Viewing 24 posts - 1 through 24 (of 24 total)
  • Death…. More specifically, Wills and Trusts
  • mechanicaldope
    Full Member

    So… Seen a man about writing a will etc. Quite a lot to think about but he seems to know what he us talking about. Only thing I am wondering about is his prices. Do these seem about right:

    Will: £230
    Trust: £300
    Living Power of Attorney: £190 each (so x2)
    Registering LPA:£80

    Cheers.

    thecaptain
    Free Member

    Bit odd, I thought it cost over 100 to register an LPA. Most people do wills a bit cheaper, we are just redoing ours for 150 I think.

    BTW it’s lasting power of attorney (unless you are doing something really odd). It’s easy enough to do it yourself, the gov has forms on the web. My parents used lawyers who **** it all up, had to do it twice and took months over it.

    Nipper99
    Free Member

    Why do you need a trust – is this guy a will writer by any chance.

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    poly
    Free Member

    Is that one will for that price?
    Is there anything unusual or complex about your affairs?

    grumpysculler
    Free Member

    The will is OK, maybe a bit expensive depending where you are.

    What’s the trust for? Seems quite expensive unless it is something exotic. If all you need to do is place assets in trust until children are old enough (for example) then a line in the will is enough. This sounds like an upsell.

    mattyfez
    Full Member

    Depends how complicated your affairs are to guess.

    I guess with some research you could DIY a lot of it to keep costs down?

    mechanicaldope
    Full Member

    Ah yes… Lasting Power of Attorney.

    Nothing particularly complicated about our situation. 2 fairly young children, we’re worth significantly more dead than alive (just worked it out; think with all the insurance etc there would be close on £1m 😯 Better not let the little buggers find that out or I’ll be done for…) etc.

    It’s for a single joint will. There was quite a lot to take in but think that he was saying that there maybe tax advantages to placing things in trust and you can have more control over how/when it is distributed. May have to get a second opinion on that if you all think it’s overkill.

    Will look into the template LPAs. At least in the short term.

    towzer
    Full Member

    LPA can be done online – it’s not too bad, be careful on dates of signatures and it must be completed within???month of registering or something like that

    mattyfez
    Full Member

    Yeh I’d get a second opinion and do some further reading, but it sounds like quite a simple arrangement.

    There are advantages to trusts and you might want to consider of you or the Mrs dies and the remaining partner remarries and the have more kids, what then.

    mechanicaldope
    Full Member

    @ mattyfez Yeah, that’s definitely part of it. Don’t want her new husband getting my money rather than the kids.

    Nipper99
    Free Member

    There are advantages to trusts and you might want to consider of you or the Mrs dies and the remaining partner remarries and the have more kids, what then.

    You can make provision for that in your will.

    allthepies
    Free Member

    I did the LPA thing a month or so back for my Mum. We did two of them (can’t remember the two types). It costs over £100 each. Is this guy charging an extra £190 on top or is £190 the all-in cost ?

    It’s not difficult to do yourself, in fact it’s very easy to do online.

    slowoldgit
    Free Member

    I’ve paid more than that for LPA and Will. The solicitor worked through a list of ‘what ifs’ that I wouldn’t have considered, but were worth covering IMO. I took the view that if the intended inheritors received a bit less, well they were getting what I wanted them to have, if relationships fell apart etc.

    MrTall
    Free Member

    Placing life assurance in trust is usually done so that any benefits can be paid out easily to the beneficiaries before probate needs to be done. Most life assurance companies should be able to provide you with a simple trust form for free. I’d try that before parting with £300. Unless of course he’s recommending a trust for an entirely different reason as it’s not clear in your original post.

    deadkenny
    Free Member

    Like most, I put off doing a will. Though various things recently have indicated it’s important to do and not let things default to the state or have some long lost vague relative on a partner’s side inherit everything and nothing going to the nearest relatives (I won’t go into it, it’s complicated, but suffice to say, sort out a will, and I really must do).

    Anyway, one concern is executors. As I understand it some companies, banks, solicitors etc try to assign themselves as executor, which may seem they take the hassle out of the process but they can also consume a lot of money from the estate in fees. Or so I’ve heard. ?

    Talking to legal & financial people “who seem to know what they’re talking about” gives a lot of confidence, but then from pensions I’ve found that’s ended up with them take a lot in fees (regularly in the case of pension).

    mechanicaldope
    Full Member

    Definitely going to have to read up on this a little more. Will just have to try and not die before I get it all sorted. The meeting we had was just an introduction really – just going over all the options available. Not sure he was particularly recommending a course of action but I came out of it thinking a trust would be useful. That could just have been clever salesmanship I suppose. Seems like the prices he quoted may be a little on the steep side, particularly for the trust, but not a million miles off.

    Thanks for all the advice.

    jambalaya
    Free Member

    OP those costs seem ok. Why the Trust ? Can be good for IHT planning.

    @dk yes indeed solictos use Executor status to make a lot of extra coin, far mkre than writing the will. IMO a sensible organised oerson can do an executor role pretty easily.

    poly
    Free Member

    Did he talk you through the pro’s and con’s of a joint will? I bet you could just as easily find a lawyer who thinks they are a bad idea.

    oink1
    Free Member

    If you give a fig about your loved ones DO NOT put their inheritance into a trust. The only people to gain from a trust are the trustees. I am embroiled in trust issues now with my partner and the whole process is a nightmare. No one has benefited from the trust in any way but the trustees, to the tune of 40k over 2 years 😯

    suburbanreuben
    Free Member

    Did he talk you through the pro’s and con’s of a joint will? I bet you could just as easily find a lawyer who thinks they are a bad idea.

    Woould you find one that thinks a joint will a good idea?

    OP, as said above, if you’re only putting your life insurance/assurance in trust, the provider will do it for free. You just need to sign the form. Your life insurance will then lie outside your estate, and not be subject to Inheritance tax.
    Is this will writing chappie a solicitor, or a charlatan?

    thecaptain
    Free Member

    I would assume the point of a trust is to create them for the kids, use the surviving parent as trustee (and perhaps they get the income for supporting the children). So the capital is safe from remarriage and further step- kids etc. Not s bad idea imo. Also may be small tax advantages (trust gets its own tax allowance aiui-though only a small one).

    johnx2
    Free Member

    I think we paid a bit more, ages ago. Nothing complex about circs. At least we got the bloody thing done…

    grumpysculler
    Free Member

    Don’t want her new husband getting my money rather than the kids.

    Which comes down more to her will than yours usually, unless you want to seriously restrict her freedom from beyond the grave.

    Why the Trust ? Can be good for IHT planning.

    Not so much these days (since the advent of the transferable nil rate band). Unless you are in to super fancy tax dodging trusts based in some tax haven.

    footflaps
    Full Member

    Will: £230
    Trust: £300
    Living Power of Attorney: £190 each (so x2)
    Registering LPA:£80

    Seems OK.

    Our wills were about £250, but the guy wanted £700 for LPA, so we passed on that.

Viewing 24 posts - 1 through 24 (of 24 total)

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