Problem Wills and DIY Probate.
Over the last 10 years, DIY Probate has taken market share from solicitors.In 2011, nearly 16,000 people whose Last Wills came up for probate didn’t appoint an executor to sort out the estate, or appointed executors who were unwilling or unable to get involved, say the latest data from the Probate Service. This is a 5% worse than 2010. More on Probate Disputes. Probate Claim Checker.Kevin Cole, Head of Research at Title Research seemed to think this indicated a need for greater regulation of Will Writers, but we can’t see the relevance and think he was just jumping on a bandwagon. The real problem is two fold:1) People writing DIY Wills and2) Wills not being reviewed on a regular basis to ensure that the executors (and everything else) remain appropriate. What is relevant when you are 20 or 40 or 60 won’t be the same 20 years later, and may change within months. We are great fans of the system at Will Custodian Ltd, which is designed to prevent this problem, as well as the problem of Lost Wills. Will Custodian also offer a Will Checking Service to new members.
DIY Probate.
The 2011 statistics also show that 86,470 grants of probate were issued to private individuals, mostly doing DIY Probate.Mr Cole said: “The Legal Services Board’s plans to regulate estate administration will not affect the thousands of people who don’t use a probate service provider to administer an estate. The risks of mistakes will remain with complex DIY probate such as undervaluing the estate, under paying tax or missing out entitled heirs.”That is why we offer our hand holding service at the Probate Department Ltd – we recognise that many people do want to cut costs and DIY probate. But we also understand that most of them would like a little help here and there and maybe for a quick check at the end. Unlike most probate firms, we’re happy to do as little as 15 minutes work, and we charge by the minute, not in units of 6 minutes which can substantially increase fees. Nor do we charge a percentage of the value of the gross estate as a “responsibility allowance.”Solicitors share of the probate market has dropped by 30% between 2006 and 2010. In 2011 that decline has slowed with 148 more solicitor grants being issued than in 2010. Grants to individuals for DIY Probate remained at the same level for the period.The Probate Department Ltd offers a range of services from doing everything to helping for 15 minutes. And our fees are VERY sensible. Why not give us a call?