Will writing advice

hypochondriac

Good afternoon. My wife and I have finally decided to get a will sorted. We are in our mid 30s with two young children and have been meaning to do it for a few years now. Generally our finances are quite straight forward. We have a small amount of savings, a house with a mortgage and we want everything to end up with our children.

The only added complication is I have a 20% share in a limited company with my family who own an Airbnb and my wife owns another house in a different part of the country that used to belong to her father.

I am by no means a financial guru and these will writing services are a bit daunting. I have spoken to a couple who I thought were a little aggressive with upselling and seemed to me to be charging a fairly large amount for what we were getting. I would really appreciate if someone could help me with the following questions:

1. What is a decent company to use to get a pair of mirror wills done for me and my wife at a decent price? Should I look to contact a solicitor? I really have little experience in this area as it is not something I have dealt with before.
2. I expect to pay something but are Business Property Relief Discretionary Trusts (BPR DT) and Flexible Life Interest Trust (FLIT) something that is necessary or desirable in order to safeguard assets in the future?
3. Is £1,000 a reasonable amount for these sorts of wills with the extras I have outlined? If not, how much should I be looking to pay?

I really appreciate any guidance that anyone can give me prior to spending what is quite a large amount of cash for us at the moment.

hypochondriac

Worth pointing out that the solicitor I had the meeting with originally contacted me via Will Aid and then outlined (I believe correctly) at the end of the conversation that my will was not covered as these were for basic wills only but he could give me a discount.

Dead_keen

I'll comment on the trusts point. Don't do it (***). The will writing industry is not regulated and populated by, probably some good people and, definitely, some others. Have a read of this for some background: https://taxpolicy.org.uk/2026/03/13/mp-estate-planning-trust-misselling-investigation/

In terms of a Business Property Relief Discretionary Trusts (BPR DT), I have no idea what this means but I assume that the reference to business property is supposed to be a reference to the IHT business property relief that, based on your post, you are not eligible for. So rather than being just pointless, it could completely screw things up for you

(***) I am not saying not to use trusts full stop. Use them if you have a real need for them rather than because a snake oil salesman tells you to. The classic reasons for having trusts are because, for example, someone you love can't manage money (eg because of lack of capacity or some vulnerability). Another is where someone wants to make sure the kids get the house but their spouse can live it in while they are alive. If someone says that they will save IHT or stop the deprivation of assets rules applying for care home fees, run 1.6km.

For proper advice, choose someone who is a member of STEP.

Technosaurus

Once you have kids, a proper will is imperative.

I'd personally go to a local, trustworthy, solicitors firm with all the correct accreditations - they should sit down with you and go through everything you have outlined, it won't take particularly long. Any "Will writing firms" who don't do anything but wills are to be treated with a pinch of salt. I personally prefer to be able to talk to or email an individual rather than a mailbox or AI chatbot.

In terms of cost, depends on so many factors that it's impossible to say. My wife and I have a much more simple set of circumstances (everything goes to each other, if we're not here to our only son, and if he's not around then to other family). Our wills were £250 each 10 years ago, and they did us a discount for doing the two together, which includes storage. We have had to make some updates to them since - executors, changes of address of beneficiaries, adding an extra niece and nephew in recent years, which they did free of charge. We are in the North of England and I chose the solicitors based purely on a friend from University working there so it wasn't the most in-depth of searches but I liked the way we were dealt with (by the same person, responses within hours every time) so didn't feel the need to shop around.

Wills are one of the few things where I wouldn't skimp on anything due to price. Granted you don't want to be ripped off but if something seems to cheap to be true, it probably is, and it's more important to get it done right than to save a few quid here and there.

Savvy_Sue

Worth noting that I don't think you can strictly do mirror wills because you each have some personal assets. DH and I literally have wills where the only difference is his and her / husband and wife / our names.

Another vote for a decent local solicitor.

p00hsticks

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82131404#Comment_82131404

Well, I think you can do mirror wills that simply each say 'I leave all my wordly possesions to x' mirror wills don't mean that both parties have to have identical possessions

One thing that I don't think has been mentioned so far, is that wth young children, the wills should say who the parents would want to be their guardian if they should both die before the children reach adulthood.

Technosaurus

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82131466#Comment_82131466

Very good point.

Ours also pointed out we can stipulate they don't inherit until a certain age and that the executors essentially look after the inheritance until said age, with a letter of wishes for what they should consider.

And, sadly, our solicitor also made us think about what we would like to happen should our son pre-decease us, and also if we all were to die at the same time. As I say, the 20ish minute chat we had with the solicitor in person was "worth it" in my opinion to go over such things that we wouldn't otherwise have considered.

p00hsticks

I think from previous threads on this board that it's quite difficult to restrict the age that a person inherits beyond the age of 18 (16 in Scotland) unless you go down the road of putting the inheritance in trust, which comes with certain obligations and complications - another reason for talking to a solicitor who knows their stuff when drawing up the will.

Savvy_Sue

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82131466#Comment_82131466

Of course, you can just say that. However when you have 'interesting' things to leave - like part ownership of a company, or a spare house - it seems to me worth saying a little more than "I leave everything to X". Although if one's executors are familiar with your situation, it might be obvious that you each have something 'extra' in the pot, making it explicit might be helpful!

poseidon1

I Would reccomend the OP return to the solicitor who was prepared to offer a discount for non basic wills.

The OP's mention of Business Property Relief Discretionary Trusts ( a mere marketing gimmick) and Flexible Life In Trusts ( potentially hazardous trusts with regard to the possibility of 20% lifetime IHT charges), suggests he may have been exploring the kind of ill conceived structures conjured up by Will Writing firms. If that be the case, OP is strongly advised to remain outside the orbit of these unregulated and often unqualified businesses.

Stick with solicitor drafted wills. Lifetime trusts are generally for the very wealthy with very significant IHT exposure hitting high 6 figures and above.

For information, the OP's 20% share of the family AirBnb company is most unlikely to constitute an asset to which Business Property Relief would apply. HMRC's general view is that they are mere investment companies - see article below

https://herrington-carmichael.com/insights/wills-trusts-private-wealth/will-your-rental-business-qualify-for-bpr/

However, I have no doubt that little inconvenience would not prevent an unscrupulous Will Writing company from selling a Discretionary trust as an IHT efficient family protection vehicle, with little by way of legal recourse available to the family when the arrangement ultimately fails to meet the stated objectives.

RAS

With a more complex estate and young children, the OP would be best served by using a STEP solicitor, even if it costs a bit more. After all the T stands for Trust.

As others have said, apart from IPDI trusts to protect the children's share from remarriage, very few folk have estates of sufficient value to make the potential fees and taxes worth the costs.

There've been enough examples here where other schemes have replaced estates with limited or no IHT liability with structures that lead to recurring fees, CGT liabilities and accounting or reporting requirements needing professional management.

All so the will writer, and sometimes a solicitor, can get a nice load of up front fees.

Or in the case of one family member, annual fees for managing an on-going trust which generated more income for the solicitor than the beneficiary. The trust was eventually dissolved and the solicitor sanctioned but it was several years of hell.