Making a will

Hi there,

As I need to make a will I would be grateful if anyone could recommend a Solicitor, also as I have not made one out before does anyone know roughly how much it costs to do this?

Thanks and regards
Alex.

Hi Alex

This excellent site has a business forum too.

Post on there - you may get a better response.

Thanks BSB. Have just posted on the business forum.

Regards
Alex.

I had mine done by Anthony Gold Solicitors in Tooley Street. Very good and reasonable.

Thanks Maurits, I will give them a call.

Regards
Alex.

http://www.willaid.org.uk/

If you
a) have a straight forward will to make and won't need a lot of advice
b) have time till November 2014
this is an alternative.

I just went through this strange exercise myself. I called Anthony Gold but it seems they do their wills out of their Streatham office. If you travel there it's £350 for a simple will. If they come up here to the London Bridge office or your home it's another £100. I used LZW on Bermondsey Street, still £450 for basic service. Either way I'm sure you'll get competent work. Lots of lawyers do this sort of work. There's also a group of non-lawyers called the , Institute of Professional Will Writers. I don't know much about them other than they'll be somewhat cheaper than lawyers.

You need to think a bunch of stuff through. Obviously who you want to leave your home, possessions, cash, savings & any investment to. The UK lets you leave £350,000 worth of value without taxing it, everything above that gets taxed at 40% inheritance tax. There are legal strategies to reduce the taxes but I suspect getting into that topic costs £. You also have to decide who is going to do the paper work when you die. This is called your executer. It can be a spouse, friend, relative or a solicitor. You may also want someone to act as your Lasting Power of Attorney for if you're incapable of making decisions yourself at some point, eg dietary issues if you're in care, prefer care at home and other tricky issues if you can't make the decisions yourself.

Hello Julia T, a very worthwhile thing to do. I appreciate you taking the time to reply.

Regards
Alex.

Eric thank you for your great effort. It is very helpful and informative.

Regards
Alex.

Will aid month is excellent - you get a will for free and donate the fee to charity. It's a very good scheme if you can wait until November.