A Will with a red wax seal in the bottom - our Wills Solicitors in Lytham can assist with your Will writing needs

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Do I need a Solicitor to make a Will?

Posted on 19th October 2023

The question of whether a person can prepare their own Will is one that our Wills Solicitors in Lytham are faced with often. The simple answer is yes; a person can make their own Will, at home, and people frequently do. Unfortunately, making your own Will to save a little money can, ultimately, lead to it costing the ones you love much more.

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How do you write your own Will?

Many high street stationary shops, such as WHSmith and the Post Office, sell DIY Will kits, which give you a basic Will template, which you can complete and, in accordance with the instructions, sign. These kits tend to cost around £20.00, sometimes less and sometimes more, and allegedly guide the reader through the process of making their own Will. Many people Google "Is a WHSmith Will legal?". Providing a Will is signed correctly, in accordance with section 9 of the Wills Act 1837, it will be valid. Sadly, as our Wills Solicitors in Lytham often experience, valid does not equate to good.

Beware of the £20 Will that could cost your family more

The issue with homemade, DIY Wills is that they can lead to the Will being invalid, discovered only after the Testator has died. For example, if the terms of the Will are ambiguous or fails to dispose of assets correctly, it could be invalid, which can lead to a partial or full intestacy. In many cases, this means that the estate is not divided as the Testator wished, but under the law. Another similar issue is that homemade Wills are often not found. You may store all your paperwork in a safe place, and even tell your loved ones where it is, but often, after losing a loved one, people forget what they were told, or fail to find the document, as it's not always obvious a homemade Will is, in fact, a Will.

All the above issues generally results is more legal costs, to correct the mistakes made or to try and correct matters after a Grant of Probate is issued to the wrong person after a Will is later discovered. Ultimately, this reduces the value of your estate and could- in some cases- lead to a person needing to pay legal fees out their own pocket, if these were not incurred correctly as an estate administration expense.

What are the benefits of using a Solicitor to make a Will?

It can seem like paying a Solicitor to draft a Will when you could do it yourself cheaper is a waste of money. However, when solicitors, such as our Will Solicitors in Lytham, prepare Wills, you don't just sign the final document. You receive advice about:

Understanding your Inheritance Tax position, and even discussing steps you could take to reduce your liability

Leaving business shares under your Will

Dealing with foreign property, investments, bank accounts, and Wills

How to protect your estate against remarriage if you die before your partner/spouse

Leave complex gifts

Make provision for minor beneficiaries, such as children and grandchildren

Protect your share of jointly owned assets with a trust

Ensure the correct jurisdiction and marriage clauses are included in your Will

Theguardian.com has discussed one such case, where a lady's cousin died resulting in his homemade Will causing her 2 years of issues, and massive legal fees. After his death, Eileen McCormack realised that her cousin's DIY Will was invalid. Having simply updated the same version of his Will year-upon-year by hand, after his death, Eileen discovered that the Will was invalid and, to make matters worse, it had never even been valid, having been witnessed incorrectly when it was initially signed.

Unfortunately, due to the issues with her cousin's Will, the estate bore costs of 16% of the estate's modest £98,000 value - over £15,000- making a £175 Will offered by our Wills Solicitors in Lytham seem that much more reasonable. All for the sake of saving probably a maximum of a couple of hundred pounds to draft a Will, Eileen's cousin ended up racking up legal fees which needlessly diminished his modest estate and the benefit he passed on to his loved ones. In addition to these costs, as Eileen's cousin died intestate- as he had no valid Will- his estate likely did not pass to who he actually wanted to. Eileen commented that he had made various gifts of various amounts, updating these over the years, none of which would happen without a valid Will, as the intestacy rules do not account for one-off gifts to friends or other loved ones who aren't benefiting under the intestacy rules.

If you want to avoid the same thing happening for your loved ones after you're gone, make a Will with our expert Wills Solicitors in Lytham.

Why should I use a Solicitor to make a Will?

This debate is, in fact, raging on at the moment between legal professionals and other unregulated Will writers. Some legal professionals believe that Will writing should be regulated, which means that only those professionals who meet certain criteria can draft Wills. Some people, such as non-regulated Will writers, may argue that if you have experience in Will drafting, you should be able to do. Unfortunately, not all Will writers have sufficient experience, and our Wills Solicitors in Lytham come across clients who have paid hundreds- if not thousands- of pounds for Wills, which did not actually meet their requirements.

Solicitors, such as our Wills Solicitors in Lytham at MG Legal, are regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Not only does this mean that we are accountable to the SRA for our work, but we are also held to the highest professional standards. We must act with honesty and integrity.

Sadly, on top of the issues with unregulated Will writers, our Wills Solicitors have come across more than a few homemade Wills which have caused issues when the executors have tried to deal with the estate.

In one such case, the testator (the person who made the Will) made amendments to their DIY Will by hand, believing it was sufficient to make gifts to their children. Unfortunately, the changes were invalid, and the estate passed to the Testator's spouse, who did not leave a Will, meaning their stepchildren received nothing.

In another case, the testator crossed gifts out, changing the amounts. The changes were, again, not valid, and the people who were supposed to receive more money according to the invalid gifts, actually received much less.

Finally, another matter where a DIY Will was made leaving everything to a friend, ended with the friend receiving nothing as the DIY Will was not correctly executed, meaning the Testator's estate instead passed to family under the Rules of Intestacy.

These may seem like one-off examples, but unfortunately, our Wills Solicitors in Lytham see cases like this all-too-often.

Are MG Legal "Wills Solicitors in Lytham"?

Yes- our team of Wills Solicitors at MG Legal are now in Lytham. Whilst our clients in Lytham have certainly used us for many years, they will be pleased to know that they now have an office on their doorstep. At MG Legal, we pride ourselves on our excellent service- with hundreds of 5 star reviews from our repeating clients- and transparent fixed-fees, so our clients know where they stand with the costs of their matter from the beginning. Our Wills Solicitors in Lytham are available for face-to-face, video, and telephone appointments, or can even visit you at your home, if required. We like to try and help as many people have access to our Wills Solicitors in Lytham as possible, so if you- like us- are busy during office hours, we offer out-of-hours appointments.

Why choose MG Legal's Wills Solicitors in Lytham?

Transparent fees.

We are the experts.

Multiple Office Locations.

Give us a call any time.

How much do Wills Solicitors in Lytham charge?

Our Wills Solicitors in Lytham offer fixed fees for preparing Wills:

Single Wills

To find out more about a single Will, click here.

30 minute appointment to discuss your requirements for your Will, and your wishes.

Preparation of your draft Will, and making reasonable amendments (if required)

Arranging signature of your final Will

Storage of your final Will

Registration of your Will with Certainty, the National Will Register (if required)

Does not include any additional work required, such as full advice about inheritance tax or the inclusion of trust provisions in your Will.

£175.00 plus VAT for simple single Wills. If you include trust provisions, the fees can be higher. Please contact us for your bespoke quote.

Mirror Wills

To find out what Mirror Wills are, click here.

30 minute appointment to discuss your requirements for your Wills, and your wishes

Preparation of your draft Wills, and making any amendments (as required)

Completion of your final Wills

Storage of your final Wills

Does not include any additional work required, such as full advice about inheritance tax or the inclusion of trust provisions in your Wills.

£325.00 plus VAT for simple mirror Wills. If you include trust provisions, the fees can be higher. Please contact us for your bespoke quote.

How can I contact Wills Solicitors in Lytham, MG Legal?

To contact our expert Wills Solicitors in Lytham, complete the callback form, below, or use one of the other contact methods to get straight in touch with our team.