Will and Estate protection advice

Emmia

flopstocks said:

Thanks your help regarding this.  I actually work for the local council I they have recently provided a will writing service with included our benefits.

https://dm-legal.co.uk/cornwall-council/

Would this be an any improvement?

They are also not solicitors, and I know this as there's no SRA number on their site. 

This should allow you to find a regulated firm of solicitors near you.
https://solicitors.lawsociety.org.uk/

This allows you to check the credentials of a firm, or a solicitor.
https://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/register/

Marcon

flopstocks said:

Thanks your help regarding this.  I actually work for the local council and they have recently provided a will writing service with included our benefits.

https://dm-legal.co.uk/cornwall-council/

It certainly looks popular. I clicked on 'book a place' (I'm not eligible, just curious!) and the first date which was available was in January 2024.

Savvy_Sue

Note that will-writing services offered by employers and trade unions (yes, my union offers access to 'free' wills) are unlikely to be fulfilled by qualified solicitors. However well-established these companies are, however experienced their staff are, you don't get the 'forever' guarantee of using a 'proper' solicitor. 

Also, I have quickly checked the website above, and that of the solicitors who prepared our will. One mentions Property Protection Trusts, the other does not. Want to hazard a guess as to which way round that is?

bobster2

flopstocks said:

OK thankyou for the advice.  Maybe we will go with just the standard Will for the minute then.  The guy did seem really genuine, informative and not pushy in any way.  But obviously he is working on commission etc. so his advise could be skewed. 

The Trustpilot reviews seem exceptional

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/carterwestwood.co.uk

This review sounds exactly like what we experienced.

We purchased 2 mirror wills from Wowcher, Lisa contacted us and she has been amazing. So amazing we have even recommended family to her. We needed life cover as we were buying a house and Lisa worked tirelessly to get us the best cover for less than we were paying. She is lovely, helpful, knowledgeable and very patient. We ended purchasing Trust Wills due to buying the house. There was no hard sell, and the process was very easy from start to finish. The communication was excellent, Lisa is just brilliant and I would recommend her. Thank you Lisa Walters you have looked after us and we will definitely using you in the future.

But I guess most of the people are not knowledgeable like me.

There's an obvious red flag in that review - they wanted wills - and Lisa managed to cross-sell them life insurance (on commission no doubt). Look at some of the other 4* reviews - people saying that the company gave "valuable advice" about their life insurance policies and set up new ones.

There's nothing in there that says the wills were written in way to achieve what they required.

When speaking with an good solicitor about wills, trusts, conveyancing etc they've never tried to cross-sell me anything!

Savvy_Sue

From You and Yours today

There's been an increase in people being pressured to sign up to expensive will writing and probate services, so much so the Competition and Markets Authority are worried and want the public to tell them if they have been approached by or have used one of these services that typically charge thousands of pounds for work that often should not cost more than a £200.