[Closed] writing your own will ...any advice / experience of?

wrote ours then got a will specialist with our solic to 'formalise' and store - didn't cost that much, got some good tips etc(so we made changes using this info) and imo worth it

In November I think you can get if free for a charity donation at some places

ps - things change, as I understand it you can get a will that is easy to add changes to *based on what we got told by a will specialist
pps - take into account somebody dying and what the will chain will be after that (there is a govmt doc somewhere that defines a formal legal chain of beneficiaries but with nobody it is the govmt....),
ppps -have a think about doing power of attorney (*it's cheaper/easier when the party concerned is considered fit to consent) and be aware that poa IS NOT transferable by the holder so it might be better to give it to a couple of much younger people as well...................
pppps - if you own a house how is it owned - google tenants in common

The most important thing about wills is not letting the state get a penny of it.

First - I'll declare my interest, I own a Will Writing company.

However I have to say don't take the risk of a DIY Will. I was a member of the legal services board research panel that did extensive consumer research on Wills back in 2013. The research found that over half of the home made Wills that we sampled were invalid and would not have made it through the probate process due to various technical shortcomings.

As you are unmarried that's too much of a risk to take. There are a load of things to think about and for the sake of a couple of hundred quid it's not worth it.

I am involved in a free wills initiative via scope, so if you want a Will for free (you might want to consider a small bequest or donation to the charity) then have a look here http://www.scope.org.uk/freewills .

It is a genuine offer, someone (maybe even me) will come to your home, discuss your circumstances and make your Will for you.

It has got to be a better option that a risky home made Will.

HTH

Nick.

[i]. Don't really want to pay a moneygrabber to sort if simple [/I]

Not sure what you do for a living, but let us know and then we can DIY that task 🙂

IME if there is anything that you need done right it's a will, although whether it's right or wrong you won't know anyway...

sorry you may know this - it was a problem which my mum saw often enough, when the man worked and the wife was a housewife - take into account on death all assets of the deceased are frozen till the will is sorted - so if the bank account(etc etc etc) is in the deceaseds name only the other party can't access any money irrespective of what the deceased would have wanted

We had very basic wills written (I leave to my wife, she leaves to me, both leave to children, named executors and trustees should the boys be orphaned).

We paid around £80 including it being stored, written in legalese and a free coffee.

I'd suggest, for the price it is, get it done properly.

I'm unemployed and have been a long time due to health issues. If I do get any work I have to work extremely hard for a minimum wage .would like some counselling for various problems but to pay for one session of an hour i have to work a very long day .
some good advice already ...thanks

If you read this (all 4 pages) carefully and do exactly as it says you should avoid completely cocking it up:

[url= https://www.gov.uk/make-will/overview ]https://www.gov.uk/make-will/overview[/url]

'Scope', the charity shop have a free will service offer at the moment.

Look on their website or pop into a shop.

I'm guessing they are hoping people will leave them some money in wills.

We had an email about it and have got someone coming over to draw mine and wifes up next week.

IME if there is anything that you need done right it's a will, although whether it's right or wrong you won't know anyway...

+1
It'll only cost you a couple of hundred quid to get it written up by a solicitor.
It's money well spent! Just don't let them appoint themselves Executor.
The Devil is in the detail...

Charities will often get a will written up for you free if you leave them something...

Meee - did you not read further up 😆

We paid £65 for ours to be done. In some respects also got some 'free' advice as well around Trusts etc

There may be a template here...

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=217

Meee - did you not read further up

ha no i didnt 😳 normally i do but just skimming through stuff today!

Good info all - ta, been meaning to get around to doing this for a bit.

Every time a will post comes up I kick myself for not sorting one.

NJA, YHM.

Has anyone used the Barclays free will writing service (account holders)?

Just checked and [url= http://www.willaid.org.uk/ ]Will Aid 2016 [/url]is now running, it's not free the suggested donation is £95 for a single or £150 for a double but that money goes to charity, so I guess you can donate a bit less.

A local solicitor writes your Will without charging their normal fee. Instead you are invited to make a voluntary donation to Will Aid. The suggested donation is £95 for a basic single Will or £150 for a pair of basic mirror Wills.

Funnily enough I just signed up for Oxfam's free will service this morning. I fully intend to donate whatever the recommended amount is.

I had a family member die a few years ago with an invalid hand written will, she obviously thought it was valid, it has caused a lot of problems. Top tip, take advice and do it properly.

I paid 120 a few years ago which included professional advice.

Get it done right. Even a simple will can be ****ed up on a technicality and having to deal with what is essentially a deceased who is intestate is a ball ache that a) you or your loved ones could well do without and b) would in all likelihood cost a lot more to fix than the will ever would have done.

If you use someone wi advertises themselves as a will writer rather than a solicitor then check them out thoroughly. Some are excellent, some utter shite (although I'm sure the will writers of this shire fall in the former camp). I was asked to insure a guy who stored his clients wills in his garage in a flung cabinet he'd bought from Lidl for example. Not the best choice for such an important document it must be said.

As m'learned colleague above commented, best done by a pro. My solicitor asked about, and covered, contingencies I'd never have thought of. IME, money well spent, and I'm the grudging sort on a limited income.

happy to leave a decent donation to charity so will look at scope etc.
many thanks to all

Just to add the dispute over the handwritten invalid will is still ongoing after 3 years

Only thing I know is don't use one of the DIY Will Packs you can get in WHSmith etc.

My other half's uncle did so, and when he died his children found out that in the small print has down a company in the SE as an executor who skimmed every penny he could off the inheritance whilst doing **** all.

I think they lost around 10% of the inheritance to the bloke who was nothing but abusive whenever they spoke to him.

ElShalimo - Member 
Has anyone used the Barclays free will writing service (account holders)?

Need to use it by end of the year as Barclays are scrapping almost all benefits on the Additions (and other?) accounts, including will writing and for me the main value being RAC cover.

I've had the account for years but never got round to trying the will writing service. If you use it now, even when it's scrapped is the stuff still valid? Do wills have to be filed legally somewhere and would the Barclays service discontinue so you'd still have to pay someone else to file it?

The Barclays will writing service was just a ruse to get you to appoint them as executors. Essentially writing them a blank cheque.
They have withdrawn their professional executor service, hence they have withdrawn the free will offer.

As a general rule don't appoint professionals as executors, use the family and they can shop around at the time of need. That's what we advise all our clients, despite the fact that we offer a professional executor service.

I was about to say ^ that about Barclays - my wife's uncle appointed his bank as executor and it basically let them charge / take whatever they wanted.

Good reminder to get mine sorted. I've been putting it off for a few years - I'm single with no immediate family or close relatives and I keep changing my mind as to which friends or distant relatives should be beneficiaries, and also who to appoint as executor. I think just getting one done, even if its a bit of a compromise, will be better than the state getting my assets.

Just signed up for the free Oxfam service whilst writing the post - so thanks to the above for making me take some action. I used to work and volunteer for Oxfam many years ago so am a strong advocate of what they achieve in some of the world's worst human crises.