Wills

We advise individuals on all aspects of will drafting and issues affecting wills including:

• wills for high-net-worth and high-profile individuals
• drafting wills in difficult family circumstances
• estate planning
• wills for the elderly
• statutory wills
• tax efficient wills and use of the nil-rate-band
• wills and marriage or civil partnership
• wills leaving specific legacies to pilot trusts
• dealing with property in France
• the effect of the Finance Act 2006 and subsequent Finance Acts on will drafting
• use of the russell cooke trust company as executors
• wills for entrepreneurs and the owners of family businesses

Our specialist wills team offers a broad range of expertise to meet individual clients' needs no matter how complex. We are particularly well regarded for our expertise in cross-border issues for wills and in international tax, succession and asset management matters. 

We work closely with other specialist lawyers including our french law department to provide clients with seamless advice on matters such as inheritance tax, succession planning, capacity, trusts and international estates. 

We know that clients often instruct us at difficult times to deal with sensitive matters and understand the importance of giving clear, timely and practical advice. 

Many of our lawyers are members of professional organisations such as the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) and Solicitors for the Elderly. 

It’s a good idea to review your will every few years (and immediately after a life event such as marriage) to make sure it still says what you want it to say.

We aim to charge our wills service on a fixed fee basis, to include an initial meeting, the will drafting and a detailed letter of explanation to you identifying the key terms and confirming our advice, a further brief meeting at our offices to sign and witness the will and storage of the will in our safe.

Any additional work involved in completing the will (such as multiple meetings and/or amendments) may result in an additional charge on the basis of time spent and the seniority and experience of personnel involved.

In any event we will provide you with an initial estimate of your likely legal costs and will update this if necessary as your requirements or the circumstances of the work change.

We would be pleased to discuss your requirements and produce a costs estimate accordingly based on the type and complexity of the work involved.