Am i stupid spending thousands in getting a new will and POA when we haven't been on holiday for over 20 years?

[JacknDiane]

Money is tight here. But we own our home outright. We never had inheritance money and we want to ensure something is left to our kids. We want the sort of will where the title deeds are changed to tenants in common. We also want POA done for both of us. Im not entirely sure why this is needed but Martin lewis says it is so...

All this will cost 1000s. And we could so do with a holiday.

What would you spend the money on? We are both early 60s, kids are single adults, both renting.

We have mirror wills at the moment but want the will where if I die and dh remarried my kids would still get my 50% share of the house.

My will cost 320 pounds.

That doesn’t need to cost thousands. What PoA are you after? They cost £92 each.
How complicated are your affairs? Just do it a bit at a time.

You can get POA through government website- approx just under£100 each for Health and then wealth…

You can do a POA on the gov.uk site yourselves quite easily, just the application fee.

£1000s is too much
POA is £92 x 2 each. Health and financial. Mirror wills likely about £600. So total is £1000. I used Marlow wills (who is a Mumsnetter) and it was very professional.

We had complicated wills, beacuse we both have children from previous relationships and joint children. We did our will a few years ago now and it cost about £2K. I think it was well worth doing, although I do get frustrated when I keep seeing adverts for wills that cost next to nothing. Straightforward ones might, but more complicated ones certainly don’t!

Marlow wills @mumblechum is recommended by me and other MN. May be able to do your will a lot cheaper.

And as for POA I
looked at Which to do it-check it and I think it was reasonable.

November is Will Aid month, where participating solicitors will write wills for reduced fees Will Aid. We’ve done this twice now.

Rather than do it now, agree that should one of you die you redo the remaining will to leave 50% to deceased spouse children. Or better still that you’d do it before a second wedding. Unless you don’t trust OH

How come money is so tight that you own your house outright but haven't been able to afford to go on holiday for over 20 years?

With no housing costs or dependants you don't need to work or earn much to cover bills and have a bit spare. You could have a few days away for under £1k that's £20 a week averaged across the year. Or switching your bank account 2 or 3 times would pay for most of it.

If you can't work much due to ill health are you getting all the help you're entitled to?

If your house is larger than you need and/or expensive to run, is downsizing an option to reduce your bills and release equity? Don't feel obliged to restrict your own financial comfort to preserve an inheritance that might not be realised for decades.

Or are you spending your money on other things instead of holidays? In that case it's a matter of prioritising to make the best of your money, also making sure you get the best price for everything you buy or pay for as this makes your money go a lot further.

Just a small point: if the OP is in Scotland this £92 option isn’t available

You don’t need a solicitor to do POA’s.

Our wills cost around £350 including change of joint tenancy and incorporating a life interest trust for our home.

Shop around.

Has a solicitor told you this will cost thousands? Could be a scam. Get a recommendation from someone you trust. You can do the LPA yourself.

You might trust OH but circumstances can change and there might be nothing to leave.

Just done mirror wills last month via a high street solicitor for £350 plus letter of wishes. Did POA online - just take your time working through it.

Unless you have a very complicated financial situation that sounds like a lot. Our first will only cost £200 20 years ago and the next one was free done by a solicitor in free wills month. Which I believe is in Oct. All we had to do was leave a donation to the chosen charity. You need to shop around.

Terrible advice

You definitely need POAs.
Agree this shouldn't all cost 'thousands'.

For peace of mind, I'd spend the money on that. Then start enjoying your holidays knowing all is covered!

It doesn’t need to cost thousands but I would counsel against a DIY version.

For example my PoA for property and financial affairs does not have the box ticked for ‘only when I lose mental capacity.’ Which is what I initially thought I wanted. My solicitor pointed out that one could have full capacity but be unable to use one’s hands for example, to sign things and operate a computer. That very thing happened to a client of his, making the poa useless.

We organised a free will for my dad from Age Uk charity. They offer them for free at certain times of the year I think?

A pair of mirror wills would be a £200 donation under Will Aid. But anything more (like a trust for the house, which is what you’re talking about OP) will cost extra. Shouldn’t be £1,000 though.

We also want POA done for both of us. Im not entirely sure why this is needed but Martin lewis says it is so...
All this will cost 1000s. And we could so do with a holiday.

Agree with PP that sorting out your wills and putting in place LPAs (which you can do for financial and/or health-related decisions) needn't cost thousands.

But it could cost your DC thousands to sort out the mess if you don't have an LPA and later become incapacitated. The time to put one in place is when you're in good health (and of course in the hope that it will never need to be deployed).

Not sorting this out because you could fo with a holiday would be silly imo.

Power of attorney is £92 each. You can get your will done for free with a number of charities. We had ours done with cancer research completely free.