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Online will?

11 replies

badfurday · 16/04/2015 13:40

I have never written a will but feel it's time we (me and husband) should, especially as we have a lovely 1 year old daughter and want her future to be secure as possible.
I have seen that solicitors charge around £150-200 which is a lot to pay. I've also seen online companies do them for about £50. Does anyone have any experience of on line companies?
Also, where do you store a will? Bank? Can I just go to my local branch and ask them to keep it safe?

OP posts:
Mumblechum1 · 16/04/2015 18:04

Well, I run a will writing company so I would say this Grin but you need to bear in mind that online wills are basically just programs.

An actual human lawyer will ask you all sorts of questions about your circumstances including your financial position so that they can advise about inheritance tax. We'll also ask about the family relationships (eg sometimes clients don't want their child to have contact with other family members, or on the other hand, want to make sure that if the guardian is going to be a family member on the dad's side, that the mum's family can also see the child regularly).

If a child has special needs, the will writer will advise about discretionary disabled children's trusts.

Sometimes clients are on their second marriages and have children from the first marriage which they want to ensure aren't cut out by the stepparent after their death.

A will writer or other lawyer in other words will talk to you, get to understand your priorities, concerns etc and will advise and guide you through the procedure.

No computer program can do as good a job as a qualified, experienced will writer or solicitor to be honest.

Fees can be quite high; when I was in high street practice I charged north of £350 for a pair of mirror wills including VAT. Now I'm freelance it's £170. You may find someone cheaper but you need to make sure that they're fully qualified and trained and a member of the Institute of Professional Will Writers.

Imperial · 16/04/2015 18:12

Mumblechum do you have contact details anywhere on MN? We really need to write ours too. It was on the list of 'Things to do - 2015' and yet somehow it is already April ......

Mumblechum1 · 16/04/2015 18:14

Imperial I do indeed but MNHQ will slap my wrists if I do a direct link to the advert.

Suffice to say that I have an advert on classifieds "Small Business" Grin

florencedombey · 16/04/2015 18:20

I endorse the above. Go and see someone face to face. Make sure they are a properly insured, regulated professional. Ask them what arrangements they have for safe storage of documents (my firm stores for free, other firms charge).
The trouble with "online" companies is that they can be here today, gone tomorrow. I'm presently dealing with an estate where the family think the deceased made a will with a will writing company, but the company seems to have vanished without trace and there's no sign of the will. The deceased might as well have not bothered making one! If a solicitors' firm goes under, there are regulatory requirements in place to ensure that client papers are properly looked after.

Mumblechum1 · 16/04/2015 18:25

Absolutely. (regarding the storage issue).

Most of my clients return the wills to me (I do most of my work remotely by phone/email/post) and I send them to National Will Safe which is closely linked to the Institute of Professional Willwriters.

We've all heard of so called storage companies which are just a guy with a garage full of damp wills in no particular order.

It is absolutely essential that the wills are kept in a secure environment and that the executors know where they are and also that they're registered on the national wills database so can be easily tracked down.

badfurday · 16/04/2015 18:36

Ah. Ok. Thanks, looks like it's worth paying to get it done correctly. I will ask around friends and relatives for recommendations. Thanks all.

OP posts:
Imperial · 16/04/2015 18:47

Thank you - found you!

FishWithABicycle · 16/04/2015 18:53

We used the cheap online service when we didn't have £150 (and it was painful enough to find the fee for the online service) but 7 years later now things are a bit rosier financially we have definitely decided we're going to get it redone properly by an actual human person. We just need to get around to it. That may take another 7 years.

Mumblechum1 · 16/04/2015 19:00

Imperial Grin

Spickle · 18/04/2015 08:38

Just want to endorse Mumblechum1's Will writing service as our rather complicated Wills were written by her for us last year and we couldn't be happier with the service we received.

Mumblechum1 · 18/04/2015 10:26

Spickle Thank you very much, I'm glad you were happy with the service Flowers

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