Cost of wills?

[WearThatDress]

Hi everyone,

DH and I need to redo our wills, and also want to add POA. The solicitor who holds our existing wills has quoted £1330 - £600 for the wills, £350 for POA, plus vat and fees. This seems a lot to me! DH would rather go with a solicitor than do it ourselves, but are these costs typical? Has anyone made a will through a solicitor recently?

I did a search on this board and found Marlow Wills recommended, but we are in Scotland, which they don't cover. Also, we made our previous wills in the pre-internet era, but our (local) solicitors offered a zoom appointment anyway, rather than in-person. Is there any benefit these days to staying with a local firm?

Thanks.

Please can anyone advise me.
I have an appt next week through will aid so it's a £100 donation.
I am not married.

I will only have savings to divide between my 2 children. I have no property that I own.

Am I wasting money doing the will aid through a solicitor?

Our family solicitor said they would only reluctantly do POA for us. They suggested we have a look at the forms and diy. Really very simple, do that

Frankly I wouldn’t have any confidence in any firm who was prepared to charge us for arranging PoA.

If you can afford to donate that to a charity then no it’s not a waste of money. You could argue you don’t need a will at all if your “estate” is very small and your only beneficiaries will be your children.

You are paying for the assessment of your estate. Any complicated circumstances such as step children or inheritance tax. So it gives peace of mind to know that your Wills reflect your wishes and are entirely valid. It is steep but it's the going rate for a large solicitor firm whose solicitors are usually highly qualified. Smaller firms may charge less but may not have completed all of the STEP exams to guarantee expertise.

If it really is simply changing executors you should asked to do a Codicil as that will be cheaper. If you want to look into protecting your home or assets in a range of circumstances such as protection against care home fees etc then different trusts will be considered and that's where the extra cost comes in. And a fresh Will will need to be drawn up.

The POA fee seems reasonable. 4 years ago the OPG charge was £79 registration fee per document, now they charge £96 and the wait for them to complete the registration is over 12 months! So if a POA is something you want it is going to be cheaper to get it done now rather than later.

Dh and I did POA this year. We did them ourselves, so just had the registration fees to pay. You do them online, pay and then print them out and post them. I think the fee is something like £90 or thereabouts. The documents were registered within a couple of months.

For wills, we used the will writing service through my trade union. I think it was about £30 a few years ago. But you can do it yourself if it’s not too complicated. You can just buy a will writing kit.

Just to reiterate that POAs are different in Scotland.

The document needs to be witnessed and a certificate signed off by a doctor or solicitor. So I don't actually know how possible it is to do yourself. Although may be worth a try.

Think mine was originally £400 ish but I also do will storage which is £10 a year. Nothing

and found out when I needed to redo mine as getting divorced that any will changes are free as I pay to store

worth its weight in gold

I can't afford to donate that to charity but it seemed like a good cheaper option. I have just always felt I needed something in place..
So if no will in place would any savings automatically go to my children?

Thanks

Eventually yes and depending on if any property and probate etc

but for the sake of the person alive it’s worth doing it

when my dh died and no will and we had the simplest situation As married. No kids. Joint tenants

but still took a lot of hassle to change/transfer all to me and my dad who is savvy did it all

its the last thing you went to be doing when grieving

We were asked doing ours if we had any pets we needed to include so guess it is pretty standard!!

Indeed. Leaving a will is one of the kindnesses you can do for those that are left. Even in simple cases it makes such a difference to start with a will.

You can write a will yourself on any scrap of paper, as long as it is signed, dated and witnessed. But a will kit is very cheap to buy.

I'm a solicitor in Greater London, my firm charges £280 + VAT. You have been quoted an extortionate amount (unless you have gone to a huge firm or you have a very complicated estate)

Your savings will go to your children but not 'automatically'. They would still need to get letters of administration to be able to deal with your assets. If you can get your will done for £100 it will probably be cheaper than what your children spend after you pass, and will be much easier for them too.

OP has been quoted £600 plus VAT for two Wills. So not that different if £300 plus VAT each.

I was initially quoted £400 + vat for a will, when they thought it was just me. Still quite a lot more than £280 + vat.

OK thanks. More complications...

Ah I see, misread the OP and thought they were quoted £1330 for a will and £350 for LPAs!

Best to always bear in mind that people talking about how easy it is to do your own will aren't dead yet.

I spend most of my days at work, looking at wills that are not valid, many of which are written like this.

Make sure it is done properly. It will greatly help those left behind.