Creating a will

oliel

My husband and I are really needing to create a will.   Obviously want to do this as cheap as possible.  It would basically be if one of us dies everything goes to surviving partner.  Then once both of us have died everything is split equally between our children.   The other question I have was that i heard that if we created a trust it would make these much easier as wouldn't have to go through probate?    We are in Scotland - so far been quoted £450 for a will and £650 for a trust be a solicitor.

Any advice much appreciated.

Emmia

So you need two wills, one each which would presumably be mirror wills, leaving everything to the surviving spouse and then to your children. £450 for two wills properly drafted by a solicitor seems ok. 

I think trusts can be a bit of a minefield, so personally whilst your estate may end up paying some inheritance tax (what is the approximate value of your estate), keeping things simple can avoid expense later on trying to unknot things.

oliel

Emmia said:

So you need two wills, one each which would presumably be mirror wills, leaving everything to the surviving spouse and then to your children. £450 for two wills properly drafted by a solicitor seems ok. 

I think trusts can be a bit of a minefield, so personally whilst your estate may end up paying some inheritance tax (what is the approximate value of your estate), keeping things simple can avoid expense later on trying to unknot things.

Not a huge estate its just really wanting to keep it as simple as possible for those that are left and keep costs down.

sammyjammy

I've seen quite alot of talk around trusts recently which are completely unnecessary in many circumstances, I can't help wonder if some solicitors are seeing the £ signs involved in setting them up.

Vannaa

I used Active Wills to create mine - it was free, including storage.They push you towards using a specific company as executors at 1% charge but I chose my son instead. Mine is very simple, everything to my partner, if she dies before me, my estate goes to my my children.

Flugelhorn

have you considered one of the charities who do free will weeks (well in exchange for a donation)

Keep_pedalling

A trust  won’t avoid the need for probate, and the only type of trust worth considering (unless you are very rich) is an immediate post-death interest trust. These come into effect on the first death and protect your assets in the event the survivor re-marries.