Making a will, should I use a will writer or a solicitor?

[Ivor]

I know many of us are organised & have a will in place. I’m getting on a bit & don’t have one & this week I have been Googling options with mixed info & feedback re pricing & who best to appoint & like everything because it’s cheaper often doesn’t mean better.

I read some will writers pushing for up selling plus regulation isn’t the same as for solicitors if something goes wrong.

I know also you can write your own & mine will be simple I think wishing to leave my worldly goods to my children.

So any advice gratefully received & hopefully some forum members here with some legal experience.

Many thanks.

 

[35B]

No legal experience, but I am an executor and used a solicitors practice for my will a few years ago.


The bit that matters is that they know what is possible and can advise you appropriately about the implications of your choice given your specific circumstances and intentions.

Price and regulation are both important, but trust matters more. The solicitor who I’ll use for rewriting mine is the one who’s helped with the will I’m executor of, and has shown good understanding of my circumstances.

Regulation is not the be all and end all. My father was executor of 4 wills in his lifetime. Two were fine, two not - in both cases because the lawyers involved were trying to be too clever.

 

[Morayshire]

There are various charities out there who take part in free will months. You get a free will (as long as it is a simple will).

The charity paying for the will does so in the hope that they will get something in the will but you do not have to leave them anything.

I think October is the next month for free wills as well.

You should also consider getting power of attorneys set up as well if you haven't already done so.

 

[davews]

I have just done a will rewrite and decided to do it through a solicitor. He did a fairly efficient job which involved a slightly complicated section on donations to charity (trying to get the damned inheritance tax down). It wasn't cheap, over £600, but probably worth it.

Next job is power of attorney which my family are pressing me to do though pondering over whether I really do need one. In this case you can do it all on line fairly easily provided you don't want to specify complicated wishes though you still have to print it out and get all the signatures on it. Also not cheap to register but a lot less than what a solicitor would charge.

 

[david1212]

Can you find a local solicitor that supports a charity e.g. hospice where instead of paying the solicitor you make a donation to the charity?
This may be ongoing or only be once a year with a 'Write a will week'. If the latter be sure to book well ahead.
The exact amount of the donation is down to you but a (minimum) amount may be suggested e.g. £100.
While the charity will also hope to be mentioned in the will and you will have to read the terms of the arrangement it is unlikely to a be requirement.

 

[DarloRich]

you should use a solicitor especially if anything beyond the most simple will .

 

[Gloster]

Unless your will is very, very simple, get a solicitor to do it. Even if you are just leaving it to your children, could there be problems over who gets what, how the value of things is divided, what to do in changed circumstances, etc.

Two examples: an acquaintance left his house to the elder daughter who had cared for him and the small residuary to be divided between the other two children. He goes into a home, the house was sold and when he died the value of the house went to the other two: the elder daughter got nothing. Second, in my own family, my grandmother’s estate was to be divided amicably between the children: my mother persuaded the others that a collection of jade was not worth anything, but she would take it as she liked it. Actual value of the jade, circa 1971: £6,000 plus.

 

[simonw]

I would tend to recommend a solicitor, they will provide the correct wording and will if like the one we used, Will store it for free

 

[Trackman]

There are various charities out there who take part in free will months. You get a free will (as long as it is a simple will).

The charity paying for the will does so in the hope that they will get something in the will but you do not have to leave them anything.

That's what I have done with Prostate Cancer UK, mine is very straight forward.
I just pay I think £10 a year so I can change it, plus everyone knows who my will is with. The payment is optional. They are not on the national wills register, but they do have a phone number for third parties in case I pop off if they are unable to find my will.

 

[StoneRoad]

Yup, use a reputable solicitor, especially if property is involved or there are complications - if there are, you may need to keep pushing for things to be done [even worse than during conveyancing].
Solicitor delaying over agreeing/accepting valuations unnecessarily cost an acquaintance a significant sum in inheritance tax.

My father died intestate and that could have caused us many problems, but luckily us siblings sorted it amicably, if not really equitably.

 

[Snow1964]

A lot depends on value of your assets, and how many different people or charities are going to benefit.

Problems tend to occur for executors if charities get percentages rather than fixed amounts because they might have to demonstrate value of estate before charities share was correct. Some seem to not trust executors word they aren't being short changed.

If there are big values, or multiple properties, then it is worth getting proper advice to structure and shield them to minimise inheritance tax. There used to be a saying that it was a voluntary tax, poor didn't own enough to pay, and rich could avoid it by setting up trusts. Reality is those in middle tend to get caught by it.

 

[Gloster]

A lot depends on value of your assets, and how many different people or charities are going to benefit.

Problems tend to occur for executors if charities get percentages rather than fixed amounts because they might have to demonstrate value of estate before charities share was correct.

If there are big values, then it is worth getting proper advice structure and shield the to minimise inheritance tax. There used to be a saying that it was a voluntary tax, poor didn't own enough to pay, and rich could avoid it by setting up trusts. Reality is those in middle tend to get caught by it.

Quite so. When my mother died the solicitors decided that all her shares had to be sold for this very reason. As they waited until they had gone through the whole process of selling her house before deciding that they needed to do this as well it was not very impressive. For good measure this was in the time of Covid, which was an uncertain time to sell shares. This was all with an expensive firm of solicitors.

 

[Ivor]

Thanks for the feedback so far…appreciated.

 

[bleeder4]

Definitely do it through a solicitor, much safer that way. Particularly if you ever move between the different nations of the UK. My Mum moved up to Scotland from England a couple of years ago and she recently drafted a new will with a Scottish solicitor, as the existing will an English solicitor had drafted wasn't entirely valid up there. Same reason she needed to use a Scottish solicitor to buy the new property. The English solicitor she was using to sell her current property couldn't handle the conveyancing of purchasing the Scottish property. It was all very messy!

 

[35B]

Definitely do it through a solicitor, much safer that way. Particularly if you ever move between the different nations of the UK. My Mum moved up to Scotland from England a couple of years ago and she recently drafted a new will with a Scottish solicitor, as the existing will an English solicitor had drafted wasn't entirely valid up there. Same reason she needed to use a Scottish solicitor to buy the new property. The English solicitor she was using to sell her current property couldn't handle the conveyancing of purchasing the Scottish property. It was all very messy!

Not just Scotland - if you own property in multiple jurisdictions, there may not just be one estate but multiple.

One of the wills I referred to earlier was for an English person, with a holiday home in France. French inheritance rules are very different from English (and much less flexible), so the executors had to deal with both English and French law, and manage the estate in both places.

I would always use a solicitor, but what this showed was the importance of having someone involved in writing the will who really understood how the law works, and what is or isn't worthwhile trying to do. I notice that the OP's location is given as "Originally Balham & now The West Sussex Coastway"; given London & SE property prices it's quite possible that Inheritance Tax will be a factor to consider - and therefore tax planning may come up in discussion. If so, then it's doubly important that whoever is chosen really understands both what can be done, and what's right for you and those who'll deal with the estate.

The final point, which you'll need to address before anything's written, is who you want as executors. Having a professional involved really helps (the admin isn't always straightforward, and can be tricky for the unwary), but it does cost money. Whoever you use, make sure they're willing - and that they can work together. I've known two cases where siblings were named as executors, and one basically cut the other out despite what the Will said; it irrevocably damaged relationships.

 

[43096]

Next job is power of attorney which my family are pressing me to do though pondering over whether I really do need one. In this case you can do it all on line fairly easily provided you don't want to specify complicated wishes though you still have to print it out and get all the signatures on it. Also not cheap to register but a lot less than what a solicitor would charge.

Do it! If for any reason you become unable to make decisions for yourself, it will make things a lot easier for those you trust to look after you.

 

[jmh59]

One more vote for solicitors - some time ago we got a free one via the bank which was clearly boilerplate and many pages. Later the bank sold that part of its business to a third party financing company we didn't trust so cancelled and got new wills via a solicitor. Far simpler but meaning the same thing.

 

[DarloRich]

Definitely do it through a solicitor, much safer that way. Particularly if you ever move between the different nations of the UK. My Mum moved up to Scotland from England a couple of years ago and she recently drafted a new will with a Scottish solicitor, as the existing will an English solicitor had drafted wasn't entirely valid up there. Same reason she needed to use a Scottish solicitor to buy the new property. The English solicitor she was using to sell her current property couldn't handle the conveyancing of purchasing the Scottish property. It was all very messy!

because it is 2 different legal systems (obviously!)

 

[ChiefPlanner]

We used a local soliciter , easy and we were advised our will was very uncompicated compared to some he had dealt with.

 

[SuspectUsual]

In my experience, it is more important that you think very careful about what you want to happen than whether you use a will writer or a solicitor. For example, all the ifs and buts and reasonably foreseeable possibilities.

For example, my will is really straightforward (house split equally between my kids, residual estate 2% per grandchild and the balance 33% per child and the remaining 1% split between three charities), but even that gets complicated, eg if one of my kids predeceases me, where does their share go? Answer to that depends on whether they have kids at the time etc etc. If one of the kids has a partner who is pregnant when I die, does that count as a grandchild?

The one thing that was stressed to me more than once is that its generally better to split stuff as a percentage rather than a value, as it avoids a small bequest swallowing up a big chunk of the estate in the event of social care costs ballooning

 

[bspahh]

In my experience, it is more important that you think very careful about what you want to happen than whether you use a will writer or a solicitor. For example, all the ifs and buts and reasonably foreseeable possibilities.

You can plan for some ifs and buts, but its still a good idea to review your will every so often, and especially if your circumstances change.

 

[SuspectUsual]

You can plan for some ifs and buts, but its still a good idea to review your will every so often, and especially if your circumstances change.

Indeed, which was what I did last year when I had two of what they like to call "major life events"

 

[WesternLancer]

The final point, which you'll need to address before anything's written, is who you want as executors. Having a professional involved really helps (the admin isn't always straightforward, and can be tricky for the unwary), but it does cost money. Whoever you use, make sure they're willing - and that they can work together. I've known two cases where siblings were named as executors, and one basically cut the other out despite what the Will said; it irrevocably damaged relationships.

I believe this issue is important to give consideration to - but I was advised the following

Do not appoint the professional as an executor in the will - because if you do your executors (who may be your children) can't change who that professional is and they effectively have a licence to charge for their services as an executor, which depending on their hourly rate could be a lot of money. If you have trusted executors from your family or friends they can then have the freedom to get quotes for different professionals to help them Execute the will- it may be that you can make a clause in the will that a professional must be appointed to help the executors, but the executors just agree on who that professional is. If the executors are responsible for appointing the professional they are able to ensure that they have their say over who they wish to do it, and to dismiss them if they are not doing a good job etc. If the Executor is specified in the will there is little or no power to do that.

I'll stand corrected if any of this is wrong, but it made sense to me.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 19 Sep 2025 ==

Do it! If for any reason you become unable to make decisions for yourself, it will make things a lot easier for those you trust to look after you.

Yes, agreed ref Powers of Attorney - and it will save them (or you) money because if it does not exist the people you trust will have to pay more to get the powers in place to make those decisions (eg professional medical reports that will be needed to prove / show that you are indeed incapable of making decisions any more - and I bet those don't come cheap and will take time to get in place at precisely the time your relatives might need to be able to get the powers in place quickly).

 

[35B]

I believe this issue is important to give consideration to - but I was advised the following

Do not appoint the professional as an executor in the will - because if you do your executors (who may be your children) can't change who that professional is and they effectively have a licence to charge for their services as an executor, which depending on their hourly rate could be a lot of money. If you have trusted executors from your family or friends they can then have the freedom to get quotes for different professionals to help them Execute the will- it may be that you can make a clause in the will that a professional must be appointed to help the executors, but the executors just agree on who that professional is. If the executors are responsible for appointing the professional they are able to ensure that they have their say over who they wish to do it, and to dismiss them if they are not doing a good job etc If the Executor is specified in the will there is little or no power to do that.

I'll stand corrected if any of this is wrong, but it made sense to me.

I've not seen that, but completely agree with the advice. With my fellow executor, we've chosen to do most of the work ourselves and use a solicitor for some of the stuff that needs specific knowledge. That solicitor is someone we've chosen, based on our knowledge.

That practice did not exist when the will was written and, even if it had, it is certain that a firm somewhere completely different would have been chosen - and which would have been very inconvenient for us all.

That brings out an additional point - the choice of executors. The will I'm dealing with was written nearly 30 years ago. By not refreshing it, one of the executors has been put in a position of either having to take on a responsibility that they don't have the appetite for, or to stand aside. Their involvement reflected specific circumstances at the time of writing, and despite stepping aside, has still been unable to avoid some work where foreign assets have been involved.

 

[WesternLancer]

I've not seen that, but completely agree with the advice. With my fellow executor, we've chosen to do most of the work ourselves and use a solicitor for some of the stuff that needs specific knowledge. That solicitor is someone we've chosen, based on our knowledge.

That practice did not exist when the will was written and, even if it had, it is certain that a firm somewhere completely different would have been chosen - and which would have been very inconvenient for us all.

Yes, I think these were very much the sort of issues involved when I was given that advice.

As you say, in your case you could engage the solicitor of your choice for the bits of work you needed help with, and thereby potentially reduced the legal fees to the estate, meaning that all the will's beneficiaries hopefully will have a bit more from the estate than they might otherwise do.

That brings out an additional point - the choice of executors. The will I'm dealing with was written nearly 30 years ago. By not refreshing it, one of the executors has been put in a position of either having to take on a responsibility that they don't have the appetite for, or to stand aside. Their involvement reflected specific circumstances at the time of writing, and despite stepping aside, has still been unable to avoid some work where foreign assets have been involved.

A very good point - be mindful of who the Executors are, their age and ability and desire to do it (eg if they move abroad or some such after you have appointed them) and be mindful you might need to update it as the years go by.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 19 Sep 2025 ==

I know many of us are organised & have a will in place. I’m getting on a bit & don’t have one & this week I have been Googling options with mixed info & feedback re pricing & who best to appoint & like everything because it’s cheaper often doesn’t mean better.

I read some will writers pushing for up selling plus regulation isn’t the same as for solicitors if something goes wrong.

I know also you can write your own & mine will be simple I think wishing to leave my worldly goods to my children.

So any advice gratefully received & hopefully some forum members here with some legal experience.

Many thanks.

Of course you should always ring round a few different solicitors local to you (or ask friends in the area for recommendations of firms) and get quotes for what they charge for writing a basic will - assuming you think your estate and wishes are generally 'basic' and uncomplicated.

 

[Ivor]

Can you find a local solicitor that supports a charity e.g. hospice where instead of paying the solicitor you make a donation to the charity?
This may be ongoing or only be once a year with a 'Write a will week'. If the latter be sure to book well ahead.
The exact amount of the donation is down to you but a (minimum) amount may be suggested e.g. £100.
While the charity will also hope to be mentioned in the will and you will have to read the terms of the arrangement it is unlikely to a be requirement.

Yes a local hospice I’ve had dealings with & supported are doing the will week with a local recommended solicitor that is paid immediately to then get the referral code sent at a minimum stipulated cost of £240

Of course you should always ring round a few different solicitors local to you (or ask friends in the area for recommendations of firms) and get quotes for what they charge for writing a basic will - assuming you think your estate and wishes are generally 'basic' and uncomplicated.

Yep my estate & wishes are basic & uncomplicated & it looks from the feedback it’s the solicitor route I need to have a close look at.

 

[WesternLancer]

Yes a local hospice I’ve had dealings with & supported are doing the will week with a local recommended solicitor that is paid immediately to then get the referral code sent at a minimum stipulated cost of £240

Yep my estate & wishes are basic & uncomplicated & it looks from the feedback it’s the solicitor route I need to have a close look at.

Hope this has all been of help to you.

Sadly a relative of mine died unexpectedly in middle age without a will - it resulted in a lot more hard work for family to sort things out and very sadly resulted in a family falling out, which I feel would probably not have happened had a will been in place.

 

[MotCO]

1. Powers of Attorney are also useful if you need to manage an elderly persons finances and bank accounts, especially if they are unable to sign anything.

2. If my wife and I draft identical wills, will solicitors charge the full cost, or offer a discount since both wills will read the same apart from names etc?

 

[Ivor]

Hope this has all been of help to you.

Sadly a relative of mine died unexpectedly in middle age without a will - it resulted in a lot more hard work for family to sort things out and very sadly resulted in a family falling out, which I feel would probably not have happened had a will been in place.

The views have definitely been a help as I have jumped into action due to something that has hit me in life of late & I suppose I’m
not alone with it as one of those things ‘on the list’ of things to do but haven’t got around to.

 

[dangie]

We used a local solicitor, easy and we were advised our will was very uncompicated compared to some he had dealt with.

The wife & I have done the same.

One thing that I’m not sure about. If you make a will, but you don’t tell anyone you’ve made a will, when you die how will others know you’ve made a will? Do solicitors put your names onto something like a national database for example, so that when you die your name is typed in and it comes up with your name if you have made a will.

Apologies if this is a question with an obvious answer which I haven’t thought of.