Is there a cheap way to make a will?

[blueflowersinthesnow]

I'm embarrassed to admit that DH and I don't have a will despite being in our thirties with two children. We want to rectify this ASAP.

I made an enquiry with a solicitor who specialises in writing wills and was shocked to discover she charges £450. I didn't realise it would be so expensive.

Is there a cheaper way to do it? It should be incredibly straightforward. Our house is owned jointly, there are no step kids in the picture, we'd either leave everything to the surviving partner if one of us dies, or to the kids (in trust with grandparents as guardians) if we both die. Surely it should be pretty straightforward?

Are either of you members of the union through work or is will writing a benefit your employer (or bank etc) provides?

Shop around. Our solicitor charged us £75 each for mirror wills.

Keep shopping around on the solicitor front. Ours was really good - very reputable and experienced- and did it for less than £300 (think it was around £250). £450 is not normal and a rip off.

Are either of you members of the union through work or is will writing a benefit your employer (or bank etc) provides?

Neither of us are currently union members. I had no idea that banks or employers offer this as a benefit though!

Technically you don't have to pay anything.
Just write your wishes, have them witnessed, and keep copies somewhere safe.
www.gov.uk/make-will/make-sure-your-will-is-legal

You can buy diy will kits, think I paid about £40 for a pair for me and dh.

A lot of major Charities will provide a professionally written Will in exchange for a donation in their favour. Most are done via a local Solicitors firm who also support the said charity, so a good way of getting a simple will written for a fraction of the full price a solicitor would charge.

We did ours through Which? really straightforward.

We did ours through Which. They send a template and they check it for peace of mind, although really with a straightforward set up a template should be OK. I think we got a discount on Money Saving Expert

Some charities help for a donation ( I think)

The complexity comes in when you both die at the same time and need to express what happens to your estate and your kids, or if your entire family is killed and you want to leave your estate to multiple people.

We paid about £600 for our mirror wills, but I believe in paying for good legal advice.

I would really advise getting proper legal advice. Our wills have the same principles that you've set out, but capturing it properly is so important. I'm a lawyer who studied this a little but when I came to have my will done 10 years later, I paid a professional and when I read what she'd drafted, I was very glad that I had.

This lady did my will, and has done wills for half of Mumsnet in the past:

www.marlowwills.co.uk/

Her rates are a fair bit lower than you've been quoted.

Yep, Marlow Wills, fab!

We're super-tight. Worth the money, done right, asked good questions and efficient. :-)

We needed similarly straight forward wills and did them through Farewill.

We went for Marlow Wills too, the expert advice was well worth the fee and our estate is very straightforward.

We paid £250 for husband and I to have mirror wills. No children and one slightly complex element but all done very quickly and easily.

I'm in the North West if that helps.

Meant to add that inheritance I will get in the future will make it more complex but we'll change our wills at that point.