Wills & Trusts

What is it?

A Will is a legal document that sets out how you wish your affairs to be dealt with when you die. It allows you to decide who will be responsible for managing your affairs and who will inherit your property, money and personal belongings (known as your estate).

If you die without a Will (known as dying intestate) you do not have control over who manages your estate and who inherits. Those decisions will be governed by the Intestacy Rules, which may mean that your property, money and personal belongings are given to someone whom you would not wish to inherit.

What we do

Our Wills service includes discussion and advice on appointing executors (the people responsible for managing your affairs), appointing guardians for your minor children, your funeral wishes, any particular gifts you may want to leave to somebody and who you would like to inherit your estate. It also includes, where required, advice on inheritance tax planning.

We are a member of Certainty, the Law Society’s endorsed provider of a National Will Register and Will search service. We will register your Wills as part of the service.

How we do it

We make the process simple.

At our first meeting, we will talk about your chosen executors and give you some advice if you are unsure who to appoint. We will talk about legal guardians where appropriate. We will ask you about your assets and whether you own property or money in your own name or jointly with anyone else. We will discuss your wishes as to how you want your property, money and personal belongings to be gifted on your death. If you are married, this will involve discussion about what happens when one of you dies and when both of you die.

Following our first meeting, we will prepare a draft Will or two Wills if you are a couple. You will have the opportunity to read the Wills in draft form and discuss any amendments with us. Once you are happy that the Wills correctly reflect your wishes, we arrange another meeting so that the Wills can be properly signed and witnessed.

When the Wills are completed, we ask you whether you want us to store them safely for you or whether you want to keep them yourselves. We then deal with registration of the Wills on the National Wills Register.

You have the peace of mind that your Wills have been professionally drawn up and that this will make things much easier for your loved ones when the time comes.