Wills and solictors

Misteek

My friends mum wanted to draw a will.

But she wants it water tight.  She has  schritzophenia (sp?) But is controlled through meds etc.

How much do solicitors etc charge for the will etc. I heard upon death they may even charge percentage or something of the estate. Is this correct and is there a way around it?

FlorayG

DO NOT use one of those online will companies. Find a real solicitor that you can speak to in person. If the will is simple ( e.g. I leave this to X, This to Y, everything else to Z for example) then you can get a will for free through many registered charities - I did mine with Cancer UK. Each charity that does this will have a list of solicitors they use who are near you
If it's a bit more complex (trusts or giving someone right to remain in a house after the owner's death) it depends on how many hours it takes the solicitor. My friend paid nearly £500 for hers with various complications. There's no percentage to pay with an honest solicitor - they charge only for writing it

Ayr_Rage

My last will cost just under £200.

If whoever makes the will and appoints a firm of solicitors as executors there will be fees incurred, a Mr G search suggest between 1% and 5% of the estate plus any additional fees.

Get it in writing!

SiliconChip

Charge will depend on how complex the Will is and whereabouts the solicitor that's chosen is based - London is very likely to be more expensive than everywhere else. My own pretty straightforward Will was drawn up in Birmingham for £200, and revised 5 years later for another £100.

There wouldn't normally be any further charges (most solicitors will keep the original Will for you without charge) unless the solicitor is picked as one of the executors of the Will, in which case they may either make a fixed charge or a percentage of the value of the estate - but if the Will isn't too complex we would normally recommend DIY execution to save a large amount of money.

Flugelhorn

Good to get it done by solicitor - also consider PoA, could be very useful if she has a relapse and needs someone to manage things for her . Don't let the solicitor be names as executor

Emmia

In London I paid £250 for a straightforward will a couple of years ago, from a solicitor. No trust

Don't go to a "will writer".

You can find a solicitor near you using the law society website.

https://solicitors.lawsociety.org.uk/

Exodi

Misteek said:

My friends mum wanted to draw a will.

But she wants it water tight.  She has  schritzophenia (sp?) But is controlled through meds etc.

How much do solicitors etc charge for the will etc. I heard upon death they may even charge percentage or something of the estate. Is this correct and is there a way around it?

I think you're confusing solicitors writing the will (which usually costs a few hundred pounds) and solicitors acting as executor to enact the will (which can costs thousands or tens of thousands).

I contacted a local will-writer for my stepdad and I believe it cost £450 for a will (which included a discretionary trust). The experience was perfect, they visited him at his house, and spent a long time explaining everything. Much better than trying to get away paying £150 and doing it online. They also offer additional services such as storing the will for you (or you can give it to someone to hold).

Is the will contentious? As you suggest she wants it 'water-tight', I'd guess it is, and so even more important for a will writer who will work with your friends mum to take extra steps to protect their wishes (and certainly being schizophrenic is an important consideration - less so if the will is not contentious). As just one example, my stepdad had chosen to exclude certain people from his will hadn't spoken to them in decades), and the will-writer suggested writing an accompanying letter stating he had deliberately chosen to exclude them from the will (this was done to prevent a potential future challenge on the grounds that he'd forgotten). Advice like this is absolutely worth it's weight in gold, and for the sake of a couple of hundred extra seems like a no brainer considering the risks.

Who will act as executor is another decision and depends on the beneficiary circumstances - if there is likely to be disagreements, then a solicitor acting as executor could be useful.

RAS

Don't suggest she uses a will writer if there is any scope for challenge. Pay for a solicitor.

As long friend's mum trusts someone or sometwo, it's better if she names them as executors.

Assuming her assets exceed her liabilities? But even then the executors can walk away.

DullGreyGuy

Misteek said:

My friends mum wanted to draw a will.

But she wants it water tight.  She has  schritzophenia (sp?) But is controlled through meds etc.

How much do solicitors etc charge for the will etc. I heard upon death they may even charge percentage or something of the estate. Is this correct and is there a way around it?

Solicitors offer a range of services. Just for writing the will depend on the complexity which ultimately is a proxy for the amount of time it will take. The prices suggested by others are either off the shelf options or minor modifications. A half decent solicitor charges a three figure sum per hour which rarely starts with 1 and that includes the initial consultation, the drafting, the emails back and forward etc.  

Writing the will isn't necessarily the end of the deal, some will choose to use the solicitor to also act as executor and so further fees will become payable when they pass etc. 

Emmia

DullGreyGuy said:

Misteek said:

My friends mum wanted to draw a will.

But she wants it water tight.  She has  schritzophenia (sp?) But is controlled through meds etc.

How much do solicitors etc charge for the will etc. I heard upon death they may even charge percentage or something of the estate. Is this correct and is there a way around it?

Solicitors offer a range of services. Just for writing the will depend on the complexity which ultimately is a proxy for the amount of time it will take. The prices suggested by others are either off the shelf options or minor modifications. A half decent solicitor charges a three figure sum per hour which rarely starts with 1 and that includes the initial consultation, the drafting, the emails back and forward etc.  

Writing the will isn't necessarily the end of the deal, some will choose to use the solicitor to also act as executor and so further fees will become payable when they pass etc. 

Is mum clear on her wishes in relation to a will?  Has she gone through "what ifs" and thought about where she wants the money to go, if everyone predeceases her?

Does she want something other than the standard rules of intestacy? i.e. does she want to give to people who are not her direct descendants / part of her family, does she want to give in different proportions, skip a generation... Cut people out? If so she needs a will. 

The more pre thinking she does to work out her answers, the less time she'll spend discussing this with a solicitor (and being charged for it).

When I did my will the solicitor sent me a sort of questionnaire before the meeting so I could arrive at the meeting prepared with essential information for them. After the meeting the will was finalised in terms of drafting by email. I then went back to the solicitors where I signed the will and had it witnessed by people in that practice to make it valid.

My will was drafted by one of the newly qualified solicitors, supervised by one of the partners - this kept the costs down as the hourly rate was less 

My will is also simple and straightforward, I'm not faffing around with trusts as the money I have is mine, to spend on me... My beneficiaries will get what's left (if anything). 

If your friends mum is clear on what they want then the will can be fairly inexpensive and straightforward. Being unclear and changing her mind during the drafting will push the costs up.

It might help if you phone up a few practices near you to understand their costs for a simple will (if that's what she wants) and who in the practice would do the majority of the work for that price.