Making a Will

Merlin5

Merlin5

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A nice happy topic, lol. :)

My brother and his wife who are in their 60s made their wills a year ago, and my nephew who is 39, made his about 5 years ago. They've been encouraging me to do mine, and rightly so. Because obviously it's better for our estates to go to family and not the government.

I've had a chat this morning with the same company that my family did their wills with. The will itself is only £140 so that's fine. I didn't realise though that power of attorney is split into two further documents, health & welfare, and property & finance, and was told that each document costs £395. And then then there's another £82 per document that has to be paid to the office of the public guardian for the documents to be registered. So altogether £1,094. Much more than I expected but it's obviously a one off. I believe my brother and his wife did the property & finance power of attorney but so far not the health & welfare, but she tells me they will do the other one soon.

I'm 62 and healthy. I could pay for just the will for now, but on the other hand, we never know what's around the corner. So I'm considering whether to bite the bullet and pay for all those things at once, or not.
I was wondering if all of you that have done their wills paid for those extra power of attorney documents at the same time?
 
We're a few years older, but yes, we did all that 5-6 years ago (though we had wills done long before). I used his PoA when my Dad was ill, and yes, it made my life so much easier.
 
It's all a big rip-off, there's really no need to pay an ambulance chaser unless you have very complex assets that need to be distributed in a difficult way. Then of course, it will be well worth the money.

If it's a simple case of passing on your property and bank account contents on to your family, you can do it yourself. (y)
 
It is well worth doing the LPA well before you have any need. A friend of mine's father had a stroke and she had to take over all aspects of his life as he was completely incapacitated. The was no LPA in place so she had to go through the Court of Protection which is unbelievably slow and added massively to her stress levels which were already high.
 
Sky said:
It's all a big rip-off, there's really no need to pay an ambulance chaser unless you have very complex assets that need to be distributed in a difficult way. Then of course, it will be well worth the money.

If it's a simple case of passing on your property and bank account contents on to your family, you can do it yourself. (y)
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Until someone argues after your death and wants things done differently. Family are not always nice when assets are involved. Get it done professionally and the wording will preclude most arguments.
 
Thanks for the replies guys. I'll definitely try out Craig's government link, that would save a bunch of money. (y)

By the way, the company that does my will, do they automatically become the executors of the will? The executors for my mum's will for instance are the solicitors.
 
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john.margetts said:
Until someone argues after your death and wants things done differently.
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It doesn't matter a toss. What's written is was your will and your executor is legally bound to follow it.
 
Merlin5 said:
Thanks for the replies guys. I'll definitely try out Craig's government link, that would save a bunch of money. (y)

By the way, the company that does my will, do they automatically become the executors of the will? The executors for my mum's will for instance are the solicitors.
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They become the executor of your will if you want them to be. We have friends as ours, and I’m an executor of my parents will
 
Sky said:
It doesn't matter a toss. What's written is was your will and your executor is legally bound to follow it.
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Yes, it matters. As a legal amateur you could include an ambiguity that a court could resolve differently to your intentions. Or include a legal impossibility. There was a case a long time ago where someone made a bequeath that was conditional on the recipient giving up drinking. The intention was for the recipient to stop drinking alcohol but the condition was overturned on the basis that not drinking would be fatal.

The executor has a duty to execute the will in line with the law and the terms of the will (in that order - the law takes precidence) and to behave diligently rather than perfectly. They are not legally bound to follow the will willy nilly.
 
john.margetts said:
The intention was for the recipient to stop drinking alcohol but the condition was overturned on the basis that not drinking would be fatal.
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Well, as is commonly said; 'You can't fix stupid'. :wacky:
 
We paid for our wills to be done, the main reason is that if we did not have wills then when I die, for example, my estate will be split between my wife and son whereas with a will I could leave it all to my wife. As our wills were simple and mirror wills we used Which? and used the Self Service with Legal Review.
I did the POAs myself, there was lots of advice on the government site where you can download the forms, there were also examples of what you could and could not include, i.e. if you give POA to someone you cannot tell them what to do you can only express your wishes. Like most things it seems complicated at first but after reading it all a few times it begins to make sense.
 
As joint Executor of my Mothers will, she decided to change it after my older sister died. I advised her to consult the Solicitor who had drawn up her original will but she insisted that it was simple and she could change it herself. It was only when I came to examine the will and seek probate that the problems arose. Although the words she used were probably OK, she only had a single witness to her signature which was not acceptable so the will was void. We found the previous will which was drawn up by the solicitor which also had an issue but the Probate Officer decided could be accepted if all beneficiaries agreed. She was leaving a larger sum to my brother (she had a good reason) and the fact that we all agreed to this meant there could be no later challenge. My Mother was wrong about altering her will anyway; she just wanted my older sister's children to receive her share but, had she not made any change, that would have happened anyway. Best to seek proper professional advice even it it costs. Her wishes were met in the end but only due to my negotiations with the probate office.

Dave
 
October is free wills month.

You can get a will written by a solicitor who just asks that you consider leaving something for one of several charities in the will. You can decline their request and they will still write the will.

Free Wills Month | Make or update your simple Will for free

Free Wills Month brings together a group of well respected charities to offer members of the public aged 55 and over the opportunity to have their simple Wills written or updated free of charge by using participating solicitors in selected locations around England and Wales.
freewillsmonth.org.uk freewillsmonth.org.uk
 
Sky said:
It's all a big rip-off, there's really no need to pay an ambulance chaser unless you have very complex assets that need to be distributed in a difficult way. Then of course, it will be well worth the money.

If it's a simple case of passing on your property and bank account contents on to your family, you can do it yourself. (y)
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As you said in a later post you can't fix stupid. To me, your advice is shall we say, stupid. With the increase in property prices and how pensions are administered. Many people's estate may well fall into the bracket of being liable for inheritance tax without even realising it. So a well-thought-out will may avoid inheritance tax.

Don't forget Powers of Attorney cease to be a valid document, once the person named has died.
 
munch said:
To me, your advice is shall we say, stupid.
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What I said was fact, just because your opinion is different - that makes me stupid? Pot, kettle?

I've been through the process and have been an executor. I've consulted with several solicitors and dealt with minor complications.

Providing the will is as I said, it will be fine. For anything complex, it would be stupid not to employ a solicitor.
 
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Merlin5 said:
paid for those extra power of attorney documents at the same time?
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I had both power of attorneys set up for me to act on my late father in laws behalf if I needed. TBH, while its an unpleasant thing to have to do setting them up while he was well was something I was very glad of when he became ill. I've heard from friends as to some of the difficulties they have had organising these after someone is ill and it sounds nightmarish. It did mean I was able to make both health and financial decisions on his behalf without the added layer of difficulties.

You attorney has a legal duty to act in your best interest.

While I agree with @troutfisher that £400 does sound a lot to complete the forms, the legal process is not always easy. You have to be very open in your proceedings. In my case used a solicitor o set this up. My brother in law lives in Canada (he was also my reserve attorney if something happened to me, again not easy to set up) and family members(children & grand children)have the chance to object and have to be notified
 
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I just went through this process. The will was prepared some years ago but my father couldn't remember where it was so we made another using a simple online regulated will service. Cost was £60 I believe.

Our situation is very straightforward as he has no property to speak of beyond household goods and personal items. I also applied through the Govt. website for the LPA for finance and health. I completed the forms to the point of getting them signed by my father and witnessed by his dear friend. Sadly my father died before he could sign the forms.

The LPA process was very easy and the cost of £85 per LPA is very reasonable. We actually will get it refunded because we did not complete the process.

If there is property or significant savings or investments then I would suggest that if the estate can afford to cover the costs then get a solicitor involved.

A chap I worked with a long time ago was an only child and his father died and his will said everything to the son as the mum was already dead. The funeral details were put in the local paper (back when people read them) and the chap was surprised to learn his father had children from a previous marriage when they appeared to try to contest the will. I don't know what happened as I changed jobs but it can't have been fun.
 
Sky said:
It doesn't matter a toss. What's written is was your will and your executor is legally bound to follow it.
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Not if a family member has already nicked it and claims to have no knowledge of it ever existing ! ( what ever it may be) Happened to us from a sister who never visited whilst my dad was alive.
 
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I would reinforce it’s worth getting a will done by a professional. When my wife and I had ours done there were several things that the solicitor pointed out that we hadn’t considered, mostly things to do with our children, but there were other things too.

On the other hand an LPA is pretty simple to do and there’s nothing stopping you doing it yourself. Just download the forms from the Gov.U.K. Website and follow the instructions. I’ve set up one for my mum and it’s been a godsend as she’s now developing dementia and can’t do even the most simple financial things herself. It takes a fair while to go through though, I suspect mostly due to govt staffing cutbacks. My mum’s took 5 months from first registering it to it being completed.
 
sep9001 said:
Hi @Craig1912 ,

Sorry please may I check how much they charged for a will.

Thank you
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Sorry I can’t remember but wasn’t much.

Having said that I wouldn’t now recommend them as they have been ignoring my email contact and I can’t get through on the phone. I was paying them £30 pa to hold my will but the last payment was rejected so I don’t know what’s going on.
 
Hi guys. Bringing up a rather old topic! I did my Will, ended up going with Co-op legal as it was £99. That's all done and dusted now.

I've also bought lasting power of attorney just for the financial side of things. I got a couple of family members to sign as attorneys and one close friend of the family to be witness to them. But Co-op just sent three of the pages back to me saying that they have signing errors and that they would be rejected by the office of the public guardian. To be honest they're not really errors in my eyes, neverthless they say they need the witness and attorneys to put their initials next to them and then for me to return the pages in their prepaid envelope. I asked Co-op if it's ok if I initial them or get permission from the attorneys and witness for me to initial them, but they just say they can't legally advise on that. They said it could be a problem down the line and potentially invalidate the LPA.

I don't really want to hassle my family again as it's a bit difficult getting everyone together but might need to. I'm wondering if any legal minds here think it's ok for me to initial them or if it's likely invalidate the document? How would the office of public guardian know who initialled them?

Edit: actually, not to worry, I've decided to get the family to initial the pages.
 
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Wills are all well and good but they do not get round one of the biggest issues that occur that end up with them being not worth the paper they are written on.

Care charges against the estate , if you go into care then your estate will be used to fund your care up to a certain value.
old people need to forget wills and look at putting the value of there estate into a trust to preserve it.

if you don't do this, many people will leave nothing to there children or dependents it will be taken by the state.
my parents put there house into a trust for me about 15 years ago, it cannot be sold or used to provide care.

I urge anyone of a certain age to take legal advice on doing this
 
I had my Will done after I divorced my first wife with everything going to my daughter. I have since remarried but I never changed my will and have no intention of changing it.

It might look harsh towards Mrs Fiend, but in reality it is not. We have a house in the UK and one in Thailand. The house in the UK, if I still own it, will go to my daughter... The house in Thailand is in Mrs Fiends name only due to Thai law so it will still be her house.... Mrs Fiend will also get my widows pension....

If I sell the house in the UK I intend to give my daughter her inheritance early....

My Mother is still alive, and when she does pass away I also intend to give my daughter a share of my inheritance....
 
Merlin5 said:
Hi guys. Bringing up a rather old topic! I did my Will, ended up going with Co-op legal as it was £99. That's all done and dusted now.

I've also bought lasting power of attorney just for the financial side of things. I got a couple of family members to sign as attorneys and one close friend of the family to be witness to them. But Co-op just sent three of the pages back to me saying that they have signing errors and that they would be rejected by the office of the public guardian. To be honest they're not really errors in my eyes, neverthless they say they need the witness and attorneys to put their initials next to them and then for me to return the pages in their prepaid envelope. I asked Co-op if it's ok if I initial them or get permission from the attorneys and witness for me to initial them, but they just say they can't legally advise on that. They said it could be a problem down the line and potentially invalidate the LPA.

I don't really want to hassle my family again as it's a bit difficult getting everyone together but might need to. I'm wondering if any legal minds here think it's ok for me to initial them or if it's likely invalidate the document? How would the office of public guardian know who initialled them?

Edit: actually, not to worry, I've decided to get the family to initial the pages.
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We did my parents LPAs a few years ago, the department that deal with will send them back if wrong. We had one signed out if date order that they specified and they sent it back to be redone.
I can’t see it causing issues down the line, as the department that deal with it won’t approve it if in the first place if they think it’s wrong.
 
Mr Bump said:
Wills are all well and good but they do not get round one of the biggest issues that occur that end up with them being not worth the paper they are written on.

Care charges against the estate , if you go into care then your estate will be used to fund your care up to a certain value.
old people need to forget wills and look at putting the value of there estate into a trust to preserve it.

if you don't do this, many people will leave nothing to there children or dependents it will be taken by the state.
my parents put there house into a trust for me about 15 years ago, it cannot be sold or used to provide care.

I urge anyone of a certain age to take legal advice on doing this
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Make sure that you get good legal advice, check out the Deprivation of assets rules and Gift of Reservation of Benefit Rules. Putting a house into a trust does not always work.
 
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