Any one help with info/advice on getting a legal Will written? How much it cost,recommended solicitor,things i would need to do etc. Many thanks.

£100.00 to have one written in 2008. £120.00 to have it changed in 2011. By well known solicitors in Liscard.

On my fourth Will. Always use Percy Hughes and Roberts at Hamilton Square.This Firm has always been most professional and I found their charges reasonable.This advice is without prejudice, so I cannot be responsible if you experience otherwise.

A Simple Will won't cost that much.Phone them for a quote. I always go for advice as they come up with things that would not cross your mind.
Have always had a Simple Trust put in each Will that my children receive on their twenty fifth bithdays if I died, not younger except for education purposes.Both are sensible and now in their thirties.

I have been Enduring Power of Attorney and Executor for my Uncle, and PHR have also dealt with my own POA and both my Divorces.

Have always appointed one of their Solicitors to be one of the Executors just as my Dad did with his Will, as it facilitates a smoother way to distribution of the Estate .

Apparently it is much cheaper for Solicitor than using a Bank.
Will may cost say £70 but I have been told some Will Making Companies and Free Wills cause problems.

Doing a your own Home Will I think a complete no no as incorrect wording or omissions can cause disaster.
For example if a Beneficiary cannot be traced it might be years before the others get any monies. A time limit for claiming of say two years after death to claim on the Estate for some people would be beneficial, but if like myself you are not legally trained,important matters could be overlooked

A Will is a standard document, solicitors in liscard do them as cheap as £60+VAT.

Whoever you do end up paying to write it for you, please don't try and write one yourself or use one of those forms from the post office. The amount of Wills that I've dealt with that have been written incorrectly and/or are invalid is incredible.

Don't keep the original Will at your house btw. Get it stored in a document safe at your bank or with the solicitors that write it for you. You only need a copy to keep at home for relatives to find once you snuff it. Last thing you want it to spend money on a Will only for it to get burned up if you die in a house fire or a comet lands on your home.

Edit: Most solicitors in liscard are closed now till 3rd January.

My solicitors at my request gave myself several copies of the Will so both children and myself have a copy in metal document boxes.

As ex-O states the original should be stored as above

we got a will written last year got it free with my husbands union

Speak to WENCH, shes the Wiki legal eagle!

Awww thanks Handsome

As above really - stay away from the packs in the Post Office, don't use the companies that advertise on tv either. A lot of the so called "Will Specialists" will screw you for hundreds and you'll be left with a piece of paper that's not even worth wiping your arrse on.

I used to work for H&G and I know they do wills in their Liscard office. The other that I hear is very good has already been mentioned - P, H & R in Hamilton Square. Ring round and get some quotes, and don't just go for the cheapest one. It may end up costing you more in the long run.

If you want to change your Will, you don't need a new one as you can do what is called a codecil (makes small changes to your will). My advice would be to make sure you check your Will every 5 years or so to make sure you still feel the same about it. Also, if you get divorced, remarried etc, you will need to change your Will.

Make sure you pick people you trust to be your Executors too.

Would I be right in thinking that if there is just a man and wife the estate automatically goes to the surviving spouse,up to ,Ithink,£750,000?

[quote=Wench].

If you want to change your Will, you don't need a new one as you can do what is called a codecil (makes small changes to your will).quote]

Some people may not know that a Will can be changed after death:
From G B Legal Solutions webpage:

A Deed of Variation sometimes known as an instrument of variation, family arrangement. deed of surrender, deed of release or a deed of assignment enables beneficiaries of a deceased’s estate to alter the distribution of that estate, or relinquish a bequest from an estate. Thus changing the deceased Will.

There are a number of reasons that you might want to alter the way money is allocated from a deceased estate but probably the most common reason to make an alteration is to achieve a future Inheritance Tax saving.

Many married couples either do not have a will or leave everything to each other. This is a perfectly valid thing to do but offers little protection from care costs assessment.

Changing a will after a persons death to try and avoid care cost assessment will normally be seen by local authorities as an attempt to deliberately deprive them of assets they could have used to fund long term care costs.

In most scenarios, where there are no other reasons for making the change, a deed of variation would be ineffectual if a requirement for long term care were to arise in the near term.

By using a Deed of Variation the deceased personal representative or executor could change the way monies are allocated to either set up a nil rate band trust or allocate money to another family member, individual or trust.

The Deed of Variation must be effected within two years of the death of the individual to be effective for inheritance tax purposes.

Although extremely useful it should not be relied upon as part of an individuals estate planning. It may be that the effectiveness is reduced by the Government in the future. However at present they do offer the personal representatives or executor an effective way of changing a will after death.

In order to establish a Deed of Variation all the beneficiaries of the will must be in agreement. If minors are involved this is further complicated as they cannot themselves consent to the changes and an application must be made to the courts for consent to be obtained on their behalf.

A Deed of Variation is can be used to reduce an inheritance tax liability. If the assets are passed to an individual who may have an inheritance tax problem themselves they could elect to have the assets passed to their children instead, thereby reducing their estate. If this is the case the individual who has foregone the legacy is not deemed to have made the gift but instead it is the deceased who is deemed to have made the transfer.

Where you are the recipient of a gift or legacy and you wish to divert the gift to a or multiple third parties and deed of variation can be used, an alternative is to accept the gift and then re gift it to whom ever you wish. If you take this approach you do run the risk of your estate having to pay inheritance tax on the gift if you were to die within 7 years. One strategy that can be used if you do take this approach is to take out a decreasing term insurance policy to cover the Gift Inter Vivos. This is a kind of insurance policy where the benefit if you should die within 7 years will be directly in line with the inheritance tax due.

Thanks everyone for all your input. Lots of good useful information which i didn't know. I think the best way forward for me is to use a solicitor, so will try & find H&G which Wench recommended,in town on tuesday. Best wishes to all for a happy & prosperous new year.