Own Hand written Will in plain English

I used to enjoy watching Heir Hunters. I don’t know if it’s still on. All those people who didn’t leave a valid will so everything went to distant relatives, some of whom had never heard of the deceased, and the companies which traced them. Surely if you don’t have a close relative or good friend to whom you want leave your worldly goods, you would like a charity to benefit? In my day a booklet of charities was sent to solicitors every year so that if someone had little idea to whom to leave money, a variety of charities could be pointed out.

Had an unknown relative die 2001, after searching by appointed executor phone call one Feb night told me I was inline for inheritance! Shock but it was loads of money. Thank goodness he didn't make a will died intestate.

We assume we'll have spent our money on care, that's why we save as much as possible - for our care and our Church.

A properly drawn/signed will saves time and leaves no doubts for our heirs. Seems the correct thing to do, to me.

We had our wills done for free, with our chosen charity. Most people then leave them a donation after death, but they don't insist. We needed to do ours because we both have adult children from our first marriages. One of my daughters still lives with us because she's just finished her teaching degree. I used to worry about us going in holiday etc because if anything happened to us , there was nothing written down about our wishes etc . I have peace I'd mind down that if anything happens to us , my daughter knows where our wills are

My husband benefited from a distance relative's failure to make a will. This was back in the 1980s. The deceased was the daughter of the youngest of his grandfather's 9 siblings He was the eldest). All born in the 1870-80s. His sister had moved 200 miles away on marriage and this was the estate of her unmarried daughter. After all the money spent on tracing all the family that would benefit from this estate, my DH and all the other benficiaries received cheques for £170.

If only this lady had made a will and left the money to a kind neighbour or the cats home. Both would have got so much more that the sum of what the benficiaries received.

Gosh, lots to reply to!

Shinamae - goods and chattels is a useful phrase encompassing all your household stuff, clothes, car if you have one, everything in the shed, your lovely pots in the garden. It very archaic I know but thank goodness wives are no longer chattels!

Chestnut the problem with finding all the cousins only arose because a will hadn’t been made and all family members, even some the deceased had probably never seen, had to be traced to be given a share of the estate. If a will had been made leaving the estate to particular friends or even a charity, none of that would have been necessary.

Maybee if you are being charged on the basis of time spent rather than a fixed fee, this is usually done in 6 minute units even if less than 6 minutes was spent. Time spent on phone calls, letters/emails received and sent, drafting documents, legal research, time spent seeing you, in court, travelling etc will be recorded. The solicitor most certainly shouldn’t charge for correcting his own mistake nor for getting to grips with the case when he took over. I’m very glad you got the bill substantially reduced.

Rosie yes the insurance will cover mistakes made whilst the solicitor was in practice.

Whiff, thank you very much.

BigBertha - this is sometimes done. Perhaps someone will be along soon who was advised to set up a trust.

Maybee70 Of course you paid for every minute of the time the solicitor spent considering every aspect of your divorce.

If you went to the hairdresser would you expect to pay for just the time the hair dresser spent physically cutting your hair, but not for having your hairwash before and drying and styling afterwards?

Your story has nothing to do with 'trusting' solicitors, everything you describe is standard in any professional practice, whether you see a solicitor, accountant, surveyor, the only difference is that a solicitor will often itemise every item, whereas other professions may just bill you for 'professional services' but that will include phone calls, reading all the papers and the time they spend sitting at their desk thinking about your case and how to proceed.

It sounds like extra expense, so I wonder who advised you and for what reason.
This is something I asked about some years ago and I was told by my solicitor that it was not necessary, as the will itself covered what was needed. However, everyone’s circumstances are different.

We have just updated our wills and included POAs but have also advised to create a family Trust has anyone else included this?Any advice would be very welcome thankyou.

Only just realised you had nasty post targeted at you Germanshephardsmom sorry about that you have always given good advice from wills and house sales and anything legal. You have given your time freely and it's always made sense . I know you have helped me make decisions in the past through your posts. 💐

Since we got married we made our first will using a solicitor and continued as the children came along. Since my husband died I updated my will always using a solicitor. When I updated it for the final time I also took out both lasting powers of attorney as it was cheaper to do everything all together.

Also I found out which I didn't know anyone who thinks they have a claim on your estate can contest your will up to 2 years after you die. Doesn't have to be a relative but anybody. So had to go through some hoops to make sure a relative couldn't contest my will. What I had to do will never see the light of day unless it's contested and then will be ready out in court. For my peace of mind I always use a solicitor.

Germanshepherdsmum may I ask a question as I too value your expert advice? We have received our original wills back from a solicitor who made them many years ago. We intend to have the wills updated (really basic mirror wills, no complexities) because the originals were made when we had adult and minor children. None lived abroad then, but one now does who was an executor so we really we need to appoint a replacement. If we engage a local solicitor to draw up the wills as we intend .... (totally agree with the protection covered by insurance etc ) but what would be the position if the solicitor was no longer practising (through retirement or death) and something was wrongly drawn up? Would the original insurance cover it?

I am very suspicious of solicitors because when I divorced my husband I didn’t realise that they were charging me for every phone call etc. They had to re draft a letter that they’d made a mistake with and charged me for that. A new solicitor replaced the original one and I sat in his office for a hour while he read through my notes and he charged me for that, too. I then started taking someone with me and he turned to him and asked him who he was. When I received the final bill I went through all the things I felt they shouldn’t have charged me for and they reduced the bill by quite a lot. I must point out that people I met afterwards who worked for other solicitors told me that he was a horrible man. I am going to get my will re drafted with a solicitor but I’m going to get a price for doing it before I see them.

SporeRB The poor executor who is elderly himself spent 2 years tracing all the first cousins all over the world who have never heard of these cousins and had to go through bags and bags of paperwork trying to locate their bank accounts, shares, pensions etc., Absolute nightmare for the executor.

Maybe I am being thick here, but I can't see how making a will would help in this case? The cousins still have to be traced. The bank accounts still have to be found.

Germanshepherdsmum

You’re very kind Shinamae. It’s good to have such lovely friends here. 💐 for all of you.

No, YOU are actually very kind, giving all this information and now I will take my hand written will to a solicitor and then they can translate it into appropriate “language”… (still hate “ goods and chattels”!) 🤓
Without you, I would not have done this and goodness knows what problems might have surfaced in the future…💐💐💐

You’re very kind Shinamae. It’s good to have such lovely friends here. 💐 for all of you.

Callistemon21

Iam64

I missed the post that was deleted. As MOnica says *there are many of us who are more than willing to stand beside GSM and saw ‘we too are opinionated’

I missed it too and yes, lots of us can have opinions even though we tend to be older. It's good to hear the opinions of those who have expertise in their fields.

I missed it as well, but I am more than happy to stand by GSM. She gives her experience freely and I respect her opinions and knowledge….🤗

Thanks Calli.

Iam64

I missed the post that was deleted. As MOnica says *there are many of us who are more than willing to stand beside GSM and saw ‘we too are opinionated’

I missed it too and yes, lots of us can have opinions even though we tend to be older. It's good to hear the opinions of those who have expertise in their fields.

Thank you very much MOnica, Iam and Maw. I’m grateful for your support. I know some people consider that solicitors are rip off merchants. Thankfully I didn’t work for people like that. Though big corporate clients - the mainstay of my practice -drove a hard bargain they always showed respect. At the end of the day, respect for what you’ve done is what keeps you going. When I qualified the President of the Law Society told my batch of newly qualifieds that we must always use our knowledge to help people - I have never forgotten his words, decades ago, and try to follow that injunction.

@MollyMinx to hold an opinion backed by years of professional experience is not the same as being opinionated.

If I have a health issue, I would prefer the opinion of a health professional to that of an unqualified and inexperienced layperson and the same applies to a legal issue.

I missed the post that was deleted. As MOnica says *there are many of us who are more than willing to stand beside GSM and saw ‘we too are opinionated’

Please be aware that I didn’t report the deleted post, though I was sorely tempted.

MollyMinx1 GSM is a solicitor, haven't you realised this yet?

You clearly do not understand how GN works. It is a forum of older people from all walks of life who have worked, or stillwork, in a wide variety of professions. We all have very different opinions on many subjects and are all prepared to state our opinions, morning, noon and night (perhaps you are fortunate enough to have no experience of imsomnia).

I think there are many of us who are more than willing to stand beside *GSM and say 'We too are opinionated.'

I am not sure whether you are new to GN or just that we have never been on the same threads before, but lots of us have no fear about expressing our, often opposing, views quite forcefully, but generally, courteously. Personal criticism is not considered acceptable. You might bear that in mind.

I beg your pardon? Early morning to night time? And I am not on any forum other than GN. What an unpleasant post.