earn more by being an executor for my will. I think I might have been happy to proceed if £95 had gone to the charities scheme and the additional amount to the solicitor, but this was not the case.

Having researched the company further, I find that they are not even experts in the area.

It is a great shame that such a good opportunity to both raise funds for charities and promote the importance of making a will is being lost. I must now make another appointment with a solicitor as I still do not have an up-to-date will. I have of course passed on my comments and the name of the solicitor to the Will Aid people.

Anyone else has a similar problem?

Comments

  • Tigsteroonie
    Tigsteroonie Posts: 24,954
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    I haven't participated in the Will Aid scheme, but I did always wonder just how "basic" a will had to be for the offer to apply, and whether solicitors might try and swing the applicant towards have a more complicated will, i.e. expensive to the applicant and fee-earning for them.
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  • bairn7
    bairn7 Posts: 579
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    As a former solicitor, sounds basic to me. We would consider a Will to be complex if it included, for example, the establishment of a trust or a large number of specific bequests. Down to the individual solicitors but I would look elsewhere.
  • ... whether solicitors might try and swing the applicant towards have a more complicated will, i.e. expensive to the applicant and fee-earning for them.

    Surely not!
    I am a cow so cannot speak Bullshine but I do recognise its smell when I come upon it.
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