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Online will solicitors

If you are clear on what you wish to achieve and if what you want is uncontroversial and unlikely to be disputed, this option may suit you. This is our most straightforward and simplistic will writing service. You will use our will writing software and extensive precedents suite to write your own will. Once your will is finalised, we will store it free of charge.

Please note that this option is self-sufficient; there is no legal advice provided and no interaction with our lawyers.

Hugh James will writing platform

Why do I need an online will?

By executing a will, you can:

  • Choose who will administer your estate after your death and pass your assets on to your beneficiaries
  • Choose who will act as trustee for any ongoing trust created
  • Express your preference as to the guardians for any of your infant children
  • Dictate to whom your assets pass, and on what terms.
  • Express a preference as to your funeral wishes
  • Ensure that your estate is distributed in as a tax efficient a way as possible and that your assets are protected as best they can be

In the absence of a valid will, your estate will pass via the intestacy provisions there is no guarantee that it will pass in the way that you want it to. Read our guide to the intestacy provisions here.


Points to consider

To get started, there are three points to consider:

  1. What type of service suits you best?
    We offer telephone, online or face to face (at our offices in Cardiff or London) service options. The details for each option are set out below.
  2. What type of will suits your needs?
    Do you require a trust in your will? Do you and your partner have the same wishes? Do you require complex tax advice? The answers to these questions will inform which type of will suits your needs. Further information is provided below.
  3. Do you also require a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA)?
    If you think you might require one or more LPA, it may make sense to see to this at the same time as writing your will. Visit our Powers of Attorney service page for further information.

Our commitment to service

Our service options are summarised in the table below:

 

Telephone offering Create your own will online Face-to-face offering Bespoke service
Use of online will writing platform
Telephone support
Face-to-face meetings at our offices
Witnessing service
Inheritance tax assessment and advice
Option to use Hugh James Trust Corporation Limited
Full bespoke tax report

 

Whichever way you decide to write your will, we will work to the timeframes below:

  • Draft wills will be sent within 10 working days of receipt of final instructions and payment
  • Amended draft wills will be sent within five working days of a request for amendment
  • Final wills will be sent within five working days of approval of a draft
  • Copy wills will be sent within two working days of receipt of the executed final will

Key contact

Matthew Evans

Partner

Matthew is a partner and heads up the firm’s private wealth offering. He is responsible for the development, implementation and long-term strategy of the team.

Matthew has a UK-wide reputation in the field of contentious probate, recognised by his clients and peers in the leading legal directories.


Types of will

A standard single will is designed for one person:

  • to appoint their choice of trusted individuals to act as executors of their estate
  • to make specific gifts
  • to nominate who will benefit from the rest of their estate
  • to appoint guardians for minor children

A standard single will does not include formal trust provisions. It may, however, include non-complex trusts such as gifts to individuals when they reach a certain age.

Standard mirror wills are designed for couples (married or unmarried, civil partners or otherwise), who have similar wishes for the distribution of their estates:

  • to appoint their choice of trusted individuals to act as executors of their estates
  • to make specific gifts
  • to nominate who will benefit from the rest of their estate
  • to appoint guardians for minor children

Standard mirror wills do not include formal trust provisions. They may, however, include non-complex trusts such as gifts to individuals when they reach a certain age.

A trust standard will is designed for one person:

  • to appoint their choice of trusted individuals to act as executors of their estate
  • to make specific gifts
  • to nominate who will benefit from the rest of their estate
  • to appoint guardians for minor children
  • to create trusts as may be necessary to offer increased protection of their assets such as property and possessions

A trust will enables one person or more to hold an individual’s property, possessions or savings subject to certain duties to use and protect it for the benefit of others.

Trust mirror wills are designed for couples (married or unmarried, civil partners or otherwise), who have similar wishes for the distribution of their estates:

  • to appoint their choice of trusted individuals to act as executors of their estates
  • to make specific gifts
  • to nominate who will benefit from the rest of their estate
  • to appoint guardians for minor children
  • to create trusts as may be necessary to offer increased protection of your assets

Trust mirror wills enable one person or more to hold an individual’s property, possessions or savings subject to certain duties to use and protect it for the benefit of others.


Pricing

A summary of our pricing is below. Please note that we do require funds on account before we commence work. Whilst we will do our best to identify the product best for you at the outset, this could potentially change upon detailed discussion with your advisor, at which point we will obviously provide a further quote, as below.

 

Standard single will Standard mirror wills Trust single will Trust mirror wills
Telephone offering £150 + VAT £195 + VAT £195 + VAT £315 + VAT
Create your own will online £75 + VAT £110 + VAT N/A N/A
Face-to-face offering £250 + VAT £295 + VAT £395 + VAT £515 + VAT
Bespoke offering All options within our bespoke offering are priced on an individual basis

Your questions answered

Property trusts (right of occupation)

A property trust can be useful to ensure that your spouse or partner is entitled to remain in occupation of your share of the family home after your death but also that your share eventually passes to those you wish to benefit (for example your children) in the event of your surviving partner marrying/remarrying or making a new will.

Life interest trusts (interest in possession)

A life interest trust can be useful for individuals or couples who wish to protect their estates for future generations. The purpose of a life interest trust in your will is to appoint a person to benefit from the income generated from your investments, and to live in the property you own, perhaps to provide continued financial support to a surviving spouse or children, whilst protecting the capital for your chosen beneficiaries or future generations.

Discretionary trusts

A discretionary trust involves the appointment of trustees to manage assets held on trust on behalf of a number of potential beneficiaries, with the ultimate decision as to who of those beneficiaries should benefit, and how, in the hands of the trustees. This is another method of potentially safeguarding assets for future generations. It can assist in the slow release of assets. If, for example, a beneficiary of your will has a disability or is vulnerable, a discretionary trust may be useful as the arrangement can enable their needs to be met from the assets in your estate, without giving them an absolute entitlement. Discretionary trusts are also sometimes useful as part of a tax planning strategy.

A codicil is a supplemental document to a will which makes minor alterations but leaves the rest of the will intact.

There is no limit on how many codicils can be added to a will, but they are only suitable for very straightforward amendments to a will. If a complicated change is involved, we normally advise that it is better to make a new will.

Many people believe that if they have been living with a partner for a number of years they have become “common law husband and wife” and as a result have the same rights as married couples.

Contrary to this commonly held belief, co-habiting couples do not have equal inheritance rights to married couples (see our guide to the intestacy provisions). In fact, a co-habiting partner has no automatic entitlement from their partner’s estate at all.

Unless your will is made specifically in contemplation of a marriage, it will be automatically revoked upon you getting married. This will have the effect of you being intestate and your estate passing by way of the intestacy provisions.

Download our guide to the intestacy provisions.

If you get divorced then, whilst your will will subsist, any gift to your spouse will fail and they will be treated as having pre-deceased you. Depending on the drafting of your will, this could lead to your estate passing in a way that you might not expect and may even result in some or all of your estate passing via the intestacy provisions, notwithstanding the fact that you have a valid will. This is known as your estate being ‘partially intestate’.


Next steps

We’re here to get things moving. Drop a message to one of our experts and we’ll get straight back to you.

Call us: 033 3016 2222

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