Will & Probate Services
“Why Should I Use a Professional When I Can Do it Myself For Free?” ADVICE FROM NICK ASH, MANAGING DIRECTOR AT WILL AND PROBATE SERVICES
Q
uite often people ask me, “Why should I use a professional when I can write my will for free?” Now, for some people, that might be the right way to go. But if I’m honest, those people are few and far between.
In life, there are those people who will take a risk to save some money in the short term. Some people choose to build their own extensions, rather than use a builder, but they won’t have guarantees when things go wrong. Others might choose to do their own conveyancing when they move to a new house and sometimes people apply for a grant of probate without taking professional advice. All of these things carry huge risks and consequences if things go wrong. Thankfully, these people are in the minority. Ultimately, most people want the peace of mind that comes from knowing that something has been done properly. A couple of years ago I met a family. Their father had died but they had a will that was written by him on the back of an A4 sheet of paper. The will seemed fairly straightforward on the face of it. It
appointed his son and daughter as executors and gave his estate equally between three children. They were obviously very proud of his will as it had saved him a few quid when he had made it. He had signed it and his son and daughter had signed it as witnesses. It was a valid will. Sadly, what they didn’t realise was that, by signing the will as witnesses, they had contravened the rules set down in Section 15 of the Wills Act which say that a witness to a will cannot be a beneficiary and that any gift to a witness would fail. This meant that the gentleman’s youngest son got the whole estate as the gifts to his siblings had failed. Clearly, this is not what dad had intended but, as a consequence of trying to save a few pounds, he ended up with his estate being disputed among his children. The cost of sorting out the problems was far in excess of any saving he had made when he wrote his will himself. I have heard many similar tales over the past fifteen years. So, my tip is a simple one - get some professional advice; there are plenty of people out there who can write your will properly for you. If you would like to use us, then call 01778 382723 and book a free consultation to discuss your needs.
Will and Probate Services | Suite 24 | Eventus Sunderland Road | Market Deeping | Peterborough | PE6 8FD Telephone: 01778 382723 E-mail: advice@will-probate.co.uk www.will-probate.co.uk 24
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