Cost of Will

poppystar

The fact that she is charging to store the Will would make me go elsewhere. A friend and I both made Wills about twenty years ago - the solicitor stored mine for free, friend has paid £24 per year for those 20 years (might even be more, I’ve not asked if the cost has risen) which is well in excess of the cost of my solicitor produced Will. You would lose any saving (if there was one) in price between this Will writer and the cost of a solicitor produced Will within just a few years. What happens if this Will writer retires/goes out of business? With a solicitor there would be a process whereby the Will was passed to another one. If you genuinely want to put your executors in the best possible situation go for a solicitor. 

poseidon1

dont_use_vistaprint said:

Brie said:

She (& you) might want to consider getting a will done for free by a solicitor using one of the charity routes.  As I understand it the charity fronts the cost of the will (I've been quoted around £400) and then the solicitor will add something so that the charity gets money back when the individual dies.

This is just one of many....
Free will writing service | British Red Cross

Yes you can DIY it which might work as long as it's completely simple but I don't know how you would then register it.  Meanwhile have you googled this local will writer to see if they are actually trained to do the job?  

And the extra costs can come in much later if the executor(s) aren't the right people.  Obviously having a solicitor as executor can be very expensive and many people suggest avoiding that.  

Thanks

Yes Ive googled her, she is a qualified lawyer and member of The Society of Will Writers and has very good testimonials, she seems to focus on the at home service for elederly people and says she also  provides document storage for £25 per year  per will and probabe serice through the Society of Will Writers.

 A bit of rant coming.

A law degree does not entitle anyone to call themselves a qualified lawyer in the same way that a physics degree does not make you a physicist, accountancy degree an accountant, etc.

As for the so called Society of Will Writers, by their own admission they are unregulated ( or at best self regulating - whatever that means)  not recognised by any professional body such as the Law Society or Bar Council and frankly an industry which  is populated by some very dubious firms, some of whom do real harm to the affairs of a sadly unsuspecting general public. 

A simple will?   Maybe if you have no children or grandchildren, and no property then maybe the concept of a simple Will might apply. Bring those elements into the mix then scope for mistakes and unintended consequences even from  'simple ' instructions magnify ( as we see repeatedly on this forum).

The law pertaining to Wills still largely stems from legislation enacted in 1837 ( as amended and refined by bolt on statutes and case law ) but still fails to recognise that a vast number of the populace now have estates of value which would not have been the case in the Victorian era.

Currently, there are steps being taken to try and modernise the law and administrative provisions of Wills per briefing note below -

https://www.crane-staples.co.uk/news/will-reforms/#:~:text=Although still in force, the,introduce a modern, practical approach.

It is an ambitious project with aspects I do not agree with such as recognition of electronic wills.

It also appears to be conducted separate and distinct from the modernisation of  trust law , an excercise which has dragged on at a snails pace with the Law Commission.

Be that as it may and in the meantime, even for your 'simple' will I would advise stick to a qualified solicitor.

dont_use_vistaprint

Probably a really bad idea asking this question on money saving expert ….. 

so the advice is don’t trust anyone  claimed ing to be a professional, write it  on the back of a cigarette packet , put it in the wardrobe and execute it ourselves ? 

I’m confused by responses, lots of cynicism but not much actual advice on what to do 

dont_use_vistaprint

Emmia said:

dont_use_vistaprint said:

Brie said:

She (& you) might want to consider getting a will done for free by a solicitor using one of the charity routes.  As I understand it the charity fronts the cost of the will (I've been quoted around £400) and then the solicitor will add something so that the charity gets money back when the individual dies.

This is just one of many....
Free will writing service | British Red Cross

Yes you can DIY it which might work as long as it's completely simple but I don't know how you would then register it.  Meanwhile have you googled this local will writer to see if they are actually trained to do the job?  

And the extra costs can come in much later if the executor(s) aren't the right people.  Obviously having a solicitor as executor can be very expensive and many people suggest avoiding that.  

Thanks

Yes Ive googles her, she is a qualified lawyer and member of The Society of Will Writers and has very good testimonials, she seems to focus on the at home service for elederly people and says she also  provides secure document storage and a full probate service through the Society of Will Writers.

She's a qualified lawyer, but not a practising solicitor? Or Barrister? Have you looked her up on the law society website?

I personally wouldn't use someone who was working as a "will writer"  and a member of the society if will writers whether legally qualified or not.

Im guessing a practising solicitor would not want to visit someone’s home and undertake a piece of work for £150

user1977

dont_use_vistaprint said:

Emmia said:

dont_use_vistaprint said:

Brie said:

She (& you) might want to consider getting a will done for free by a solicitor using one of the charity routes.  As I understand it the charity fronts the cost of the will (I've been quoted around £400) and then the solicitor will add something so that the charity gets money back when the individual dies.

This is just one of many....
Free will writing service | British Red Cross

Yes you can DIY it which might work as long as it's completely simple but I don't know how you would then register it.  Meanwhile have you googled this local will writer to see if they are actually trained to do the job?  

And the extra costs can come in much later if the executor(s) aren't the right people.  Obviously having a solicitor as executor can be very expensive and many people suggest avoiding that.  

Thanks

Yes Ive googles her, she is a qualified lawyer and member of The Society of Will Writers and has very good testimonials, she seems to focus on the at home service for elederly people and says she also  provides secure document storage and a full probate service through the Society of Will Writers.

She's a qualified lawyer, but not a practising solicitor? Or Barrister? Have you looked her up on the law society website?

I personally wouldn't use someone who was working as a "will writer"  and a member of the society if will writers whether legally qualified or not.

Im guessing a practising solicitor would not want to visit someone’s home and undertake a piece of work for £150

Does it need a home visit i.e. is your relative housebound? Solicitors are obviously used to having to do that sort of thing in this area of work. As for prices, ask some. Wills are often seen as a bit of a loss leader, in the hope they're likely to lead to the probate work.

dont_use_vistaprint said:

so the advice is don’t trust anyone claiming to be a professional

I think we're saying look for somebody who is actually a member of a regulated profession. Literally anyone can set themselves up as a "will writer" with no credentials, insurance, etc.

poseidon1

dont_use_vistaprint said:

Probably a really bad idea asking this question on money saving expert ….. 

so the advice is don’t trust anyone  claimed ing to be a professional, write it  on the back of a cigarette packet , put it in the wardrobe and execute it ourselves ? 

I’m confused by responses, lots of cynicism but not much actual advice on what to do 

The concensus was use a qualified solicitor, of which there are quite literally thousands at all price levels including 'free' offers during Wills month.

The cynicism here of Will Writing firms is entirely justified, especially when we are presented on this forum with specific examples of the devastating fallout from some of their activities. Surprised you have not seen some of those  very sad posts.

Emmia

dont_use_vistaprint said:

Probably a really bad idea asking this question on money saving expert ….. 

so the advice is don’t trust anyone  claimed ing to be a professional, write it  on the back of a cigarette packet , put it in the wardrobe and execute it ourselves ? 

I’m confused by responses, lots of cynicism but not much actual advice on what to do 

The cost of a will in comparison to the value of the majority of estates is small, but people seem to weirdly penny pinch on the upfront cost of this essential document.

The money saving way is having a clear and properly drafted will, that doesn't cost your executors and ultimately your estate lots of time, money and stress to implement/fix when you're no longer around to clarify things.


What to do... Go to a solicitor, finding one that does home visits if necessary.

RAS

dont_use_vistaprint said:

Emmia said:

dont_use_vistaprint said:

Brie said:

She (& you) might want to consider getting a will done for free by a solicitor using one of the charity routes.  As I understand it the charity fronts the cost of the will (I've been quoted around £400) and then the solicitor will add something so that the charity gets money back when the individual dies.

This is just one of many....
Free will writing service | British Red Cross

Yes you can DIY it which might work as long as it's completely simple but I don't know how you would then register it.  Meanwhile have you googled this local will writer to see if they are actually trained to do the job?  

And the extra costs can come in much later if the executor(s) aren't the right people.  Obviously having a solicitor as executor can be very expensive and many people suggest avoiding that.  

Thanks

Yes Ive googles her, she is a qualified lawyer and member of The Society of Will Writers and has very good testimonials, she seems to focus on the at home service for elederly people and says she also  provides secure document storage and a full probate service through the Society of Will Writers.

She's a qualified lawyer, but not a practising solicitor? Or Barrister? Have you looked her up on the law society website?

I personally wouldn't use someone who was working as a "will writer"  and a member of the society if will writers whether legally qualified or not.

Im guessing a practising solicitor would not want to visit someone’s home and undertake a piece of work for £150

Ignoring the annual storage cost and the high cost of probate? And likely upsell of LPA @ £xxx each.

LPAs can be done by anyone vaguely competent with a computer for £82 each, as long as the signing is corect.

Use the Free Will month, or pay £300 for a solicitor, maybe initial phone interview? Well worth it.

In the last couple of months we've seen two missing wills for which the will writer has gone out of business with no trace leaving the deceased effectively intestate . And several traceable wills done by defunct solicitor's firms.

Plus simple wills which resulted in lengthy probate investigations because they were printed at home and not stapled together.

Others which makes no provision for grandchildren to inherit if their parent dies first and some with no alternative provision for inheritance if the donor's children die first. Solicitor's ask "what if" questions.

YoungBlueEyes

To give you an idea of costs - I work in a solicitors and home visits for wills are a regular thing. 

Our (non-STEP) solicitor charges £350 for a simple will, £450 for joint wills, and home visits are £30. We then store the wills for free.

You and your friend could ring round some local solicitors and see if you can have a chat about the different options you have. This really isn't the area to be scrimping.

Also, what is a "legal will writer"? Is it a writer of legal wills, or a will writer with some legal training? 

twopenny

I would go down the charity will writing.
You just need to leave something (sometimes a minimum is requested) and the solicitor doing it, if you choose a local solicitor taking part, will store it for freein a fireproof vault.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/free-cheap-wills/

Have a search for your area and local solicitors do this at certain times of year.  you can always go into the offices and ask if and when