Video Transcript:
Hi, this is Matt from Leech & Co Solicitors, just a short video about Wills, what’s involved in making a Will, how long the process takes and what it costs.
What’s involved in making a Will?
The first point, we would always say is use a Solicitor to make your Will. We are Solicitors so we would say that, but there are genuine reasons for that. The main one being to use a Solicitor to make your Will is that you have the benefit of the Solicitor’s skills, their experience, their training, their legal knowledge etc which is invaluable when making a Will. It’s more complicated that you’d think, there’s quite a lot involved, you have to make sure it’s right and make sure it’s right for you and the Solicitor has those skills. So, that’s why we’d say use a Solicitor and its not just for our benefit! It’s for your benefit as the client.
You need that reassurance that the Will has been done correctly, that when the Will is needed, it’s right, it’s valid and its going to work for you and your family.
So, I’ll do another video about why you should use a Solicitor, but that’s just the first point for this video.
So, what’s actually involved, what’s the process of making your Will?
Well, another advantage to using a Solicitor is that the Solicitor will make the process of making your Will straightforward for you using their skills and experience and so on. Each Solicitor will have a different process and their own way of doing things, but at Leech & Co we will always come to see you at your home or workplace so you never need to make an appointment at our office or take time out of your schedule or find time, we know everyone’s busy, so we will come to you at your home or workplace or wherever you’d like.
At the moment due to the Coronavirus, we’re quite limited, but if need us to come and see you, we will and we’ll find a safe way of doing that, but we’re doing a lot of interviews at the moment over the phone, on video-calls are carrying out most of our meetings with clients on the phone or by video call or whatever works for you.
When we do meet with you, either face-to-face or on the phone, we’ll sit down with you, talk to you, listen to you, get an idea of what you want and what you’re trying to do and we can then advise you and give you some ideas as to your options and choices i.e. this might be a good way to do things or this might be a better way of doing it than you’d thought etc. We can give you some knowledge you maybe didn’t have before and give you some more ideas as to what you can do.
Once we’ve discussed it and we’ve discussed the ideas, we’ll prepare a draft Will for you so you can have a look. Quite often when someone sees something written down they then have other ideas and want to change it and that’s fine, no problem. If you need more than one appointment, two, three, four appointments, that’s all fine, we’ll do what it takes to get your Will right.
So, once you’re happy with the final Will, we’ll draft it up, send you the final copy and come and see you to have it signed and witnessed. You’ve then got your final Will.
What happens after that? We will store it in our secure Will bank, keep an electronic copy on our file and provide you with a paper copy so it will be very easy to locate when it’s needed. The storage of your Will is free of charge, but there is an additional charge of £30.00 if you want to register your Will with Certainty National Will register, but this really is covering all bases.
So, how long does it take? If the Will is relatively straightforward, we would expect to have the final Will ready and with you within 2 – 3 weeks so from the first time you talk to us, 2 or 3 weeks later you’ll have your final Will. Obviously anything more complex that needs more meetings, more discussions or you just can’t fit it into your schedule to have the meetings it might take a little longer, but ideally all being well, 2 to 3 weeks from when you first talk to us
Crucial question, how much does it cost? Well, it’s difficult to be precise without talking to you first and finding out exactly what you need. The full price list is on our website so you can what we do and how much we charge for each different service, but to give you an idea we charge £175.00 plus VAT for a single, straightforward Will. However, we offer fixed fees whenever we can so it gives you certainty at the outset of the cost you’ll be paying at the end.
We also offer a discount if you refer your family and friends to us and if we can help them they get a 10% discount. We offer flexible payment terms so you can pay over a number of months we ca arrange that with agreement.
We also offer 20% discount off our fees for all NHS staff, carers, teachers, Police, members of the emergency services and armed forces, all Keyworkers and Foodbank Volunteers. Hopefully I’ve not missed anyone out, but Keyworkers is quite a broad group of people. We’re more than happy to give that discount to try and give something people to those people.
So, hopefully that gives you an idea of the process and what it involves. We can make it straightforward for you. So give us a call if you want to have a chat about making your Will or updating your Will, we’re more than happy to chat, there’s no obligation to instruct us – it’s 0161 749 9000 or contact us through the website www.leechandco.co.uk
Look forward to speaking to you soon and if we can help you, we’ll be more than happy to. Speak to you soon, thank you for listening.
