The Legal Services Consumer Panel has found in a recent study that as many as one in five Wills that they had examined by experts was invalid (or failed the inspection and close scrutiny of its legal validity). There has been a call in recent times to have the practice of Will writing regulated in order to stop unqualified people (or those with very limited legal knowledge or experience) from drafting Wills. This study has provoked a louder cry for such regulation.

As a Will-writing firm, we are all for regulation in this field as currently anyone can make a living as a Will writer and there are so many unscrupulous people out there who are making large amounts of money from people in return for what the customer believes to be a valid Will when in fact it is not worth the paper it is printed on. This HAS to stop. There was an excellent Panorama programme a while back about this very subject which highlighted some of the problems that can occur when the Will is not drafted correctly.

The Telegraph article indicates that the Consumer Panel found evidence of “poor quality Wills, sharp sales prices … exorbitant pricing and lost wills where the companies [that draft them] disappear without trace”. We would stress that at Telford Wills and Probate, our Wills are drafted by a FULLY QUALIFIED Legal Executive (you can check out Ruth Jarvis’s ILEX status on the Institute of Legal Executives website and look at the members directory) and Ruth has over 14 years of experience in the legal field.

There are also NO sharp sales prices or exorbitant pricing here – on average our Wills cost £75 for a single person to make a Will and £125 for a couple to make matching Wills. The only charge that may be incurred on top of that would be mileage if you live a distance away from Telford but this is agreed with you in advance. We do not even charge VAT. Absolutely NO hidden charges – all costs are set out in black and white before we begin and on the very very rare occasion that we have to increase our fees for some reason, we would confirm this with you BEFORE making any charges. There are no nasty surprises.

Finally, any Wills stored with us for safe storage (a service we offer for FREE) are safe here. We have a written plan in place should anything happen to the firm and ALL clients will be notified if the firm were to close so NO Wills would go astray. Our clients are by far our first priority and we are committed to high levels of customer service so your needs and concerns are dealt with quickly, efficiently and in full.

It should be pointed out that the mystery shopper test carried out by the Consumer Panel found that it was not just from Will writing companies where poorly drafted Wills were found but also from solicitors firms. Regulating the practice of Will writing would ensure that whether you use a Will writing firm or a solicitors firm, the Will you receive will be valid and fit for purpose.

So to recap some of the benefits of using Telford Wills and Probate to draft your Will for you: -

• We are QUALIFIED and EXPERIENCED in Will writing.
• We have current and valid Professional Indemnity Insurance and are covered up to £2 million meaning that IF anything were to go wrong your estate would be covered so there would be no financial loss to you (some Will writing firms have no insurance!).
• We do not charge exorbitant fees
• We have systems in place so original signed Wills are not lost
• On top of all those, we are a small friendly firm who understand that making a Will can be a difficult task. We aim to make it as informal, relaxing and stress free as possible.
• We can take instructions for your Will in a face to face meeting, by telephone or by email/post (we provide you with a comprehensive form and FREE guidance literature and can answer any of your questions at no extra cost) which means that we can cover the whole of England and Wales.

When using a firm for drafting your Wills, we recommend that you check the qualifications and experience of the person drafting your Will, you ensure that the fee structure is set out in writing at the beginning, you ensure that the person and/or company is fully insured and that there are procedures in place for the safe storage of your original Will during the time that firm is in existence and if the firm is merged, sold or wound up.

If we can help in respect of any of the above please do not hesitate to contact us (hello@telfordwillsandprobate.co.uk).

Probate is the process which has to be gone through in order to administer the estate of a deceased and deal with their assets, pay their liabilities and ensure that their last wishes are met. This involves tracing the Will of the deceased and for the appointed executors (or in cases where no Will was made, the personal representatives) to obtain a document known as the Grant of Probate (or Letters of Administration where there is no Will) which enables those appointed people to deal with the estate.

Administering an estate can be a stressful, pressurised and time-consuming job. In other cases, it can be quite straight forward but it can also be very upsetting especially when the deceased is someone very close to us and who was a major part of our lives. It is always a good idea to get a professional on board to help with the administration of an estate even if it is just to give advice. Please do get in touch with us if you want the administration of an estate taken off your hands or if you simply need to ask a question or two along the way whilst dealing with it yourself. We are more than happy to help in whatever way we can.

Estate administration isn’t an easy task as it involves gathering in valuations of all the assets and liabilities of deceased i.e. everything they owned and everything they owed! This means writing lots of letters (and often lots of chasing letters) to all the relevant companies and collating all the information received.

Once all of the information is received, the form filling can start! HMRC want to know whether the estate was above or below the threshold for Inheritance Tax so even a very small estate requires forms to be completed so the tax man can find out what is happening. If the estate is over the Inheritance Tax threshold (currently £325,000) then the forms that need to be completed are rather long and complicated! Application also has to be made to the Probate Registry for the Grant of Probate (or Letters of Administration) and again there are forms needed for this.

A personal application to the Probate Registry involves the completion of forms and the payment of a fee followed by an appointment with the Registry (at a Court office in most cases) where the Oath is sworn. The Probate Registry will then issue the Grant within a couple of weeks.

Once received, the assets of the estate can be collected in (i.e. bank accounts closed, policies encashed etc) and any property (real estate) sold, and all liabilities (loans, utility bills, mortgages etc) paid. The remainder can then be “dished out” to those named in the Will or those who benefit under intestacy laws where no Will was made.

Be warned that if the deceased did not make a Will, the whole process can be more complicated, troublesome and time-consuming. Estates can take anything from 6 months to 6 years (or more) to complete!

Hopefully this will have answered any questions you had relating to what probate is but if there is anything you remain unsure of, please do not hesitate to contact us (hello@telfordwillsandprobate.co.uk) or 01952 246884 (please see the “contact us” section for other means of communication!).

Are you one of the many people who haven’t yet made a Will? Putting it off as it’s too morbid to think about? You’re not the only one but you will be surprised that once people have done it, they feel so much more at ease knowing things are sorted should the worst ever happen. Just because you make a Will doesn’t mean you’ll be knocked down by a bus the very next day!

So many clients have said to me at the end of a meeting where I have taken their Will instructions, “that wasn’t half as bad as I feared and I am so glad I have got it done now”.

We try to make the process as simple and as pain-free as possible. Whilst we ensure that we take full and detailed instructions from you we try not to bombard you with a million and one questions and we try to make the whole process as fun as possible – I have had many client meetings where we have descended into the giggles!

Or are you put off by the costs involved by seeing a solicitor? Don’t be!! I am a home based Legal Executive – I have all the proper qualifications and experience to make your Will for you but I don’t charge anywhere near as much as a high-street solicitor would do. Give us a call or drop me an email for a quote and you may be surprised as to how little it will actually cost you. And it doesn’t matter where in England and Wales you are – I can visit local clients in the comfort of their own home but clients living further afield where my travelling to them would push the costs up too far, I can do it all by phone, email etc. I don’t HAVE to see you to do a Will for you.

SO if you are one of those people who keep saying “I must do something about getting a Will made” then DO IT NOW!!! Call us (01952 246884) or email us (ruth@telfordwillsandprobate.co.uk) and take the first step to getting it sorted.

Thanks for reading!

On to day two of the Thirty Day Blogging Challenge and it’s a top tips post (and for those who followed the old blog, yes I have cheated and just changed the one I did when I first started this challenge!).

I must admit this is a tricky one – there is so much I could cover in a top tips blog post and I really struggled to decide what to blog about. The trouble with my line of work is that it is rather morbid and depressing and the sort of subject no one really wants to think about. I remember a while back I had an elderly client who had written out a “dying tidily” booklet so that when the time did come, all of the information her family and executors needed was all in one place. A simple but effective idea that made life much more stress free for her loved ones and made my job a lot quicker saving the estate money too.

So top tips for dying tidily: -

1. Make a Will – a quick, simple and cost-effective way of making sure your affairs are in order;
2. Appoint Guardians – If you have young children this will avoid the need for your children to be taken into care and the Courts sorting out with whom they will live. The easiest way for this to be done is in a Will.
3. Write Life Policies in Trust – doing this avoids probate for these assets and means the beneficiaries receive their money much quicker.
4. Make a List – write down the location and reference numbers of bank accounts, National Savings, life policies, insurance policies, pensions etc and put the list with your original Will (many Will Writers, Solicitors etc will store your Will for no charge and you can put additional documents with the Will – we offer this service if you need your Will lodging with someone for safe keeping).
5. Talk to your nearest and dearest or write a letter – not the best of subjects for morning coffee but let your closest relatives or friends know your funeral wishes if nothing is mentioned in your Will. See the Dying Matters website for more advice.
6. Register as an organ donor – if you are on the register you relieve some of the stress from your family if they do not know your wishes.
7. Make a Lasting Power of Attorney – this cannot be used once you die but if you are taken ill and are unable to make decisions for yourself this would then take effect and you can then choose who you would want to make your decisions for you giving you more control.

I am sure there are many others - let me know what you think of that I haven’t mentioned above!

Until next time!
Ruth

Telford Wills and Probate
www.telfordwillsandprobate.co.uk

Back to determination to update the blog a lot more frequently than I have done of late, I have gone back to the 30 day blog challenge encouraged by a fellow business woman and Twitter friend (@edenacountant). So back at day one and the task was to find something news related to blog about. In my first attempt at the blog challenge, I wrote about the Royal Wedding which has now happened and therefore I cannot “cheat” by transposing my old blog post into this new blog! So, big news of today is that Jai McDowall won last night’s Britain’s Got Talent. In a bit of a shock result as everyone was expecting little Ronan Parke to win, or even for New Bounce to bounce their way ahead of him to the winning spot but instead dark horse Jai won the race.

So overnight a 24 year old young man has become £100,000 better off and has a career ahead of him that could see him rake in millions. I wonder if he has a Will? Did he put off making a Will before because he thought he had nothing to leave anyone? Overnight his bank balance has increased by £100,000 and he has a lot to leave someone now! Or did he put if off because not only did he not have very much but he also had no one he particularly wanted to leave it to? So far as I know, he is unmarried and has no children (I could be wrong about this but I will presume he does not). Therefore if he was knocked down by a bus this morning, where would his new-found fortune go? Laws of intestacy can be a little complex but with no wife or civil partner and no children, his fortunes would pass to his parents (assuming they are still alive). This isn’t necessarily what he might want.

If you chose not to make a Will, you are basically giving your estate to the government for the law of the land to decide who gets everything you have (be it £1 or £1,000,000) and if the legal system can find no person in your family who has sufficient qualification (or blood relation) to you, the government will benefit from your wealth (even if it’s an unknown wealth for example if you won the lottery last night and had been knocked down by a bus on your way to check the ticket at the newsagent). It is essential for EVERYONE (over the age of 18) to make a Will so that YOU have the choice as to where your hard-earned wealth goes.

So if you are one of those people who keep putting off making a Will then DO IT NOW!!! Call us (01952 246884) or email us (hello@telfordwillsandprobate.co.uk) and take the first step to getting it sorted.

We are very proud to announce that we are now part of the Dying Matters coalition. This is an excellent initiative set up to get people talking about their dying wishes. We all seem to look on the subject of death and dying as a taboo subject but really it is something we should all discuss with our nearest and dearest. Talking about things is in everyone’s interest and needs to be done before it’s too late!

The Dying Matters coalition has been formed to try to change attitudes and behaviour towards death and dying and to alter the public’s knowledge of the subject. They want to make “living and dying well the norm” through a “fundamental change in society (through which) dying, death and bereavement will be seen and accepted as the natural part of everybody’s life cycle”.

The membership of the coalition is made up of many different organisations such as the NHS, charities, legal professionals, funeral directors , hospices, care homes etc. We are very proud to have been accepted as a member of the coalition and to help raise awareness of the need to talk about dying as a normal part of everyday life. We know from experience of both our clients and ourselves that the subject of death is something that people feel they cannot talk about. No one wants to think about not being around anymore and about losing those people who are closest to us. However it is a sad fact of life that one day we will all leave this mortal earth and as we only have the one death, it would be good to do it the way we would like to. We try to talk about Wills and funeral wishes in a light-hearted manner in which our clients feel at ease to talk about such things. Approaching the subject with humour and in a friendly manner makes our clients feel relaxed and they find it easier to open up and talk about things.

Sorry for my quietness this last I really don’t know where time has gone, the year is flying by so fast already! Hopefully everyone is well and busy though!

If you are considering making a Will now (and we suggest you do!), we would highly recommend a review of your financial situation at the same time. This means that you can look at exactly where you are financially, consider what options you have to grow financially in the future and also to consider what might happen to your financial situation over time. I would at this point make it absolutely clear that this firm is NOT a financial advisory firm and I am NOT a financial adviser! I would not dream of giving you financial advice as I am NOT an expert in this field.

I would however suggest you have a chat with my good friends at Robert Nicholas Financial Advisers Limited in Telford (www.robertnicholas.co.uk). They are a lovely friendly bunch who will give you the best financial advice and as they are independent they can find you the best product on the market to suit your individual needs. They can talk to you about all aspects of your financial situation from mortgages to life insurance policies and pensions. Even if you think everything is sorted in your financial life, it may be worth having a chat with them in any event as they may well be able to save you money and/or find you a better deal or product.

Did you know that if a life insurance policy is written in trust rather than not, it will bypass the probate process and pass directly to the person or people you want to receive the policy proceeds almost immediately following your death rather than the beneficiaries having to wait for probate to be granted and then the policy provider paying out the proceeds. This can save time and money and allow your beneficiaries to get their hands on the cash a lot quicker. Robert Nicholas IFA can help you to arrange this for either new or existing policies. They can also look around the market and see if they can get you a better deal for a lower price, saving you money in the process.

We do offer a free asset and liability questionnaire so you can assess your financial situation yourself (you may be worth more than you think!) and if you would wish for a copy, please just email me – hello@telfordwillsandprobate.co.uk

So please contact us or Robert Nicholas direct to discuss your Wills and financial review today! If you call them direct, tell them we sent you!!!

Til next time …

Thanks to those who have subscribed already. Please let me have any comments you have on the blog – always interested to hear what people have to say.

Today’s blog post is part of the 30 day blog challenge and is a guest post by Rob Scott of RS Bookkeeping (follow him on Twitter at @RSBookkeeping). Thanks so much for the post Rob! So let’s see what Rob has to say about tax …

Could a nil tax return cost you £1,600?

Seems like a daft question, how could you have to pay £1,600 to HMRC if you don’t have any tax to pay?

You may have seen an earlier blog post here: http://rsbookkeeping.wordpress.com/2011/04/08/tax-return-fines-set-to-rise/ when HMRC announced that tax returns are set to rise. The simple fact is that even if you don’t owe any tax at all to HMRC, you could still end up being fined £1,600 for not submitting the return on time. In the past it was possible to cancel the late return penalties if there wasn’t any tax due, but not anymore. The £1,600 fine is worked out as below: 

•          £100 penalty for late filing
•          After 3 months late £10 per day up to 90 days, then
•          After 6 months late the greater of £300 or 5% of the tax due
•          After 12 months late the greater of £300 or 5% of the tax due

Seems silly that you may needlessly have to pay some tax. If you are unsure how to complete your tax return surely it is better to spend a relatively small fee to have someone do it for you and avoid these fines? If you are capable of completing it yourself, then there is no excuse. It won’t take you long to do and will save you money in the long run.

Hope that helps some of you out – I am off to ensure my Tax Return is filed ASAP to avoid such fines! I will be back blogging later this week. In the meantime, enjoy the sun! Don’t forget to get in touch with your comments!

Regards,

Ruth

Today’s blog is about someone else for a change! Today is about Estate Insure a fabulous company I have found who provide “first class Probate property insurance for the Legal profession”. Not something that you might feel is too exciting but is something that is incredibly important in my line of work and I am over the moon to have found a company that not only specialises in the niche area of insurance but a company who has incredibly high standards of customer care and service.

Estate Insure provide insurance for probate solicitors and also for individuals where there is a need to insure a property that has become unoccupied either due to the fact someone has died or that someone has been taken into residential care. Most insurance companies will continue to cover unoccupied property but only for a certain amount of time or with reduced cover (imposing several exclusions on the policy). Estate Insure offer a policy that provides standard peril cover for unoccupied property for any period of time.

From Estate Insure’s blog – “Estate Insure is a low-cost, full cover property insurance policy designed to insure properties left empty due to bereavement or long-term care. Customer feedback from Solicitors around the UK demonstrates that our ‘Excellent’ service delivers on price and hassle free administration every time.”

I can concur that their customer service is second to none. I have had a recent case where a property has been left unoccupied since December due to the owner having died. Despite our request to the current insurer to continue cover, the insurance was cancelled with immediate effect and with no notice. Obviously the executor went into panic mode as he realised the property was uninsured during what was quite a harsh winter. We got in touch with Estate Insure quite late on one afternoon and the matter was dealt with very efficiently and speedily and a quote was given within minutes without complicated form filling and millions of questions. The low-cost premium meant the executor was more than happy to give it the go ahead and within a few minutes the property was fully insured again giving relief to all concerned.

Documents arrived the next morning and we were delighted to give positive feedback to Estate Insure as both we and the executor had been completely satisfied with the service we had received.

So if you have the need either as an individual or as a lawyer for this time of insurance, please contact Estate Insure as I am sure you will be as impressed with their product and service as we have been. Please contact Estate Insure direct if you need their assistance (website: www.estateinsure.com; Tel: 0845 6800 255; Email: info@estateinsure.com; Blog: www.jonatecs.posterous.com).

Until next time enjoy your chocolate!

Ruth

Telford Wills and Probate (www.telfordwillsandprobate.co.uk)

So here I am with the first “proper” post for the new WordPress blog. Quite excited about this! The challenge for day 7 of the 30 day blogging challenge is to do a “day in the life” so the post is all about me and the business! Though I actually haven’t yet done day six I thought I’d swap the days over and do this challenge first as it would probably be a good introduction for everyone who is finding us via WordPress. So …

About me Ruth Jarvis BA (Hons), F.Inst.L.Ex. !!! …

Born (1974) and bred in Shropshire,  moved away in 1993 when I went to Aberystwyth university where I did a joint honours in American Studies and Education. I happened to be living next door to a solicitor when I was doing my finals who approached me one day asking if I could work in his offices for a fortnight to cover his secretary’s annual leave. I accepted and that 2 weeks turned into almost 4 years as I was asked to stay on and become a permanent secretary for a new solicitor. Whilst there I began my ILEX training. Due to ill-health I had to move away and eventually ended up living with a mate in Lytham, Lancashire. I am a big Blackpool FC supporter and was heavily involved in a supporters group so moving from Wales to Blackpool seemed an obvious choice.

I continued working for solicitors though moved away down to Bracknell, Berkshire after meeting a bloke and falling pregnant. Within 12 months of having had my daughter I moved back to Shropshire to be near my parents. Again I continued working in the legal profession and finished my ILEX training in 2004. I went on to have a son, getting married to a guy I was engaged to when I was 18 but split up with before I went to uni and hadn’t seen for 12 years (not that I turned up at the altar and married someone I hadn’t seen for 12 years – we did date for a couple before I married him!!!!). I also had two more children (yeah completely mad I know). So I have four kids – two girls aged 8 and 5 and two boys aged 6 and 3. Never a quiet moment in this house!

I became self-employed in 2007 between children 3 and 4 as it was too expensive to put them all in nursery while I went to work. Initially I worked for other firms of solicitors on a home based consultant based fashion and then went on to work for one particular firm on a part-time basis. Due to major changes in that firm and to finally getting my full Legal Executive qualification (two years of continuous employment when you keep having breaks to have kids takes a long time to achieve!!), I decided to venture out alone completely and I set up Telford Wills and Probate in November 2010. So we’re relatively new but growing daily. I have excellent links with a local independent financial adviser (Robert Nicholas Financial Advisers Ltd) which has helped the business grow. It’s still challenging to draw in new clients but I am getting there and enjoy the aspects of my work.

For more details of the business itself please see www.telfordwillsandprobate.co.uk – we are in the process of updating the site but most information is on there and if it’s not, please drop me an email (ruth@telfordwillsandprobate.co.uk) a tweet (@telfordwills), a phone call or fax (01952 246884), a text (07917 844301) or communicate with us on Facebook (Telford Wills and Probate)!

So that’s me. I will do another blog post soon on the business itself but don’t want to drone on endlessly today!!! If you have comments on this post, please feel free to leave a comment below – I’d be glad to hear what you have to say!

For now …

Ruth

Telford Wills and Probate