Making A Will

It is crucial that your Will is geared around your own personal situation at any given time. Your circumstances may be simple where you would like to provide for certain family members. Alternatively, you may wish to provide for a spouse but at the same time to protect the inheritance of children from an earlier marriage.

Standard Wills Service

We have designed this Service to cover a number of straight forward, typical situations where there is not a requirement for complicated or unusual provisions, including:

• Couples who wish to leave their respective estates to each other and, failing that, to their children;
• Couples who wish to leave their estates to each other and failing that to one or more named beneficiaries; and
• An individual who wishes to leave his or her estate to named beneficiaries.

In each of the above situations, the Wills can include provisions disposing of personal effects, leaving a reasonable number of cash legacies, stating funeral wishes and where relevant ensure the appointment of guardians.

During an initial consultation, your lawyer will be able to confirm if the Standard Wills Service is suitable for you and confirm the cost involved. It is at this meeting your lawyer can take a full note of your wishes. After the meeting we will prepare the Will(s) and send the finished product to you for signature with full instructions on how to sign. If you prefer, we can oversee the signature of the Will(s) at our offices and provide the necessary witnesses.

If additional meetings are required, these will be charged at your lawyer’s hourly rate.

Fees for our Standard Will Service

• Single Will £500 plus VAT (£600) • Couple mirror image Wills £700 plus VAT (£840)

1. Fees quoted are valid for 30 days from receipt.
2. The fees quoted do not include any subsequent work, such as amending your Wills to reflect a change in your instructions or the drafting of additional documents, such as letters of wishes or notices of severance.
3. Additional advice not included in the Standard Wills Service (such as tax planning) will be charged on the basis of time spent at the lawyer’s hourly rate with your prior agreement.
4. All of our consultations are face to face. Consultations outside our office can be arranged but an additional charge will be made for the time spent travelling, plus expenses.

Estate Planning Service

An Estate Planning consultation with one of our experienced lawyers, is designed for people with more complex personal circumstances, including:

• Couples with children from previous relationships where, typically, each spouse would like to provide for the other but protect their children’s share of the assets;
• Where Inheritance tax and asset protection advice is appropriate and it is necessary for your Will(s) to include additional tax saving and asset protection provisions, such as a life interest trust, rights of occupation, discretionary trusts and letters of wishes; and
• Where advice is required in relation to joint property ownership or the right to reside in property.

At the end of your initial consultation, the lawyer will be able to confirm if the Estate Planning Service is suitable for you and confirm the cost involved. It is at this meeting your lawyer can take a full note of your wishes. After the meeting, we will prepare the Will(s) and send the finished product to you for signature with full instructions on how to sign. If you prefer, we can oversee the signature of the Will(s) at our offices and provide the necessary witnesses.

Fees for our Estate Planning Service

• Single Will £700 plus VAT (£840) • Couple mirror image Wills £1100 plus VAT (£1,320)

1. Fees quoted are valid for 30 days from receipt.
2. All of our consultations are face to face. Consultations outside our office can be arranged but an additional charge will be made for the time spent travelling, plus expenses.

Advisory Service

An Advisory Consultation with one of our experienced lawyers is designed for people with extremely complex personal or business circumstances and where advice is required regarding:

• Inheritance tax and asset protection advice where lifetime planning and the use of trusts for asset protection and tax planning is needed;
• Setting up an asset protection trust for a vulnerable and/or disabled beneficiary;
• Business protection and succession planning, and inheritance tax advice on agricultural and business assets;
• Potential claims against your estate or work arising from concerns about your mental capacity to make a Will;
• Domicile issues affecting the drafting of your Will(s) and general advice relating to foreign property;
• Your Will needs to be executed within 48 hours e.g. at short notice prior to a holiday or an upcoming operation.

The fees for our Advisory Service will be applied on a time spent basis at your lawyer’s hourly rate. At the end of your consultation, the lawyer will be able to confirm if the Advisory Service is suitable for you and confirm the likely time estimate and costs involved to advise you fully and to prepare any necessary documentation. In order for your lawyer to advise you fully they will expect you to bring to your initial consultation the following documentation, where applicable:

1. Copies of the memorandum and articles of association and shareholders agreement of any private company in which you hold shares;
2. A copy of any partnership agreement where you are involved in a partnership;
3. Full disclosure of the type of assets in your estate and the likely values;
4. Copies of any foreign Wills with any necessary translations.

Where applicable, until the documentation in points 1-4 above are produced, we cannot give advice in relation to the relevant issue.

If your mental capacity could be called into question, a full psychiatric report may need to be obtained from a medical professional to prevent problems arising in the future. With your prior agreement, your lawyer can arrange for suitable quotes to be obtained.

The current hourly rates of partners and staff are as follows:

• Partners £310 to £350 plus VAT (£372 to £420)
• Senior lawyers, solicitors and legal executives £235 to £350 plus VAT (£282 - £420)
• Trainee solicitors, junior lawyers and other assistants £155 to £275 plus VAT (£186 - £330)

WILLing to Wait

About to go on holiday or going into hospital for an operation and you still haven't made your Wills. This service is for you.

We just need one meeting with you. We will then prepare a simple Will for you whilst you have a coffee in our reception or take in the sights of Orpington. You then sign the document and it can then be stored free of charge in our safe storage facility.

Our costs for this service would depend on your personal circumstances and the complexity of the will that is being prepared.  We will be able to give a full quote of our work before proceeding with the preparation of the document.

Late night Thursdays

If you would prefer to meet with a lawyer to discuss your will after 5pm, we offer late appointment times on Thursday evenings. Please telephone 01689 887887 to book your appointment.

Please note

If there are any complications, for example:

• you have capacity issues or
• you hold assets like private company shares

our standard charges would not apply and we would need to deal with this on a case by case basis.

Our Events

Click here for more details on our next in house event on Wills and how to plan for the cost of long-term care and how to register.

Contact our wills solicitors in Orpington today

For further information about making a will, please contact our Orpington office or you can request a call back.

Last updated 01/05/2024