The main options are: -           

                                          1} Make your own - the D.I.Y option.

                                          2} Take a 'Freebie' - normally offered by the banks.

                                          3} Do one on the net.

                                          4} Instruct Solicitors.

                                          5} Discuss your position with a specialist Will writer

1] One of the benefits of English Law is that you can deal with many aspects of it yourself, apart from Oaths (and your own probate!), you can do almost everything else. You can arrange your own divorce (though you can't marry youreslf albeit we know one or two people who'd like to!). You can convey property, defend yourself in court, and of course, make your own Will.

The question is would you undertake any of these things? The answer, probably not, apart from making one's own Will... why is this? When solicitors will tell you that they make far more income from correcting errors in 'homemade' Wills (by means of a deed of variation*) than they do in drafting originals! A simple omission, an incorrect phrase or punctuation can have an unforeseen impact on the meaning and thus intent of a Will, which can and does result in untold consternation.

2] If like me, if you have been around longer than you would care to admit! You have no doubt learned that in life (or death), there are no free lunches. These so called 'FREE' Wills' are more often than not accompanied with the proviso (see the small print), that the provider, normally the banks will be an executor and/or administrator... Free eh! Read on...

A well-known national newspaper recently (Aug '06), asked the high street banks how much their charges would be if acting for an estate of £500,000 net which consisted of a property of £250,000, £220.000 in shares and other assets and £50,000 cash. The highest charge quoted was in the order of £24,500! Similarly they asked what their charge would be for a simple estate of £100,000 consisting of mainly cash and a few shares, no property. In this instance the highest charges quoted were £6,000!

The fact is that if either by design or default your Will appoints a professional body, be it solicitors, a bank, or accountants to act on your demise your estate forgoes any control of the associated costs.    

NB. If you would like a full list of the figures quoted just drop us a line via the email link.

3] Even though we are here on the Internet we would strongly recommend that you do NOT utilise this option. A Will being an individual and personal document should be drafted to suit your particular circumstances. It needs to be written with skill and precision in order to ensure it does exactly what you want, when and how you want it. We firmly believe that to achieve this requires a face-to-face discussion enabling full and concise consideration of your circumstances, wishes and objectives and how they can best be incorporated in your Will.

One of the potential difficulties with web based Wills is the way in which some questions are constructed which can result in incorrect responses, which means the resultant document failing it's intended task e.g. If asked, "how many children do you have?" would you know whether to include natural children, step-children, illegitimate children, foster children or adopted children?

If you were asked for a value of your estate in order to ascertain if there might be a liability to Inheritance Tax, would you know what to include and just as importantly what could be discounted?

An incorrect figure on a questionnaire could make a total nonsense of the resulting Will.

Your Will covers everything you have worked for and everyone your care about, so does it really make sense to risk it all by cutting corners? We believe discussing your situation face to face with a qualified, experienced and understanding specialist is vital to the process. It is only through an in-depth discussion that you can be assured your Will, will reflect your wishes, your circumstances, and be effective in limiting taxes and unnecessary legal costs.

4] Historically Solicitors are were we went to arrange our Will's and like any profession there are good ones and those who are not quite so good. It can but not necessarily so, depend on the primary area of business they practice in. For example it may be they specialise in divorce, criminal law, conveyancing or personal injury so the question is, "would you want a divorce lawyer to defend you in a murder trial?"  Probably not, so why ask a non-specialist to draft your Will? There are very few who specialise in this area of law, to be frank the majority find there are insufficient financial rewards; unless of course they (like the banks), are appointed as Executors. 

Without wishing to cast aspersions, as they can be a good option, we have seen far too many Wills drafted by Solicitors which have been poor to say the least. In fact, because of the perceived lack of monetary value to a practice a client will more often than not see a clerk and not the solicitor, the clerk will invariably ask "what do you want to say in your Will", it could be argued then that in such circumstances, you may as well do the Will yourself!

Please don't get us wrong, as stated, some are very good we are just saying one should not take it for granted that just because a solicitor's office has drafted it, a Will is absolutely correct and the best you can obtain.

As a point of interest, the newspaper noted previously also asked solicitors for an indication of charges for the same estates, the £500,000 estate attracted fees in the order of £16,000 and the £100,000 estate £3,500, neither fee quotes included court or probate fees. See our business blog for a real life solicitor's 'rip off'  

5] Ok, obviously we're going to be a little biased here. However the fact of the matter is we specialise in this narrow but often complex area. Please don't ask us to act in your divorce, convey your property or defend you in court, not unless you want to do time that is!

Seriously, we take the responsibility of drawing of your Will very much to heart, as it is one of the most important things you can do in your overall financial planning, which is why as members of the Society of Will Writers we deliver an all round fully indemnified and professional service to all our clients.

How do we undertake this delivery, by being thorough, on making an appointment we forward pre-meeting papers to prospective clients which include our terms of business. This provides them with the opportunity to give their full consideration to those areas of their planning which may concern them and also due consideration as what they want to achieve. They can also decide who are to be the main beneficiaries and perhaps if there are to be secondary or longstop beneficiaries. They can also consider their thoughts with regards to care costs, Inheritance Tax, or a spouse re-marrying after their demise and the potential consequences. It also provides time for them to decide who should act as their Executors / Trustees and if there are young children, who will be their guardian(s) and how the guardian(s) would meet the extra expense of bringing up their additional charges.

Subsequently we will meet with the prospective client(s) in their own home at a time convenient to them. We find clients prefer the comfort and familiarity of their own surroundings as well as the convenience of meeting at their preferred time. As opposed to the option of inconvenient and expensive travel and perhaps having to take time off work, maybe even having to use a holiday or suffer a loss of income. 

On meeting with prospective clients we will review the pre-meeting papers in full, discussing the relevant points in detail thus providing the opportunity for a prospective client to again consider their position and if the relevant action is something they wish to implement. Once everything has been covered to the prospective clients satisfaction, we can state the associated costs and the prospective client can decide if they want us to prepare their documents or not. As our aim is to give of our best to each and every client we endeavour (within reason) not to put any time constraints on such meetings as, as previously intimated we don't just want to take instructions!

Once a client has decided upon their preferred course of action, if any, we will record the necessary details, based upon which we will produce draft papers for the client to check through, only issuing the final documents once we have received the client's verification that all is in order.

The way our business is structured and we believe you'll agree, reflects one criterion, to serve our clients.  

Of course there is the sixth option, which is not to bother with a Will at all but we think that as you've read this far, this is unlikely to be the option for you.

* A deed of variation is a means by which a deceased's Will can be re-written. This can be done up to two years after their demise, though it is best if intent to do so registered within six months of their death. It is expensive (although it can be extremely worthwhile in respect of saving tax), all the beneficiaries must agree to any and all the required alterations, and there must have been a Will left by the deceased.