paying for a will?

Author
Discussion

petemurphy

Original Poster:

10,108 posts

182 months

Thursday 23rd April 2015
quotequote all
sooo really need to get wills sorted. was stopped by a sales person in town the other day - anyone used these guys?:

www.thewillassociates.co.uk

she said its approx £350 for 2 wills ( my other half and i ). seems a lot?

whats different to using a £15 make a will kit from whsmiths?

have a 4 year old and we jointly own our house if that makes any difference

thanks

Jonboy_t

5,038 posts

182 months

Thursday 23rd April 2015
quotequote all
Check with your bank, some do it as a free service or as part of a packaged account (if you have one).

eltax91

9,842 posts

205 months

Thursday 23rd April 2015
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I think it only cost us about £150 to get it done at a family solicitors in our local town....

barryrs

4,376 posts

222 months

Thursday 23rd April 2015
quotequote all
Jonboy_t said:
Check with your bank, some do it as a free service or as part of a packaged account (if you have one).
Just make sure that by using the banks free will writing service you aren't agreeing for them to be the executor as I've read some horror stories over charges.

Edited by barryrs on Thursday 23 April 20:49

mostlyharmless

37 posts

120 months

Thursday 23rd April 2015
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We paid £255 for a pair of mirrored wills (unmarried, own 2 houses, no kids)

Ozone

3,039 posts

186 months

Thursday 23rd April 2015
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If you can wait until November try http://www.willaid.org.uk/

I was asked for an £80 donation for a single will

Vaud

50,291 posts

154 months

Thursday 23rd April 2015
quotequote all
Ozone said:
If you can wait until November try http://www.willaid.org.uk/

I was asked for an £80 donation for a single will
Thanks for this.

Backtobasics

1,182 posts

182 months

Jer_1974

1,497 posts

192 months

Thursday 23rd April 2015
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bad company

18,484 posts

265 months

Thursday 23rd April 2015
quotequote all
Jonboy_t said:
Check with your bank, some do it as a free service or as part of a packaged account (if you have one).
The bank will almost certainly make themselves Exucutors and charge extortianate fees for doing so. They seem to be charging 4 to 4.5%

http://www.which.co.uk/news/2010/02/which-calls-fo...

madmover

1,725 posts

183 months

Friday 24th April 2015
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As already mentioned above, will aid is in November and it will be worth waiting if you're on a tight budget.


phumy

5,671 posts

236 months

Friday 24th April 2015
quotequote all
madmover said:
As already mentioned above, will aid is in November and it will be worth waiting if you're on a tight budget.
Or not if you died before than.....good luck.

tiggerjaguar

60 posts

190 months

Friday 24th April 2015
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We suffered from a bank being appointed as executor for my MIL ,

Literally cost us fees approaching 20%. ( yes twenty ) once disbursements and other charges added plus it took 18 months for a very simple estate to be sorted.

The firm involved based near Warwick has some poor press.


tiggerjaguar

60 posts

190 months

Friday 24th April 2015
quotequote all
We suffered from a bank being appointed as executor for my MIL ,

Literally cost us fees approaching 20%. ( yes twenty ) once disbursements and other charges added plus it took 18 months for a very simple estate to be sorted.

The firm involved based near Warwick has some poor press.


annsxman

295 posts

241 months

Friday 24th April 2015
quotequote all
barryrs said:
Just make sure that by using the banks free will writing service you aren't agreeing for them to be the executor as I've read some horror stories over charges.

Edited by barryrs on Thursday 23 April 20:49
I second that. Never appoint a bank as your executor. Their charges can be horrendous relative to their competence or lack thereof. If you need a professional then use a solicitor who deals in probate matters, and who comes with a recommendation from someone you trust.

Jonsv8

7,177 posts

123 months

Friday 24th April 2015
quotequote all
Ours is simple and cost relatively little - less than £200 for the pair, may even have been less than £100 - at the local solicitor. No kids but fair amount in the estate. We went in and said - to each other on first persons death, then %/£ to these if we go together. No trusts, specified a friend as an executor with his discretion to use professional help, even left a few specific personal bequests (all the alcohol in the house to be left to another friend as he was already the main beneficiary). Leave them with a smile on their face.

The cost should be proportionate to the complexity in my eye, so fixed price wills are probably either going to expensive for what you need or not written as well as they should be.

anonymous-user

53 months

Friday 24th April 2015
quotequote all
annsxman said:
barryrs said:
Just make sure that by using the banks free will writing service you aren't agreeing for them to be the executor as I've read some horror stories over charges.

Edited by anonymous-user on Thursday 23 April 20:49
I second that. Never appoint a bank as your executor. Their charges can be horrendous relative to their competence or lack thereof. If you need a professional then use a solicitor who deals in probate matters, and who comes with a recommendation from someone you trust.
Absolutely but never appoint a solicitor as an executor, they will charge you just as much as the banks. Appoint a willing, trusted friend or relatives, if no kids old enough, and hope that they learn enough not to be ripped off by 'professional' advisors when the time comes.

annsxman

295 posts

241 months

Friday 24th April 2015
quotequote all
REALIST123 said:
Absolutely but never appoint a solicitor as an executor, they will charge you just as much as the banks. Appoint a willing, trusted friend or relatives, if no kids old enough, and hope that they learn enough not to be ripped off by 'professional' advisors when the time comes.
Fair point. My sister and I were executors of my father's estate. In practice once we had established where his assets other than the house were, we handed the matter over to our family solicitor who chased after and realised the financial assets - stocks and shares etc - obtained probate, and generally managed the whole affair. My sister found a local estate agent to sell the house and our input was largely limited to deciding which offer to accept on the house. Solicitor's fees were broken down and we thought eminently reasonable.

anonymous-user

53 months

Friday 24th April 2015
quotequote all
annsxman said:
REALIST123 said:
Absolutely but never appoint a solicitor as an executor, they will charge you just as much as the banks. Appoint a willing, trusted friend or relatives, if no kids old enough, and hope that they learn enough not to be ripped off by 'professional' advisors when the time comes.
Fair point. My sister and I were executors of my father's estate. In practice once we had established where his assets other than the house were, we handed the matter over to our family solicitor who chased after and realised the financial assets - stocks and shares etc - obtained probate, and generally managed the whole affair. My sister found a local estate agent to sell the house and our input was largely limited to deciding which offer to accept on the house. Solicitor's fees were broken down and we thought eminently reasonable.
Fair enough. My experience with an old business partner who had appointed a solicitor as executor was different. Ended up costing his estate over £150K, based on a flat rate charge plus all the costs associated with typical legal fee building practices.

I kid you not, the solicitor charged for attending the funeral. It was on the list of charges as 'attending on client'. When it was queried by another associate who was also an (unpaid) executor, it mysteriously changed to 'miscellaneous costs' or something like that. It's a few years ago now but was a lesson learned.


stuno1

1,296 posts

194 months

Friday 24th April 2015
quotequote all
Useful thread and timely for me!