Which really should be entitled “About Me”, as the site is pretty much a solo effort!
Its main purpose is to help bereaved families save money and to ease the navigation of the topic of “probate”, which is something most of you will only have to deal with once or twice in your lives – and at the worst possible time when paperwork should really not be a priority – but has to be. Maybe along the way, I can help you get better organised yourself so that when things do go wrong, you will have planned ahead better than the majority of English and Welsh folk who have, at best, made a half-hearted effort to do so.
My name is Steve Pett, and I set up this site after working as a non-solicitor partner in a solicitor’s practice dealing with estate planning (my main expertise), probate, trusts and contentious probate. Along the way, I wrote a book called Inheritance Tax Secrets and a booklet on Asset Protection. So, while I know lots, I am NOT a probate guru, and I am not insured to give probate advice – but I can usually point people in the right direction. Wills, Lasting Powers of Attorney and IHT Planning are another story, click the link to see my Estate Planning site.
And sometimes far more when you just need a little help from the Assisted Probate Service I developed. The key thing is not to rush off to the nearest High Street solicitor, or the firm who is holding the Will in their Will Bank (a deliberate choice of name.) A chat with me costs nothing and could save a great deal of money. Maybe you were not aware of the legal “bounce” that solicitors can charge on top of their hourly rates, which looks innocent enough but can double or triple their probate fees?
There is no charge to you for my services, and I am always happy to have a brief initial chat (phone number below) or email enquiry (just use the “Other” option in the form) – but do check out the various Guides I have published.
Why can I help with Probate Matters?
My background includes many years as an Independent Financial Adviser before the Financial Conduct Authority decided to “protect” 95% of people from using an IFA by making it fee-only. Of course, 95% of those who REALLY needed independent advice were now reliant on the company sales forces, but the FCA decimated those too, so getting any sort of financial advice is unrealistic for most. Regulators Own Goal, in my opinion, quite the opposite of what they should be doing – indeed, one of the most criticised firms in the UK could not even have existed until the FCA muddied the waters. Anyway, whilst I was an IFA, I developed an interest in the legal side of Estate Planning, so it was my way to escape the bureaucratisation of financial advice but still carry on helping people through Legal Planning. I have been a Regional Chairman of the Society of Will Writers for more than a decade after moving full-time into Legal Planning around 2021.
Granted, it is a bit of an odd background, but it does combine the main elements of probate without getting me involved in the actual form-filling process!
How this site can help with Death and Probate
I hope the articles on this site will help you if you are going down the DIY route and also to understand when it would be unwise to continue without proper professional help. My experience will help you if you need professional help: I am constantly testing the market and monitoring the firms we use for value, skills and service (that is something lacking in many firms). The market is full of people with no qualifications, and apparently, accountants can learn all they need to know in 2 or 3 days – who knew they were so gifted?
But many solicitors in England and Wales know less than those accountants, and not all of them have the sense to steer clear. Attending one lecture on the fast-moving topic of probate 20+ years ago is not an adequate qualification – in my opinion. Mistakes in probate can be VERY expensive, and it really is not an area to dabble in alongside divorce, Wills or conveyancing. As they say, it is a whole different ball game. Enough of me…..
Sometimes, the savings will be massive. When you use our service to compare fixed-fee probate costs, I expect the minimum expected savings on probate fees to be one-third.
Did I mention the Bunce option available to solicitors?
How much additional work is required to deal with a £100,000 bank account rather than a £100 one? Is the additional responsibility worth as much as £1,800? Or, to be totally fair, taking off the responsibility allowance for the £100 (£1.80) £1,798.20 for all the extra responsibility!! To be fair, many solicitors will not use this loophole, and I always aim to get fixed fee probate quotes where possible.