Holmes & Hills Solicitors is receiving an exceptionally high volume of enquiries from people wishing to make their Wills for the first time, or update an existing Will, amid the accelerating public health concern relating to Coronavirus.
But can you still make or update your Will given the Government’s social distancing measures? In short, yes you can.
Traditionally and up until a just a few weeks ago, making a new Will or updating an existing one would require meeting a lawyer face-to-face, discussing with them your wishes and circumstances, and receiving specialist legal advice. Meeting face-to-face allowed the lawyer to be certain that the individual or couple making their Will were not under any undue influence or pressure from anyone else (those who might benefit from the Will or the update to the Will), an important factor for a lawyer to consider. Clearly, this way of providing Will writing services, with face-to-face meetings does not fit with the Government’s current requirement to socially distance.
The Government, acknowledging the importance of Will writing services at the current time, has classified those lawyers specialising in the drafting of Wills as key workers.
Recognising the need to continue to provide Will writing services to the many individuals and couples wanting to discuss their Wills at the current time, Holmes & Hills has adapted its Will writing services to fit with Government guidance and to protect clients and staff from unnecessary risk.
Holmes & Hills is now undertaking telephone and video call appointments in place of face-to-face meetings. Clients continue to receive specialist advice and guidance from the same legal experts at Holmes & Hills and remain able to ask any and all questions they may have about their Wills or the implications of their wishes. Lawyers will also be employing measures to ensure clients are not under any undue influence during the course of making their Will.
In these initial appointments, now being conducted by telephone, clients often wish to receive advice as follows:
If you do not make a Will the law says who inherits your estate. Most people assume that everything would pass automatically to their partner, but this is not necessarily so. If you are not married or in a civil partnership, your partner will have no automatic right to inherit any part of your estate. Your estate may pass to the person or persons you would not want to inherit. It may result in financial hard-ship for your loved ones or an expensive court action.
Making a Will ensures that the people you want to benefit, do so.
As a matter of course, lawyers at Holmes & Hills recommend that you consider updating your Wills every 3-5 years, but it depends on how much your circumstances have changed. You may need to update your Will if any of the following have changed since you made your Will:
Holmes & Hills reassures clients that it will continue to operate and provide a full range of legal services to existing and new clients, working in line with Government social distancing guidance in order to protect clients and staff.
When couples wish to make Mirror Wills, they save between 16% - 21% on legal fees* when they make their Wills with Holmes & Hills Solicitors. Mirror Wills are Wills that are in the same terms. Each is its own legal document but the content is identical and 'Mirrors' the other. This is not a special offer, simply a benefit of the firm's fee structure.
For specialist advice on Wills, Lasting Powers of Attorney and Trusts please contact Holmes & Hills Solicitors on 01376 320456 (Essex) or 01787 275275 (Suffolk).
*Couples save between 16% - 21% on legal fees when making Mirror Wills, compared to making Wills individually and separately.
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