Simpson Sissons & Brooke Solicitors

Statistics show that around 70% of us do not have a Will. Given how society has changed over the last twenty five years (for example on average we are all wealthier than our predecessors, more of us own our own homes and more of us live outside of what was once viewed as the traditional family setting of husband wife and children) we find this figure absolutely staggering. No body really knows why so many of us never get round to making a Will. We have heard many theories ranging from those who are superstitious and think that making a Will will some how shorten their life span to those who think that it is simply too expensive to instruct a solicitor to prepare a Will.

If the cost of making a Will has always put you off in the past, we would like to assure you that we pride ourselves on being able to offer legal advice tailored to meet every individual clients needs at a fraction of the cost charged by most Will writing companies. Unlike Will writing companies, we are also required by law to have professional indemnity insurance, which means that in the unlikely event of a mistake being made in carrying out your instructions then you and your family have the security of knowing that the mistake will be remedied without any cost to you.

We have a very clear charging structure for our Will writing service. There are no hidden extras. Once we have established at our first meeting the type of Will you require to give effect to your wishes, our charges are confirmed and are then fixed which means that there are no surprises when you come to receive your bill.

Our current charging structure is as follows:

Basic Wills: Quite often we get couples or individuals coming to see us who have no inheritance tax concerns and are not bothered about protecting their assets from nursing home fees. They already have their chosen Executors in mind and they know who they want to leave their estate to. In these circumstances we charge:

Single Will:  £95.00 plus VAT

Joint Will:  £175.00 plus VAT

Many of our clients who come and see us who are worried about what would happen to their house if they had to go into a nursing home.  In particular they are worried about the house being sold and all the sale proceeds going in nursing fees.  For couples in this category we advise them to make what we call an "Asset Protection Will".  This involves altering the type of joint ownership on the property and then making a Will to create a trust when the first partner dies in respect of that persons' half share in the property. 

For two Asset Protection Wills our charges are £300.00 plus VAT

For clients who have inheritance tax concerns and want advice on how they can mitigate their estates liability to inheritance tax the opportunities to save inheritance tax through Wills have recently been restricted following the Government changes to inheritance tax legislation.  The change in legislation was actually good news for married couples and civil partners because it now means that in order to get the tax advantages (which previously could only be achieved by signing and entering into rather complicated Will arrangements) married couples and civil partners can now make their Wills very simply and still achieve significant tax advantages.  This is because the new legislation states that where a married person or civil partner dies leaving everything to their spouse or civil partner, the survivors’ estate when he or she dies is entitled to two lots of inheritance tax relief.  At the moment this adds up to £650,000.00 which can be passed tax free to your chosen beneficiaries on the death of the surviving spouse or civil partner.

Notwithstanding the fact that this recent change in legislation has helped a significant number of people, there are still those who find themselves having to enter into fairly sophisticated Will arrangements for a variety of reasons.  For example, you may want to leave your estate to your children but you may be worried at the moment about their current circumstances or whether they would be able to manage a legacy if they were to receive it or are they so vulnerable that you would like to appoint somebody else to look after the money for them?  Quite often people in these situations find themselves requiring a sophisticated trust within their Wills and our charges for such Wills are:

Single Trust Will £400.00 plus VAT

Joint Trust Wills £750.00 plus VAT

When you make your Will with us you will see your solicitor twice before your Will is signed.  The first time we will arrange a meeting with you either at your home or at our offices (whichever you prefer) during which we will talk with you about your personal circumstances, your assets and liabilities and who you would like to appoint to deal with your estate and who you would like to leave your estate to.  

After the first meeting we prepare and send to you a draft of your Will which will incorporate your wishes.  We will include a covering letter which will explain the main provisions of the Will and confirm our charges.  If you wish to make any amendments to the draft Will then they will be made (usually at no extra charge) and once you have confirmed to us that you are happy with the Will as it is drawn we will then arrange a second appointment with you at which we will deal with the signing formalities.

Once the Will is signed we will send you a photocopy of it and we will offer to keep your Will in our strong room at no further cost to you.