Legal Questions and Answers by
Jonathan Stones of John Barkers
Question :-
My mother recently decided to make a new will and, to save money, she decided to use a
will-writer rather than a solicitor. She was shocked to receive a bill for £350.
I feel that she is being well and truly ripped off for what was a simple job. I spoke to
the individual concerned on the phone and he promised to look at the matter again,
however, since that conversation he has not written or phoned and now does not respond to
my calls.
First, am I right in thinking that this charge is absolutely extortionate and, second, is
there anything I can do about it?
Answer :-
Unless your mother's financial affairs are particularly complicated, or the will that
she was making was particularly complicated, it does seem a very large charge.
Most solicitors in the area will make a straightforward will for something of the order of
£60-£100 and indeed, given the various campaigns run by charitable groups, you can get a
will written at no cost to yourself, at various points in the year.
Clearly if someone does have complicated affairs that require specialist legal and
accountancy advice on issues such as inheritance tax, trusts and so on, then there will be
a greater cost in making a will. That said, will-writers are not qualified to give legal
or specialist financial advice and so in this case, whatever they are charging for, it
cannot be that.
My advice is to check the information she was given about their charges and check if she
signed anything before the work was done. If you have not already done so, ask for an
itemised invoice that explains how they arrived at this figure.
Once you have that, you will be in a position to see whether the cost is justified in
terms of hourly rate and time charged or if there is a case for disputing the bill.
Your story does underline the importance of getting an estimate of cost - in writing -
before commissioning work. That applies not only to will writers but solicitors and indeed
any professional consultants or trades people.
You do not say whether or not you are satisfied with the work the will-writer did for your
mother. Annoying as the charge is, that could be a minor matter compared with problems
that may arise if the will has not been properly drawn up.
If you are in any doubt on that score, you really should see a solicitor.
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