Will Cost

[EddyP]

Afternoon all,

I'm looking to have a pair of mirror wills written, nothing complicated pretty bog standard.

So far I've been quoted £250 + vat and £200 + vat.

Seems a lot of money for a couple of bits of paper, is this what people pay or have people tried any of the online type services?

Thanks

[Lurking Lawyer]

That's about par for the course.

If you baulk at the cost, and if your affairs are straightforward (of the "all to wife, or all to kid(s) if she goes before me" type, you might be able to get away with a DIY kit from somewhere like W H Smiths. I honestly wouldn't recommend it though.

[av185]

In the days of Woolworths my Law lecturer at Uni said never make a 'Wooli' will.

Sound advice.

[Craikeybaby]

That was about what we paid.

I looked at the cheaper options, but even with relatively simple affairs I wasn't convinced by the one size fits all approach.

[onedsla]

I did mine during the last 'Will Aid'. Suggested donations are:
£95 - suggested donation for a single Will
£150 - suggested donation for a pair of mirror Wills

Somehow seems better with the money going to overpaid charity execs (and perhaps the occasional good cause) rather than solicitors.

[ellroy]

If you're having your wills done consider looking at getting Lasting Power of Attorney's done at the same stage, just in case either one of you goes gaga later on.

[Lurking Lawyer]

onedsla said:

Somehow seems better with the money going to overpaid charity execs (and perhaps the occasional good cause) rather than solicitors.

An interesting viewpoint, and it does seem to bear out the common misconception that all solicitors are extremely well-paid and somehow undeserving of what they charge clients.

If you work for a City firm, the stereotypical fat cat impression is probably reasonably accurate. if you work for a large national or provincial firm, you're probably also very well paid compared to the national average. A substantial proportion of solicitors however aren't even higher rate tax payers, let alone revelling in substantial six figure salaries. The "average" private practice solicitor outside the Top 100 firms is probably doing reasonably well compared to the national average, but not much more.

Anyway, as you were.....

[Ean218]

ellroy said:

If you're having your wills done consider looking at getting Lasting Power of Attorney's done at the same stage, just in case either one of you goes gaga later on.

You definitely do not need to pay a solicitor to do that. The forms are all easily downloadable, you just have to fill in a load of addresses and get everyone to sign it.

[EddyP]

Thanks all, very useful, will book an appointment with the local place