Validating a Will after marriage/CP

cheesecake28

Would appreciate some advice as i'm freaking out a bit.

2 years ago me and my partner got a mirror Will done each ( through WillAid) it was free with a small donation. Very simple Wills, we have no children.

Since having that done ,we've got a civil partnership. Which will now cancel out the Wills. BTW the solicitor is one on our high street)

I phoned up the solicitor the other day ( kinda regret now)to ask if we could make our Wills live again, the only change being is that we are now civil partners. The wills are staying exactly the same.

Just received a lot of paperwork in the post today including

Drafts of our new Wills

Terms of business booklet

A form of acceptance ( something we sign)

Lots of other bits of paper , i've tried reading but too much jargon…too overwhelming…

I'm starting to think should i have done this? Something on one bit of paper said something about charging £250 per hour?!! Is this just a standard thing they have to put . Surely its not going to cost £250 just to make our Wills ( with no changes) live again?

Is it too late to back out now , literally don't know what im doing heh.

On the form of acceptance theres this;

Where cancellation rights apply ,we will not start work for 14 days from the day of the 'conclusion of the contract ' unless you expressly ask us to. This is because there are regulations in force that now prevent us from doing so. If you would like our service to start within 14 days of the day of the conclusion of the contract please tick the box below to confirm your instructions…..

I take it that means I can just cancel having the Wills made live again? With no charge? I have no idea how this all works.

I do want our Wills, I'm now starting to think , just let the old ones cancel out and then just get free ones done again with WillAid or another charity, Would be cheaper??

I know i will have to phone them on monday to ask , i'll sound like a right pratt =(

But can anyone ease my mind in the time being =/

Reed_Richards

I think the solicitor on the high street thinks they can make some easy money. I would ask them how much they will charge for your mirror wills. If they can't cut you a deal, I would politely decline to use their services.

Keep_pedalling

your current wills are invalid, you do need new ones. If they have sent you new draft wills it sounds like you actually engaged them to do so, but if you don’t understand anything you have been sent then you should question it, including what the actual cost will be.

Emmia

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6676587/validating-a-will-after-marriage-cp

You can't make an invalid will "live" (valid) again, you need to make a new will each, whether mirrored or not, which will need fresh drafting, witnessing etc. now is probably a good time to think whether the will you're making covers everything you want it to, or if there are things you'd like to amend. Do you definitely want mirror wills? Or do you want wills that leave everything to the other, with variation in things like charities to donate to, bequests to friends etc.

I'd expect a cost of around £250 for each will from a high street solicitor.