Here we endeavour to answer your questions on Wills, so ask away using the form below, or give me a call on 01323 766 766.
How much should a Will cost?
There are a very wide range of prices for Wills in England and Wales – I commonly see prices starting at £19.95 and at the top end people pay thousands.
It probably takes a minimum of 2 hours actual work (and sometimes far more) to sort out a straightforward Will, which means that some “professionals” are apparently working for below minimum wage even before pay any overheads such as professional indemnity insurance. At that end of the scale, the price is either being used to generate leads to be upsold onto far more expensive services (often Lifetime Trusts costing £4,000+ and I suspect often missold.) OR it is a templated process where – even if you don’t realise it – you are actually advising yourself, whether you realise it on no!
I like to think that our fees for Wills etc are at the modest end of truly professional Will costs, but we don’t pretend to be able to deal with everyone so if you are not domiciled in England or Wales, have business interests abroad or are worth more than £10m, then we are not the right advisers for you. In many cases we can recommend a suitable adviser.
What happens if I die without a Will?
Then the Rules of Intestacy come into play, and the Law decides who benefits from your estate.
Because your wishes are not know, that may lead to disputes and Court action, which is both destructive of the family unit, and horrendously expensive.
But the worst thing is that if no one survives with parental responsibility, then Social Services wil take charge of any under age children and put them in a foster home until the Family Court decides who should take them on. In blended families this can be disastrous, though a Will does not override legal parental responsibility. and fathers should check the birth certificates of their children as it is not uncommon for them to be left off, especially if the relationship at that time was a little rocky.
Here is a PDF of the Rules of Intestacy as at October 2024 – there are no changes on the horizon as far as I am aware.
Are Will forms purchased from the Post Office or a retailer Legal?
If completed correctly, and for the right people, yes they are. But they are no substitute for professional advice, as you may not understand the consequences of such a Will. But they have to be mostly better than nothing. Free Will forms are available, but there is no recourse to anyone if they are not completed correctly or were wrongly constructed or unsuitable in the first place.
What about Free Will Month?
My question is why would you want a Charity to spend its’ hard earned cash on making a Will for you? If you want to leave money to a Charity, just do it and pay for the Will. There should indded be a Charity that pays for people who can’t afford advice to get it. But the fact is they are targetting people who could perfectly well afford to pay, in the hope that they will leave them a legacy in the Will. From the solicitors point of view, the basic Will is free, but you may need something more sophisticated, plus Lasting Powers of Attorney (at their prices.) For many solicitors, the free (to you) Wills are just a way of getting people to take up more expensive services, especially probate which can be wildly profitable if fees are not negotiated, just imposed. Powers of Attorney can also be upsold (which they should be) but some of the fees charged are rather high. Compare ours!
What on earth is a Will Bank?
A Will Bank is a large part of the value of a solicitors practice. It is the value of the stored Wills multiplied by the percentage of executors who won’t bother to check that the solicitors Probate Fees are reasonable multiplied by the potentially high fees paid by the grieving family who don’t shop arround. That is why The Probate Department exists!
Will question: Can I just make my own Will?
Yes, if you feel you are able to word it well and comply with the legal requirements, you certainly can, but one of the Will Forms sold is probably a little safer.
Does the Next of Kin Inherit Everything? Does the Spouse Inherit Automatically?
Maybe! What does the Will say?
But the legal next of kin is not always who people think it is. A common law spouse has no automatic right to inherit anything, however many years the relationship has been going. On the other hand, a separated legal spouse may still inherit, depending on the circumstances.
Can I dispute a Will or Intestacy if I think I should have inherited?
The answer is always yes, but if you have no reasonable prospect of sucess it can be a REALLY bad idea. Cases which go to Court often result in cost awards against the loser of £100,000 or much more. Advice is expensive, and should come from a specialist Contentious Probate solicitor. There is a free Probate Claim Checker on our sister site, TheProbateDepartment.co.uk. If you do have a genuine case, take advice imediately, and act on it as the window for actually submitting a Court case is normally 6 months from the date that probate is granted, so it is safest to assume that means as little as 6 months after the death. That is a very short time to prepare a legal case, and if you case is sound, generally a compromise agreement will be reached in mediation.
Do I need a solicitor to write a Will?
There are essentially four routes to write a Will:
- DIY – see above. This includes online Wills.
- Solicitors and CILEx members – who may or may not have this as a speciality. Most do not, they are jacks of many trades. Ask how many hours a year they have spent on specialist training for Estate Planning (Wills, Powers of Attorney, Trusts, Inheritance Tax) over the last 3 years. There are some brilliant Will writers, but they are not inexpensive.
- Specialist Professional Will Writers mostly members of the Society of Will Writers or Institute of Professional Will Writers. I am a member of the Society of Will Writers, and have been since 2001. They must have professional indemnity insurance, and must carry out substantial training and specilist learning and updating every year.
- Unaffiliated Will writers who chose not to have any oversight of their work, and in some cases have been ejected from the other groups. There is no legal requirement for them to carry insurance or to have had any training, never mind Continuing Professional Development (CPD.)
Do Wills Have to be Registered?
Sadly there is no requirement to register a Will once it is made.
This means that they can easily be lost, damaged or destroyed by people who don’t like them. Where professional storage is taken up, many firms will register the Will on a commercial Will database. Professional storage is much safer than keeping such documents at home, as long as the executors have a means of finding the Will (and not just the typical flimsy piece of paper you typically get!) Even home safes will often incinerate documents inside if there is a fire.
Will Probate be needed after a death?
This very much depends on what the deceased owned and how it was owned. Much accidental fraud is committed when “joint” bank or savings accounts are passed to the surviing name on the account when they were a mere signatory for convenience, and not a genuine joint owner.
A guide to the general amounts various institutions will release without probate is here. That page is well worth study.
Will the Bank release cash to pay for the funeral?
Most banks will pay money direct to the undertaker, provided it is agreed in advance by the correct people. The correct person should be the executor, but some institutions insist that it must be the person who reported the death to them. They will NOT repay anyone who has first paid the bill. That is a job for the executor once probate has been granted – assuming it is needed.
Ask your questions on Wills below: (aand you don’t have to use the special form for Lasting Power of Attorney questions – just add them here.
