Estate Planning in Brighton

Your Estate
Without a Will, the authorities will decide how and to whom your estate is distributed, which can result in problems for your loved ones that you leave behind. For example, if you are not married your partner could be left with nothing. Or if you are single, what you leave could end up going to the State.

Your Children
Having a Will means you can appoint guardians for your children, which is even more important if both parents die – without a Will the local authorities can appoint guardians for you. Also if you are not married to the other parent when you die, this does not mean the other parent will automatically become the guardian (if your children were born before 2003).

Protecting Your Wealth
Another vital reason for having a Will is to make sure that what you leave is not inherited by those you do not want to access your funds: for example, a future partner of your spouse or their future children.

Leave an Amount to Charity
You can state in your Will an amount to leave to a Charity of your choice.

Trusts
Some or all of what you leave can be put in a Trust for different reasons. For instance, so that your children receive it when they reach a certain age. You can also include conditions that Trust funds are only used for certain items: for example, a child’s education.

We are experts in Will Writing and advising so will review your specific circumstances and recommend what to include in your Will, taking every foreseeable scenario into account. The biggest benefit to our clients is peace of mind. We also provide home visits at no charge saving you time and hassle.

Most solicitors are knowledgeable in several legal areas and are not necessarily specialist Will Writers.

A DIY Will can save you money upfront but if you get anything incorrect, you could cause your family and friends you leave behind a whole lot of trouble and concerns when they are sorting out your finances after you have died.

Also, if you use a Will template, the responsibility for your Will being correct is completely down to you. If there are any mistakes which cause problems when your Will is read, there will not be any legal comeback at all.

It could even mean that your Will is invalid and the law will then decide who your money and property should go to.

Unless your Will is to be very simple and standard (which is rare), we recommend that you avoid these companies. They usually provide a basic Will drafted from a template and are not experts, so they cannot advise you on your specific circumstances. An example of this is a lady who recently came to us that had one of these Wills written. She assumed she would need a simple, straightforward Will but we found several overlooked items that her Will needed to include. Luckily, she came to us instead of hoping the cheap Will she had would cover everything.

Once we have taken your instructions we wait for the statutory 14 days "cooling off" period, unless you have asked us to proceed straight away. We will normally send your “draft” Will(s) to you within seven to ten days. Once we receive your "draft authority" back we will normally ensure that your "Final Will" is with you after a further seven to ten days.

Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPAs) can take longer because we are dependent on your attorneys (normally your family or children) signing documents and sending them back to us. We tend to find that most LPAs are completed within eight weeks. They then need to go to the Government to be registered. This takes on average, a further eight weeks.

Some companies charge the full price to reissue Wills even if only slightly amended. Our policy is to charge £70 + VAT to reissue a Will and £210 + VAT to make a minor amendment such as a guardian or executor and then reissue a Will. Please note that it is NOT necessary to revise your Will(s) if one of your executors or beneficiaries changes address or name; it is all about identification.