£800.. to have a will written !

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Something wrong there.

£800? and doing it over the phone?

Don't let a bank anywhere near your will.

They'll want to be the executor and charge a fortune.

I know you can buy the form to write your own will for a few quid and the sum of £800 soundds like daylight robbery. A few years ago we had a family will done which meant four of us sat at my sisters, the company sent an official to the house and wrote our four wills, total cost £200 The company look after the wil and I can make ammendments or alterations at no extra cost and I seem to remember I had to sign it and have my signature witnessed to make it all legal.

£800 is far far too much. He must have got the decimal point in the wrong place. £80 is far closer, though a little expensive.

I would say £80 is a reasonable charge by a bona fide solicitor not one of those dubious will-writers who slip in hidden costs(eg x % of the estates value)

I know you can buy the form to write your own will for a few quid and the sum of £800 soundds like daylight robbery. A few years ago we had a family will done which meant four of us sat at my sisters, the company sent an official to the house and wrote our four wills, total cost £200 The company look after the wil and I can make ammendments or alterations at no extra cost and I seem to remember I had to sign it and have my signature witnessed to make it all legal.

The problem is that the £200 is only a foot in the door to act as executors of the will!...............and that,s when the real charges start!........be very careful.

No they are only the will writers, I wasn't all that bothered as my will is quite simple but my mothers had to be worded very carefully and my sister has quite a bit to divy up as well. My sister who i trust is the executor of my will and she and I are dual executors of my brothers will.

I remember when my grandfather died and his will was kept by his solicitor who was also the executor and the cost of this made me shudder, even more so than usual as he'd been a close family friend, I know my mother was rather less than impressed with his greedy behaviour.

My solicitor said to me you don't want me to be your executor because of the costs.

.......oo er! I have my will lodged with my solicitor, may now have a rethink.

Allowing a solicitor to be the executor of a will is giving them a licence to take your money. I know a lady who was a beneficiary and could not believe how much the solicitor screwed out of the estate. He would always be "out" when she called and dragged it out for many many months, introducing new charges as he went along. He even organised a buffet after the funeral. The buffet was very very expensive and the food was terrible. The solicitor obviously took a massive fee for "organising " it.

£800 is utterly ridiculous. £140 would be about right.

A few weeks ago, my elderly mother was in the co-operative bank & she decided to enquire about having a will written/updated, there wasn't anyone at the bank at that time to deal with it & she was told that someone would ring her as it was all done over the phone anyway. A few days later someone did ring her & explained a few things about writing the will,when she asked how much it would be, he said £800, my mother (shocked) said" HOW MUCH",he said £800,anyway she said "i will have to think about it" & left it at that.

 

When she told me i decided to have a look on the co-op website, on their website it says wills are written from £125, I would have thought it would be somewhere near this price as her will is not that complicated.

 

I may be guessing but i suspect the co-op is using an independent will writer, & that person is trying to pull a fast one !

 

Has anyone else experienced anything like this?

i would suggest that you watch the press around march, you will find free wills week where you can have your will done by a solicitor free of charge. they do like you to make a bequest to a charity and there are several chatities to pick from.