Living wills and lasting powers of attorney

[Wacky Racer]

Hi all,

Mrs WR and myself are at an age that we would like to start thinking about one (or both) of these in the near future, any idea what a reasonable charge would be, also would a solicitor be open to do a better price if both were done at the same time as a "job lot"?

We both already have "normal wills" btw..

[cs174]

I'm meeting a solicitor tomorrow to discuss mirror wills and a living trust. They're charging £600 + VAT for the mirror wills and £700 + VAT for the lifetime trust.

[Beggarall]

If you have time and patience you can do your own LPA quite easily - the forms are here. There are two elements to this - one for financial matters and another for health and welfare. If you do the second, you will need to nominate someone who will act as an advocate on your behalf if you are incapable of making decisions for yourself.

The "living will" is slightly more difficult as it needs to be fairly contemporary - not something you sign and forget as your views/wishes may change with time. This is an expression of things you don't want to happen - like not to be put on life support etc and you can nominate the situations where it would apply. Generally it is used to prevent a lot of intervention in the event of you dying. There are templates available on line.

I do not know whether a solicitor would contribute anything extra that you can't do or find out for yourself and it would save a bit of money.

[Wacky Racer]

Cheers for the prompt replies, appreciated.

[outnumbered]

I've just done LPAs for a relative using the government online system. £80 each. No need for a solicitor unless you need advice on some complicated requirements. You can set one up online and check if it does what you need, before paying.

[Wings]

Just paid £3.5k for two mirror wills and life time trusts. did our own LPAs online. Met three solicitors before going with the solicitor with the most helpful and open advice. We could have got cheaper prices, but confidence in the end product was our end priority.

[anonymous-user]

If your legally married then you don't need either assuming you don't hate eachother

[C2Red]

mgsontour said:

If your legally married then you don't need either

Perhaps, but there are situations where either would be bloody handy, if my recent experiences are anything to go by; that’s why I bookmarked this thread, to understand more .

[Wacky Racer]

It's true you don't HAVE to have them, you don't HAVE to have a will, but it's prudent to do so, if you want your wishes followed to the letter.

[Chozza]

I had this very conversation with my in-laws last weekend .. they are reaching the age where they should have them... and had just arrived home from seeing an aunt who was being put into a care home - but they knew it wasn't what she wanted but had no LPA etc. so i thought it was a good time to discuss with them.

They also suggested that as married couple that they didn't need one - as the other partner would take care of them.

However ( i may have phrased it slightly better at the time ) - don't assume that the one that loses their mental facilities is the first to die !

[Drumroll]

mgsontour said:

If your legally married then you don't need either assuming you don't hate eachother

Would have to disagree. I can't gain access to my wife accounts, nor she mine, Without LPA's.

[foxsasha]

Drumroll said:

Would have to disagree. I can't gain access to my wife accounts, nor she mine, Without LPA's.

+1

We've just completed LPAs via a solicitor, £199+vat a piece.

[W124Bob]

My wife has just had financial LPA revoked , seems that if the person concerned still has capacity then this can happen . It's worrying that my BiL has instigated this via his mothers solicitor and MiL simply "signed something" . I find it strange that there is nothing to prevent abuse of LPA by an individual and that large sums of money can be manipulated without a second persons scrutiny. In the immediate aftermath of my FiL's death(95 after long illness) on Dec31st finance was the only thing BiL was bothered about , he's visited his mother just once since and even that involved a visit to the financial advisor. LPA is clearly a good thing in principle but relies on trust and in my opinion (based on just my limited knowledge)needs beefing up in some way.

[anonymous-user]

You are peeved because you want to control the finances of an adult with capacity. Lovely.

[anonymous-user]

How very dare your mother in law who has capacity sign things! Next she will be wanting to do just whatever the Hell she likes without having to get your permission first. What is the World coming to?

Money is the curse of families. I am so glad that I and everyone in my family is skint.

[anonymous-user]

mgsontour said:

If your legally married then you don't need either assuming you don't hate eachother

The technical legal Latin term for this is bks.

[gsewell]

outnumbered said:

I've just done LPAs for a relative using the government online system. £80 each. No need for a solicitor unless you need advice on some complicated requirements. You can set one up online and check if it does what you need, before paying.

This. Cheap, easy and covers most bases.