Getting a new will

[vw_99]

Not sure if correct place. But it is more a general question rather than a legal one.

I bought my house 12 years ago so had to write a will.
At the time i left everything to my son (now 12) but had put in it my now ex partner (sons mum) and her daughter could stay in the house until my son was 18 and then it would be his call.

Now after messy break up and courts etc. I have my son full time with no contact order for him to see his mum.
Hes is happy at this.

I want to update my will to remover her from it.
The lawyer that sorted house and will has since retired.
I contacted who took over the paperwork.
They are asking for £500 for me to amend my will
Does this sound right? I paid 1st lawyer to write the 1st one. So dont understand why i need to pay same again.
I understand there time etc need paid for.

But tbh i cant afford that, ive gave up work to look after my son. But im scared that if something happened to me that it would give her a claim to stay in house type thing.

Sorry for the big post. Im just stressed about it.

[sherman]

RNLI or many other charities will pay for your will writing fees as long as you write a gift for them into the will.
You say your looking after your son. Does he have a condition?
Look up a charity to do with that.

[PM3]

to be honest, and particularly for Scotland ....you can add a Codicil if you were adding something to a will ( like another legacy ) but for something as important as this you are not really changing a will .... you are REVOKING all previous wills in law and registering a new one which will be the new and relevant document in the future.
Shop around and see if a local lawyer can do this for a better price ( especially if its a simple will not full of all sorts of contentious content ) ...but do it with a Scottish solicitor and make it secure and unequivocal

[vw_99]

Sorry i ment looking after my son as in "full time dad"
Nothing medical just an addiction for motorbikes and anything with engines.
Yes im in scotland.
Yea i would just like the prevous will ripped up and forgotton about.
Im happy to for part to go to a charity.

My dad had in his will for everything to go to the dog at the time. And house would be for who ever looked after the dog. Then after dog passed would be split between me and my brother and dog charities hes picked.

[elanfan]

If you know where all copies of the will are then destroy them and in effect they have no standing as they’re gone. You would be able to get a simple will drawn up for less Than £100

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/free-chea...

[vw_99]

So could i request the paper copy and burn it.
Would that be enough in the eyes of the law or will there be a digital record.

I just want everything to go to my son and my son and assets to be looked after by my dad or brother until he is old enough.

[sherman]

As far as I know.
You write on the new will that this superceeds any previous verisions of your will and that you were clear of mind at the time of writing etc.
You dont need to hunt down and burn every copy.
Im sure an email to the current holder along the lines of I have made a new will with X solicitor. Please destory any other copies will suffice.

Edited by sherman on Friday 1st March 01:49

[vw_99]

Thank you.

I will have a look to find someone to write a new one and go from there.

I dont see why i should have to pay again to make changes to it. When i have already paid for it first time around. Its just deleting 10 or so words.

[sherman]

vw_99 said:

Thank you.

I will have a look to find someone to write a new one and go from there.

I dont see why i should have to pay again to make changes to it. When i have already paid for it first time around. Its just deleting 10 or so words.

Its something I need to do this year too.

[omniflow]

vw_99 said:

Thank you.

I will have a look to find someone to write a new one and go from there.

I dont see why i should have to pay again to make changes to it. When i have already paid for it first time around. Its just deleting 10 or so words.

I get that you're stressed about this, but you're not thinking clearly.

It's not "just deleting 10 or so words" - it really isn't.

The person writing it has to talk to you, understand your wishes and then create a will which reflects those wishes. How does the person writing the new will know whether you clearly stated your wishes for the previous will, and whether or not the previous will writer got all of that correct. It really will be easier, cheaper and more effective just to create a new will.

Also - the old one was 12 years ago (I think) - costs / prices may have risen slightly during that time.

[anonymous-user]

If it is straight forward you can use an online service like this. Takes about 20 minutes to add the names and addresses of you and your beneficiaries\executors etc. Costs around £100.

https://whichwills.which.co.uk/march24willssoc/?ut...

[55palfers]

Re-type existing will and just remove references to your ex?

[mikeiow]

55palfers said:

Re-type existing will and just remove references to your ex?

And get it correctly witnessed and signed

New wills supersede older wills, so:just getting a new one is the simplest safe option….but if it really is literally cutting some words, there is nothing to stop you doing the above.
Maybe pay to have it stored (something like https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/store-a...

[fat80b]

I'd suggest 500 quid to write a new will is about right (compared to the outcome of a poorly written will etc).

Imho, it's not just a small change you are asking for, so you need to make sure it is done right. i.e. it needs to be properly written with regards guardianship, and trusts etc, and needs to cover things like the case if you both die together as well as the case where a 12 year old inherits a house etc.

(I am not a lawyer, but have recently paid about £500 for an update to our wills done be a proper solicitor and not a local will writer)

[cobra kid]

"just an addiction for motorbikes and anything with engines."

Seems you are doing a grand job......

[QuickQuack]

Amending a will with provisions for a blended family set up is often more complex than writing a simple will from scratch, so £500 doesn't feel unreasonable at all.

As others have mentioned, a fresh will from scratch would be the easiest. A declaration that any previous will is null and void should be standard at the beginning of any will.

[LemonParty]

If it's not an immediate rush, have a search for Will Aid, where solicitors will do your will for free with a suggested donation of £100 to the supported charities. There's a week each year where this is done (but no date published yet for 2024).

[knk]

If simple, Farewill.com

[Vasco]

You can write a simple Will yourself on standard forms (try WH Smith etc). It just needs to be witnessed by someone who isn't a beneficiary. The new, dated, Will automatically supersedes all that went before.

• this is for England but I think Scotland uses much the same.

[Monkeylegend]

You can write a free will via a solicitor who partakes in the Free Will scheme, and leave a donation to a charity who also partakes.

You get a will for free and you can leave anything from a few £'s to all your assets to a nominated charity.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/free-chea...