Making a will with our Wills Warrington team is one of the easiest ways to ensure that your loved ones are protected after you die. It guarantees that your estate will be distributed according to your wishes and simplifies the whole process of dealing with your estate.
If you die without a will, your estate will be distributed according to the laws of intestacy, meaning that your wishes may not be respected. This can cause added complications and heartache for the people you leave behind.
By making a will, you remove the possibility of any unnecessary stress and uncertainty that your loved ones could experience should you die intestate. It also gives you valuable peace of mind, allowing you to get on with enjoying your life with the people you love.
Many people wrongly believe that making a will is a complex and expensive process. In fact, in most cases, it’s relatively simple and affordable. At Mark Reynolds Solicitors, our will writing service is tailored to your needs and our experienced Wills Warrington team can help you through the whole process.
Based near the Golden Square Shopping Centre, our offices in Warrington are situated in the main heart of Warrington itself, providing legal services on your doorstep. Our Warrington office employs over 50 people and we are renowned for the quality of our legal services provided to businesses and individual clients alike. We’re the trusted local choice for Warrington wills.
What Happens if You Do Not Have a Will?
A will is a legal document that explains clearly how you want your wealth, estate or belongings to be distributed after you die.
Without a will, you are not leaving your affairs in order, which can cause complications for loved ones after you have passed away. If you die without leaving a will, there are certain rules, under law, which can determine what happens to your estate.
These are known as the rules of intestacy. Without a valid will, these will decide how to share out your estate, and the results may not match up with your wishes.
If you have not made a will when you die, you are classed as an intestate person.
Therefore, if you want to be sure you can protect what you want your loved ones to inherit, you must have a valid will.
Who Can Benefit from Your Will?
There are very important reasons to make a will, because what you decide to do now can affect your loved ones later.
Who will look after your dependents?
Writing a will is a way of appointing legal guardians for your children, if they are under 18. Without a will, the Family Courts will decide this.
This could end up with them choosing someone to look after your children who would not be your choice.
You can also make sure you are providing for your children financially. You could, for example, put money aside for their future education, of for them to eventually get a home of their own.
An effective way of doing this is to set up a trust.
If you have step-children, you may want to ensure your estate provides for them, which you can do by making sure your will includes them.
How will you protect your partner if you are unmarried?
For an unmarried partner to benefit from your estate, you must explicitly put this in your will, to protect them by giving them a fair share.
A will can also help make sure there are not any family disputes once you pass away. Without a clear, written will, there can be squabbles and arguments over dividing up estates, adding to the difficulties of what is often already a stressful situation.
You can use your will to decide exactly who benefits from your estate, from dependents and partners to charities and even the future welfare of your pets.
Should You Write Your Own Will?
You might think that going down the DIY route with your will is a cost-effective solution to protecting your estate.
But this approach is risky, because even a single mistake could render your entire will invalid.
If your DIY will is at all unclear, or contains errors, then you could be leaving your loved ones with a big legal mess to clean up, and with the costs that come with it.
There should not be anything ambiguous in your will. It needs to be absolutely clear in its intentions.
Choosing a professional will writing service is a way of protecting your wealth, your assets and your estate for the people that matter most to you. It is an investment in their future.
Are You Protecting All Your Assets?
A will is there to protect your assets. These assets may not just be the money you have in the bank or physical things you own.
Your legacy is as likely to be digital as it is physical.
These digital assets include: online accounts and purchases; images and websites; emails and social media accounts.
You can use your will to protect them, to prevent them being destroyed, or to have them erased if you prefer. You can, for example, make passwords available to the executor of your will.
Who Carries Out Your Wishes?
An important part of your will is that it will explain who it is you want to carry out your wishes.
The person doing this becomes your executor. You can name more than one executor in your will if you want to.
You can also use your will to set out what sort of funeral arrangements you want.
Your executor should then carry out your wishes according to your written will.
When Should You Make a Will?
In life, your circumstances are going to change at various times. These changes are often the time that it makes sense to first make a will, and then to update it when other changes occur.
- When you have an unmarried partner who you want to be able to inherit your estate.
- If you get married, invalidating your old will.
- When you have children, you want to appoint a guardian for them.
- When you buy a property, or receive some sort of financial windfall, giving you more wealth to protect.
- If your spouse passes away, and your will previously left your estate to them.
As your circumstances alter, so the risk of complications if you do not have a valid will can increase.
For your peace of mind, and to protect your wealth, and the interests of your loved ones, a legally-binding, professionally written will is ideal.
How much do probate services cost?
Our experienced Warrington probate specialists provide affordable and comprehensive probate services for our clients. Some probate firms and other solicitors may charge on a percentage basis or a combination of an hourly rate and percentage which may result in significantly higher fees than an hourly rate alone, particularly given the continual rise in house prices which will be the most significant asset in most estates. At Mark Reynolds Solicitors Warrington, we have a straightforward charging structure that lets you know how much our work is likely to cost from the outset.
Our fees for Probate are based upon an hourly charge of £215 plus VAT.
We will always provide you with a quote for the expected number of hours we would expect an estate to take and the overall cost at the start. Before you instruct us to proceed we will ensure you are updated on the fees as the matter progresses.
We will also advise you of the disbursements that will be incurred, for example:
- Oath swear fees, typically, £10.00.
- Probate application fee £155.00.
- A sealed copy of the Grant £1.50 per copy
We believe this is the most cost-effective way of providing this service to our clients.
Wills and Probate Solicitors in Warrington
Mark Reynolds Solicitors are specialists in wills and probate in Warrington. We provide a comprehensive set of services, from making a will to carrying out the administration process when somebody dies.
For confidential, sensitive and impartial advice about wills and probate, please complete our contact form or call 01925 418 004.