Wills Writing Services
Guildford and Surrey
Our local Will Writer covers all areas of Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire. As specialist inheritance planners, we offer a wide range of legal services.
Ken Smart
Will Writer covering Guildford and Surrey
Your local legal consultant
Ken Smart has been practicing for eleven years and works across the Guildford and Surrey area and adjoining counties.
He is a Member of The Society of Will Writers.
Over the years Ken has developed a deep understanding of Estate Planning and believes that his vast experience and reassuring personal approach assists clients in reaching sound and effective decisions in regard to the management and distribution of their estate.
Ken has lived and worked in the Guildford area for over forty years and has visited clients at home throughout that time.
In his leisure time Ken likes to spend time with his two children and four grandchildren and also enjoys countryside walking and gardening.
He is available to visit clients at home, at their place of work, or at a mutually convenient location and at a time that is convenient to you'
About our legal services
Writing a Will
A Will is a legal document and must be a watertight expression of your final wishes. Having a professionally written Will prevents misunderstandings over money and property. It also makes it faster and easier for your family to administer finances after your death.
You can write a free basic Will, but these are designed for people with few assets. If you own property or have significant assets, such as savings and investments, a professionally written Will is a must, because they are robust enough to withstand challenges in the courts.
Lasting Power of Attorney
An LPA is a legal document that gives someone else permission to act on your behalf. This includes making financial decisions, paying bills, and managing investments. A Health and Welfare LPA will give permission for your appointed person to deal with your medical and wellbeing issues.
Anyone can make an LPA, unless they have already lost full mental capacity. It is recommended that all healthy adults in the UK have one.
Making a Trust
A trust can be added to your Will. It gives your appointed trustees control over how the money and assets are used after your death, in accordance with your wishes.
You can use a Trust for many different reasons, from providing support to a vulnerable person after your death to making sure your wealth stays within your immediate family should your spouse choose to remarry. Business Trust can also be set up to ensure that your family continues to benefit from your business interests after you die.
Guardianship
Specifying Guardianship in your Will instructs the Courts who you choose to appoint as your children’s’ carers in the event of your death. It can also be used to specify how and when your children can inherit.
Guardianship is a legally recognised document that the Courts will use when deciding who should care for your children. Without one the Courts will make their own decision and you will have no influence over this process.
Inheritance Tax Advice
If you have assets such as property or investments over £325,000 (or £650,000 if you are a married couple) then you will be liable to IHT at 40% above the threshold.
The UK tax system is complicated, so taking professional advice can help to make sure you so not end up paying more tax than you should after your death.
Probate Services
After someone dies their estate must pass through the probate process before any money or assets can be released. It takes between 6 and 9 months but this has been longer in the wake of Covid 19.
You can undertake probate yourself or you can choose to use professional probate practitioners to manage the process for you. Applications for probate need to be made via the local probate registry to the executor. HMRC are a core element to probate in the UK and all IHT must be paid before any assets can be distributed to beneficiaries.
Why are we the best Estate Planning Experts in the Guildford and Surrey area?
As one of London and the Home Counties leading inheritance planning specialists, we have written in excess of 5000 Wills for families and individuals like you.
Because we specialise in estate planning our team are 100% focussed on this area of law in England and Wales.
We do not cover other areas of law, such as conveyancing or family law, so all of the expertise that we have built up over the last 13 years has been exclusively in this field.
We believe that this gives us a depth of knowledge and focus that more general legal service providers may not have.
The company is owned and operated by Rebekah Hillman (LLB hons) and is a member of the Society of Will Writers. We comply fully with their Code of Practice, full details of which can be found on our page here.
How to get in touch
Call 0800 29 88 66 1 or 020 8340 3102 to speak to one of advisers today.