How much should a will cost?

timww

I know this is a very subjective question, but my wife and I had a phone consultation with a will writing company last week who wanted well over a thousand pounds for doing our mirror wills with a discretionary trust clause. This last part is apparently why it was "more expensive" than a bog standard will.

They actually upsold us a package including our powers of attorney and a change to our property deeds. All for only £2,246. I've since discovered that our PoA documents can be done directly via the Gov website for £82 each. Their cost breakdown for this component was £900 for all four documents. The will was £1,346. The "discounted" package price waived their usual fee of £149 for the land registry amendment (which apparently is free to submit)

The agent was clearly a salesman rather than a lawyer and I stopped short of paying, because I felt pressured to cough up before the end of the call. Not being happy with me calling back once I'd had time to digest the information, he will be calling me back tomorrow to take my money. I won't be going ahead, but I'm still none the wiser as to whether their price for the will was fair. 

I know you can get template wills from WHSmith for 30 quid, but what I don't know is how bespoke or specialist our requirements really are. Our only requirements are that our children (currently singular) ultimately get everything, and that we avoid "sideways inheritance" if one of us should remarry after the other's death. It seems a common piece of advice that this requires our estates be held in a discretionary trust, but I don't know if this is merely a template tick box, or if it requires hours of expert legal time. I suspect it's somewhere in-between, but how much should it cost?

I'm not trying to do this on the cheap. I just want to pay a fair price and give my money to a company that I trust isn't ripping me off.

Guidance very much appreciated. Thanks.

 

JGB1955

We paid somewhere in the region of £450 for a couple of 'mirror' wills with life interest clauses.  That included the severing of our joint tenancy.  We DIY-ed our POAs.

Grumpelstiltskin

The will writing company is in it to make as much profit as they can, they hope the customers don't know what can be done themselves and I suspect they try and prey on peoples fear of expensive solicitors.

You now know the answer, don't touch them with a bargepole.

zagfles

timww said:

The agent was clearly a salesman rather than a lawyer and I stopped short of paying, because I felt pressured to cough up before the end of the call. Not being happy with me calling back once I'd had time to digest the information, he will be calling me back tomorrow to take my money. I won't be going ahead, but I'm still none the wiser as to whether their price for the will was fair. 

You don't need to know anything else. Just from the above, the price is obviously a rip-off. What's the urgency? Are either of you terminally ill? If not, then why do they need an answer immediately? Why not next week? Or next month?

It's usual hard sell tactics. They want an immediate answer so you don't have time to think about it, shop around, find better value. Tell them where to shove it. Don't think you need to be polite to anyone using such aggressive sales tactics, don't feel guilty about having wasted their time, that's what they want, they want you to feel an obligation to them. You have none. They are rude and pushy.

As to the "sideways inheritance" issue, really? Do you and you wife not trust each other? If either of you did remarry after the other's death, would you not think to redo a will at that point to provide for your children? That's the point at which you need to worry, not now. Or do you think either of you are susciptile to the charms of a gold-digging bimbo/gigilo? ISTM to be the usual "plant a seed of worry and find an expensive solution to a situation that probably won't happen and if it does it can be solved then".

My wife and I have no will, we understand the intestacy rules and are happy with them, they are basically what we'd put in a will anyway, so what's the point of a will. The usual myth that having a will makes things easier isn't true, I've helped administer a couple of intestate estates and they were easier than if there'd been a will (with the proviso that the beneficiaries/administrators must know there's no will - you don't want people hunting for one!). If/when we have grandchildren, if/when one of us dies/remarries, we'll think about a will then.

Keep_pedalling

If they are trying to sell you a trust then you need to avoid this company, selling a useless trust is how they make their money. Wills are too important to DIY or put in the hands of salesmen you need to sit down with a local solicitor to talk through what you want to achieve so that they can draft an appropriate will.

Unlike Zagflies most people have some requirements that don’t fit intestacy laws. 

kipsterno1

We had mirror wills drawn up in the last six months at a local solicitors costing around £260 in total. We are in the North West. Quite basic wills but with some detailed what if's based on worst case scenario. 

As you have seen LPA's cost £82 each and are very straight forward with a good help guide on the site.

Sarahspangles

By the time most people are in a position to realise these companies introduced unnecessary cost and complexity, they’re too dead to do anything about it.

Stubod

..got our free as part of the "free wills scheme", which are normally around October time. To get this the wills normally have to be fairly straightforward and there is an expectation that some money will be going to one of the charities involved in the scheme.

Prior to doing this we were quoted around £250 for a simple mirror will. Although if it is simple you may just as well consider the DIY route using one of the many standard online forms?

Mojisola

Sarahspangles said:

By the time most people are in a position to realise these companies introduced unnecessary cost and complexity, they’re too dead to do anything about it.

And it wouldn't be unusual to find that company only lasted a few years - even if a very similarly-named one opened soon after the failure of the original one.

Cloth_of_Gold

One of us had a will drawn up last year by a 'solicitor for the elderly' who specialises in wills, probate, trusts and such like . It was a pretty straightforward document which left everything to one person with a couple of 'what if' scenarios covered. There was a phone call of about 20 minutes first to discuss the requirements and a draft was sent by email for approval. The solicitor also drafted a short letter of wishes. The cost for all this was £400 (the solicitor is in Yorkshire). I thought this seemed at the top end of my expectations for what was involved. She seemed pretty clued up though, which was reassuring.

Troytempest

Just redone our  2 wills via a local solicitor - £250 total (South West)