City of London: 020 3440 3705 | High Wycombe: 01494 451355
Wills
It is never too early for you to make a Will. Our Will Questionnaire details some of the matters you should consider when making your Will. We can help you in considering the Will you wish to leave and have a team of experts behind us who can provide tax planning, wealth management and financial behavioural coaching to you if necessary.
This firm's standard charges for preparing a Will, having a consultation about the Will and storing the Will in this firm's fireproof facility are detailed in the chart below. Within the consultation there may be advice about, among other things, land ownership, trusts, the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, capacity, and the roles of executors and trustees. As indicated below, there may be further charges if further work such as servering a joint tenancy, preparing a trust, preparing a letter of wishes, completing a home/hospital visit or requesting a medical report is required.
| Wills | Fee | VAT | Total |
| Basic Charge | |||
| High Wycombe: | |||
| For an individual | £275.00 | £55.00 | 330.00 |
| For a couple (mirror Wills) | £350.00 | £70.00 | £420.00 |
| London: | |||
| For an individual | £350.00 | £70.00 | £420.00 |
| For a couple (mirror WIlls) | £500.00 | £100.00 | £600.00 |
|
This includes cost of storing Will here in CG's fireproof facility and a Consultation within which there will be advice about, among other things, the Inheritance (Provisions for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, land ownership, capacity, and the roles of executors and trustees. |
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| Supplemental extra costs: | |||
| Letter of wishes | £50.00 | £10.00 | £60.00 |
| Severing joint tenancy | £50.00 | £10.00 | £60.00 |
| Investigating and endeavouring to prove capacity | £100.00 | £20.00 | £120.00 |
| Care costs advice | £50.00 | £10.00 | £60.00 |
| Home/hospital appointment (5 mile radius) (per appointment) | £100.00 | £20.00 | £120.00 |
| Re-drafting due to change of instructions | £50.00 | £10.00 | £60.00 |
| Discretionary trust | £300.00 | £60.00 | £360.00 |
| Tax advice | Charged on a time spent basis |
A Will sets out clearly in writing who will inherit your assets, including any property, valuables and personal belongings, when you die. If you die without making a valid Will then your assets will be distributed under the Intestacy rules and not necessarily as you wish. We have prepared a flowchart outlining how the Rules of Intestacy work.
There are significant advantages to making a Will:
- You can ensure that your assets will go to your loved ones when you die and not just as the Intestacy rules provide. This is more important than ever in today’s society as more and more unmarried couples are choosing to live together. Under the Intestacy rules even if you live with your partner for years they will not have an automatic entitlement to your estate when you die.
- As part of an overall estate planning exercise, a Will can potentially offer you significant tax savings as well as saving on the cost of winding up your estate.
- You can specify who you would like to act as guardians for your children in the event that the other parent is unable to do so or you do not wish them to.
- You can leave directions regarding your funeral arrangements.
Other important factors to note will be:
- A Will can only be created by an individual if they have capacity to do so. Where an individual has not made a Will and no longer has capacity, the situation becomes more complex as an application will have to be made to the Court of Protection for a Statutory Will to be made. For further details about this, please see our guide to Statutory Wills.
- A Will shall only be considered valid if it is in the correct format and has been properly executed. You should therefore always seek advice on this issue to ensure these requirements are complied with.
- Marriage invalidates any previous Will you have made and you should therefore seek to address this by having a new Will drawn up.
- If you wish to specifically exclude a close relative from your Will, it is advisable to confirm the reason you have done this otherwise it may be that this individual will seek to challenge how your estate is distributed. For further details on how such a challenge may be brought, please see our guide to Inheritance Act Claims.
Please contact us today for a free no obligation discussion by calling either our London or High Wycombe offices on the two telephone numbers referred to at the top of this page, or by email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Our Wills Team
Wills, Probate and LPAs
