Making a Will, am I being ripped off?

[AlanW]

We are process of updating our joint Will, and the guy has just left and I am now over £500 worse off. :

He went into great detail regarding making a Protective Will Trust, in the event that either myself or the wife should have to go into care, then the house cannot be sold to finance such care.

Now in principle it all makes good sense, but of course it comes at a cost, ie £550.

I have searched on the net to try and establish what the pitfalls are, and I have drawn a blank.

Do I/we really need it, or is there a more cost effective way to do the same thing?

[Eccentrica Gallumbits]

It's very very very very very very very very very unlikely that the house would have to be sold to pay for care for one of you if the other was still living in it.

[Mrs Pingu]

Christ! When we bought our first flat we got a will thrown in free (although not having a great deal to bequeath makes things easy) so £550 seems a bit steep!

[Psychler]

It's very very very very very very very very very unlikely that the house would have to be sold to pay for care for one of you if the other was still living in it.

.....specially in view of the recent ruling in the high court [sorry haven't got the details] regarding someone having to sell their house to fund care due to their dementia.

My father went into care because of Alzheimers but we were assured that there could be no forceable sale of the house whilst my mother lived there.  this has been overtaken by the above case [I'll find some details].

[Frenchie]

I paid £125 for my will with a local solicitor...

[Eccentrica Gallumbits]

I got mine done for free via my trade union.

[AlanW]

Interesting, I might just put this all oh hold until I can find out more about it, thanks everyone.

However, I can speak from bitter experience (sadly twice in fact!) where Social Services have taken funds from an estate to fund Nursing Home care.  But to be fair, the house was not sold in order to fund it.

But it does open up a whole of host of questions doesn't it? 

[Cudzoziemiec]

I recently had to talk to a bank manager in the UK, who asked me, among other things, if I had made a will. This got me thinking - if you make a will in coutry X but are mostly resident in country Y, or if you later move to country Z, where you die, would the will still be valid, bearing in mind different legal systems etc?

[oncemore]

I wrote ours - easy enough (altho' nothing so complex as "Protective Will Trust" - no-one can have any idea of what the rules on care issues might be in 5 years time, let alone 25!).

Paying for wording that will cover today's benefit system will simply mean paying again everytime the rules change! Nice little earner...

[Eccentrica Gallumbits]

Interesting, I might just put this all oh hold until I can find out more about it, thanks everyone.

However, I can speak from bitter experience (sadly twice in fact!) where Social Services have taken funds from an estate to fund Nursing Home care.  But to be fair, the house was not sold in order to fund it.

But it does open up a whole of host of questions doesn't it? 

But was a spouse or financial dependant living in the house?

[Rig of Jarkness]

Any further thoughts on the most cost effective way of making a will ?  Having just completed the purchase of our new house the solicitor asked if we wished him to prepare wills.  At the time of our previous house move 10 years ago they did this for free but this time around they've quoted £150+VAT - that's for both wills together.  Is this a good deal ?

[Polar Bear]

I'm afraid I have to urge caution.   I don't know who came to your door but generally the 'at home' services are offered by non-regulated will makers.   My recommendation would be for you to use your solicitor.   I don't know of anybody who has had a will made by their solicitor who has paid more than £200* and for your money you get regulation and insurance for if things go wrong which the 'will makers' cannot provide.   

A charge can be put against the property for long-term care costs but I have never yet heard of a property being sold whilst one of the couple still live there.

Protective property will trusts:   This requires that you convert the status of your home to tenants in common from joint tenants if that is what it currently is.   This means in essence that you only own half, not all your property each.   You need proper legal advice on the consequences of this as well as the consequences of the trust itself.   

There has been a lot of adverse publicity about the unregulated will writing trade.   Do some research on it.

We've had two cases in recently at the law clinic which have been truly awful.   Our supervising solicitor spent an hour re-drafting a will which otherwise effectively gave the 'will maker' the residue of the estate.   

*  Prepares for the barrage of exceptions to prove the rule!     

[Ham]

I'm with PB - wills are very important, there is a huge amount of misinformation about.

Our complex one (before we married) cost shy of £200 from our local (v good) solicitor, and we paid another < £100 to update them after we married.

[Polar Bear]

Interesting, I might just put this all oh hold until I can find out more about it, thanks everyone.

However, I can speak from bitter experience (sadly twice in fact!) where Social Services have taken funds from an estate to fund Nursing Home care.  But to be fair, the house was not sold in order to fund it.

But it does open up a whole of host of questions doesn't it? 

Slightly OT:

Why bitter experience?  It may seem harsh but the but the very expensive residential care has to be paid for somehow.   Do people think that it's not fair because they're not enjoying the experience?   

[nicknack]

Unbelievable but true:

We got my mum's sorted out with a local solicitor for £0. When I asked him how much he wanted he said, "Oh, that's ok, don't bother, it was very simple."

[Pancho]

£200 sounds incredibly cheap and assumes that it is a very straight forward will. Mrs P and I paid four figures a couple of years back for ours.

[Jaded]

£200 sounds incredibly cheap and assumes that it is a very straight forward will. Mrs P and I paid four figures a couple of years back for ours.

Yes but dividing up half of Hampshire was never going to be entirely straightforward. 

[fred the great]

I think the KISS principle is best. One never knows what the future holds. There must be a simple form available to download from the Internet.

I've already made two Wills so far, neither of which will apply when I cop it

[Polar Bear]

The problem with keeping it simple is that can be very stupid.  it depends upon your circumstances.   What you can load down from the internet is very basic
and very unsuitable for most folk.   

I'm sure your affairs Pancho are well removed from those of everyday, ordinary folk who simply don't have your wealth.  I'm pretty sure that at least 95% of folks here will not find their estates liable for inheritance tax for instance before any evasion measures are deployed. 

To make a will properly you need somebody who is qualified to give you advice on the advantages and disadvantages of such as severing your joint tenancy and entering into so-called protective property will trusts.   A non-regulated wills salesperson is not qualified to do this, and, if anything goes wrong they are totally unaccountable.   You also need for instance to be careful about who your trustees (executors) are and how much they will charge for the service.   

[Wowbagger]

I wrote my parents' and my aunt's. I didn't charge them anything.

Both parents died and the wills worked entirely to the satisfaction of the probate mob.

[FatBloke]

I wrote my parents' and my aunt's. I didn't charge them anything.

Both parents died and the wills worked entirely to the satisfaction of the probate mob.

Uncanny how you pocketed all the loot!!!  Innit?!   

[2_Flat_Erics]

I'm afraid I have to urge caution.   I don't know who came to your door but generally the 'at home' services are offered by non-regulated will makers.   My recommendation would be for you to use your solicitor.   I don't know of anybody who has had a will made by their solicitor who has paid more than £200* and for your money you get regulation and insurance for if things go wrong which the 'will makers' cannot provide.   
 

+1 for using a reputable solicitor rather than an unregulated will writing firm.

I worked for a couple of years as a probate administrator for a will writing and probate admin company. I left a couple of years before the soft smelly stuff hit the fan and two of the directors ended up in prison. It turned out they had been taking money from the client account to the tune of £5 million. When I worked there they seemed like a very decent and reputable company but appearances can clearly be deceiving. A lot of estates were affected and a lot of beneficiaries lost their inheritances.

Full details on the SFO website

[Polar Bear]

Nasty.

All I wish to add folks is, if you have more than two ha'pennies to rub together and you wish to leave things in an orderly manner, go to your high street solicitor.   They will be cheaper than the will makers, I almost 100% guarantee it, and, you will have proper peace of mind.

Please don't shaft yourselves or feed the unscrupulous.   

[andyoxon]

Unbelievable but true:

We got my mum's sorted out with a local solicitor for £0. When I asked him how much he wanted he said, "Oh, that's ok, don't bother, it was very simple."

Wot no consideration?

Our straight forward will cost £80, including the solicitor consultation as I remember.

[Pancho]

Yes but dividing up half of Hampshire was never going to be entirely straightforward. 

This is not the first time that this misconception that I am somehow wealthy has surfaced. Trust me, it's a myth.