Wills and paying for extras

[KathyBeale]

My husband and I finally got round to making our will last week. We had a chap come to the house and expected to pay £100. When he arrived he was very nice but he stayed for aaaages and eventually stung us for monthly payments totalling over £2k. These cover the cost of writing the will, storing it, updating as many times as we want, and any legal costs when we die.

He obviously made it sound like a brilliant deal but now I am thinking it can't possibly be value for money. It seems like a rubbish deal and I want to pull out. My husband isn't so sure and wants to think about it.

Wondered if anyone else had a similar experience?

Wow no that sounds like way too much money unless yours is a very very complicated will. Mine costed around £130 ish about 6 years ago and the will is stored by the solicitor. Any updates I want to make afterwards will be by a codicil for a smaller cost.

Surely legal costs when you die are taken out of the estate at that time.

Ridiculous price! Should be around £150-200 tops

Just done ours. It was £240 for both. Stored by the solicitors. Sounds like you had a right salesman there. Did he suggest solicitors as an additional executor as well?

Oh no, marlow wills lady on here does it for 150 I think its 25 for extras.

Go onto legal board and find her - bumble mummy or something but def Marlow Wills is her company.

A will shouldn't be that expensive unless it is very complicated. Most solicitors would store a will for free and if they close down all their files are stored by the regulator. I would be very wary of paying money up front for costs after you die. There is no guarantee that the company will be trading by that time and it is unlikely your money will be protected if the company goes bust. Plus your executers might well be able to sort it out themselves for free.

I would only expect to pay that kind of money if you owned businesses and had a very complex will.

Oh and my now DH made his will a bit after mine and because it was a mirror will of mine his costed even less.

God, that's the Will equivalent of the double glazing sales. Pull out of it 100%, con artist.

That sounds like far too much money.

We did ours a couple of months ago, at the solicitors who also store it. I think a standard will there is about £250 - we paid a bit more (around £750) as we also set up a trust fund etc. We can change the letters of wishes (and there are more than one of those) that accompany it as many times as we want for free (the will states who can benefit in our catastrophe scenario - but the letter of wishes sets out how we would like that done), and minor changes to the actual will won't cost very much from now on. It doesn't cover solicitors fees for probate though - but I have no interest in covering that upfront, there is plenty of money to cover that in the estate when the times comes.

I would've though going somewhere other than the solicitors would be cheaper not more expensive.

There should be a cooling off period, so cancel ASAP.

I have no idea whether there's a cooling off period for transactions made in your home, but would strongly recommend that you look into cancelling this arrangement!

As PPs have mentioned, the service offer by Marlow Wills (I think her MN name is mumblechum1, but could be wrong) is brilliant. Everything discussed by phone, transparent pricing, written confirmation of the phone call, no pressure to complete the transaction. Tell your DH you'll be able to treat him to a weekend away with the money you save if you can get out of the deal with Mr Dodgy!

Was it a solicitors firm.Or a Will writing company

Sounds like a will writing service to me - they often over-charge for 'extras' and make it sound like they're essential. We had will writers out on a fixed price but they wanted to charge a packet for a life interest (way way more than a solicitor charges).
I'd go to a solicitor - they're regulated and charges should be transparent.

If op googles Marlow Wills she can find the lady who does it on here she has done it for loads of us.

Mine was £3 from WH Smith. Madness!!!

I have to make an amendment on mine this week, (original was £150) they said a change will be £80 plus vat.

Yes you have been ripped off big style - our mirror wills were about 300 a couple of years ago, free storage included at solicitors. You dont need someone to come to house, just make an appt at a solicitors! But get a quote first. Or use the MN lady.

I am not sure what you mean by any legal costs when we die. These will be taken out of estate, but should be minimal unless you make a solicitor an executor (not recommended unless it is a complex will and you have no one suitable for executor). My DB and I did mums estate last year, only 'legal' costs were the probate fees.

....... and check you haven't appointed them as one of the executors. There are firms which are the less acceptable side of commercial iyswim and they can charge huge fees for adminstering the estate - far more than a local solicitor typically would.

This is the Will and Testament of me Kathy Beale of 123 Any Street, Anytown, AB1 2CD

I REVOKE all former Wills and testamentary dispositions.

I APPOINT my Husband Bob Beale to be executor of this Will.

I GIVE all of my estate both real and personal whatsoever SUBJECT to the payment of my debts and funeral and testamentary expenses to my husband Bob Beale.

IN WITNESS whereof I have set my hand to this day of

Signed by the testator
In our joint presence
Then by us in his:-

First Witness
Signed

Name
Address

Occupation

Second Witness
Signed

Name
Address

Occupation

..... and thanks for the recommendation of the wills lady. Mine needs updating (it was written before children) and it's been on the "to do" list for ages!

Agreed with above @mumblechum is your woman

Cancelled! Thanks so much for all your input.

OP definitely the right decision.

That's great OP. I'd never heard of these home visit Will people, there's always someone on the make. Hopefully this thread will be a warning to others.

Sounds like one of many types of business that makes out a properly qualified professional is too expensive, but then charges more than a fully qualified person would!

In accountancy, we suffer the same from unqualified accountants or book-keepers who manage to get away with charging far higher than a qualified accountant for poorer quality work.

There must be a lot of very good salesmen out there.