Last week we had a phone call from the solicitor where we made our will 15 years ago.
They suggested having a revision of the will.
I agreed to see them for a review as there was one thing I wanted to change - that was to add the name of another executor.
We had quite a long session where she was wanting to know the value of our house & the names of our grandchildren, how much we’d got in the bank etc. I didn’t see the relevance of all this but I went along with it. Finally I asked her to add the name of the extra executor which she did - then she surprised me by saying ‘That will be £240 for the new will’
I said to her ‘But it’s not a new will - it’s just a slight amendment to the old one’
She insisted that it was a new will & I would have to pay £240.
I told her I wasn’t paying it & I’d make my own!
I am so angry at that solicitor - I think I was being ripped off.
Would it be foolhardy of me to make a new will myself or to get one of the cheap online will makers to do it for me?
Both of our wills were drawn up by us and overseen by a will writer before signing and I must add that we were very pleased with the service and the reasonable price charged. We also drew up lasting powers of attorney (fiscal & health) at the same time just in case one of us goes loopy.
Sounds about right. Solicitors seem to have a licence to print money!!
I was recently charged £365 by a solicitor for a tiny look through paperwork and write a letter on my behalf. He emailed me a draft and just a few lines in he had made a major error which would have changed the whole gist of it. I had to pull him up over that. Total rip off!
People assume they can charge such huge amounts because you are paying for their expertise. load of tosh. My friend was a legal secretary all her working life. She left school at 15 with no qualifications and never worked to get more. She told me that often it was her or very junior staff who did all the legwork, searching etc and the solicitors just signed the letters.
She also said that every single minute is charged for, every phone call, every piece of paper, every photocopy right down to paper clips and envelopes. It adds up very quickly.
Yes, with hindsight Carol should at least have asked the solicitor first ‘what is this going to cost me?’
I am still smarting over my £1,000 solicitor’s bill for the work she did on the first house I was going to buy. Yes, I was the one who pulled out. Yes, I instructed her. But yes, it does flipping add up! (Together with the £500 for the survey, I was £1,500 out of pocket, simply because the seller was dragging his heels.)
Sorry slightly off topic, I know.
I used a will writing company, and paid a premium for continuous service. I get storage (documents), any amount of amendments, and they help the executors with probate (form filling, application etc.). Yes it was a lot of money for me, but it will help the executors and they won’t need to pay for solicitors when the time comes.
We used a will writing company a few years ago to draw up our wills and lasting powers of attorney. Solicitors really do take the yellow stuff when it comes to charges. I too was a legal secretary many years ago, and @Flowerpower is absolutely correct. Every single phone call was logged in the client’s file. This was long before computers, and I had to type the details on to a sheet of paper kept in the file - date, time call answered, time call ended. All the pieces of paper in the file were charged, all the letters sent, all the postage. And if a client called in for a meeting and was offered a coffee, yes you guessed it, that was charged too.
I think that charge was excessive @carol, and I certainly wouldn’t have paid it either. Good for you!
It sounds like the going rate, but it doesn’t sound right.
I am executrix for my parents’ estate and I just called this week to have them send me a digital copy of the paperwork. Truly, for five minutes we were charged $150.
Attorneys mostly do work to self-perpetuate the need for more attorneys.
I did ask her ‘how much’ It was the first thing I asked but she was cagey!!
When I was asked to go in for a review of my will the first thing I said was ‘There’s one small thing I want to change - the name of an executor - how much will you charge for that?’ She said ‘Let’s go through all the details first’
She proceeded to ask me all out financial details & funeral arrangements, what we wanted doing with our ashes etc. I told her the kids know all these details but she still asked me & wrote it down!
Finally my request to name an additional executor came up & she entered the name. A few more questions followed & she mentioned the ‘new will’ I was flabbergasted!! I said ‘Can’t you just make an amendment to the old will’ & she told me she couldn’t.
At that point I stood up & ended the ‘will review’ I told he no way would I pay for a new will & I walked out.
@carol I’m no expert but I’m sure I can remember years back my mum and her second husband just adding something called a ‘codocil’ that didn’t rewrite or significantly change a will but just added a clause.
Good question.
I have been conversing with one of their staff by messenger on facebook.
Apparently my will was drawn up by their predecessors called HRT & this firm Simpsons took over from HMT but they will not be held liable for any wills drawn up by HMT.
Below is C/P of her reply to me on messenger.
Hi Carol, The reason why a codicil isn’t an option in this case is because Hardy Miles and Titterton (HMT) are a different law firm from Simpsons and therefore we cannot amend HMT Wills as we aren’t liable for the contents of any Wills completed by other firms. I hope this clarifies things for you.
Below is C/P of my reply to her.
Sorry - no it doesn’t clarify things. Simpsons took over from HMT & they took on all HMT’s clients. I don’t know what you mean by can’t be liable? Wouldn’t you read the will to see if there’s anything to be liable for? Anyway - forget it. I didn’t buy a new will so the old one will have to remain. I believe I can make a codicil myself so I shall be looking into that.
Carol, my first thought was that this attorney was negligent in offering you all options, a codicil included, even if it meant sending you to another firm.
This is your will not theirs, and it is a red flag that they are more concerned about their liability than your needs as a client.
I copied my will from a book at the library so it cost nothing but when I went to a solicitor recently he still had two previous wills of mine which were then torn up.
I recently had two Guardianship documents drawn up and they cost me $240 (£120) and that included future appointments for my kids to sign them so unless your will was particularly complex I think you were probably over charged. My solicitor told me the price up front.
Actually it was an interesting visit because we first came into contact when I bought my first house over 40 years ago and he was a newly qualified solicitor. Now he is at the point of retiring, we reminisced over our contacts over the years.
