The cost of this is exactly the amount I'm planning on leaving.
Spooky or what?

I think you'd be hard pushed to find another CEO on 120k a year of a company with 5000 employees and £400m income.

WARNING !!!! My friends wife did a Free Charity will as she was dying. The solicitor who drew it up named himself as one of the executors (who knew any different?) she died a year ago and the estate is still not settled and the solicitor has run up £11,000 in legal fees. Fine to do a charity will but think carefully if naming the solicitor as an executor.

Re Storage of will, you can store it with the probate office itself for a one off £20 need to pay again if adding new will or codicil - might be england and wales only though.

There is no chance it will be overlooked as executors will likely need to apply to probate office anyway.

See details via link below.

https://www.gov.uk/make-will/writing-your-will

​From gov.uk..
For your will to be legally valid, you must:
be 18 or over
make it voluntarily
be of sound mind
make it in writing

Right, but a personal signature and a signature from a "witness" doesn't disprove coercion either. What if the witness coerced you and then added their signature after, then also killed you in some elaborate scheme to marry the beneficiary.

Also, how does a piece of paper with the words "of sound body and mind" prove you're of sound body and mind moreso than a video? If anything, a video shows body language, emotion and infinitely more about your state of mind?

You are on ignore you nasty piece of work

Jesus, this gets better.. So are you saying this "firm" charge Oxfam £250 a will.
People putting money in charity boxes are paying firms £250 for free wills?

P.S. You haven't donated £2000 to Oxfam, it is to be paid out of your estate by your executor if you have any remaining after paying your debts.



Just been reading some info.
http://www.snouts-in-the-trough.com/archives/6022
£48,000 for expenses for one boss in one year...

Abandon Thread! I'm out!

Yeah right.

The only person who needs to chill out is you.

The WILL is free. Donate if you want. We donated £2000 which means another 7 wills can be done without it costing Oxfam a penny.

Nothing is free in life, if you are not pressured to leave a donation to them, you are costing the charity money with you taking up their time.

Relax, if you're not careful, you will be set for an early grave.

Are you drunk?

Where in the whole of this thread does it say that?

Now stop negging the thread

Its obvious you have not read the thread or read my comments at all & yet you continue to post lies.

The will is FREE.

The fee is to store the original will only as the original will is the only will accepted by the courts (not copies) BUT the reason we paid it is because you can alter the will as much as you want for an admin fee of £15. You can bet your life my partner will want to change it in the first year & there are some issues in our circumstances that are likely to be changing soon. IE more money from an elderly relative that needs to be distributed accordingly.

I think it was mentioned that we could write to the Judge in advance should their be someone who disputes the will & this may be held in storage with the will too but I am not 100% sure. Basically, we know one person who will object & we want that covered in court from the outset.

Free service that cost £250 a year for nothing and £2000.

No other solicitor would charge £250 a year for storage. Ridiculous..

Take care with this "deal" UKHudders.

thanks what sort of things can you store? have no clue what they mean

Get a grip & stop making things up. We already chose to donate before they came around & we chose to pay £22 for the first years storage for very good personal reasons..

You may have a grievance with Oxfam but I am a grown up & can make my own decisions.

This is a FREE service & it is entirely up to you if you donate or not. What is so hard for you to understand? & please take the venom somewhere else please if you are suggesting myself & fellow HUKD members are gullible

Nope.

When they came around they said if you wanted them to store it then the cost is £22 per year but that is up to you. It wasnt a sales pitch either.

I didn't see anywhere mentioning storage deal £250 has anyone else?

No they didnt.

If you read my previous posts you ill see that it always my intention to donate.

But thanks for your concern.

This is a prime example of why this deal should be met with Caution.
At the end of this persons appointment he has agreed to an unnecessary storage deal costing £250 a year and has paid £2000 to Oxfam for this free service.
Most high street solicitors will not charge for storage (Possibly a small charge to retrieve it from storage £40) and if you wanted to really donate £2000 to Oxfam, you would have done it now before you die, to see what good it will do for them. Leaving it in a will is no different. £2000 would have paid a lot towards your grandchildrens swimming lessons or school books.
Instead, the rep has made a nice little commission, and the fat cats at Oxfam will have justified their 6 figure salaries.

they got you, hook line and sinker

Not so free really.
The 2k will pay the guys wages for making these wills or the 6 figure salaries of people working for them. Well done!

Just for info, you don't have to officially store your will.
Have a few copies floating around relatives etc, those who matter.

Had the guy from Oxfam come around today.

Everything in order & fine.

The only "issue" is the will provider offers a service at £22 per year to store your will but in addition will give you unlimited personal legal advice for 30 mins on each issue (this can include anything from neighbour disputes or car accidents or employment issues)... But you can reject this service. However. if you want to amend of adapt your will at any stage then they charge an admin fee of £15 for each change. If you do sign up for the £22 per year service you can cancel at anytime in the future.

So you have to weigh it up. You can say no & register your will with the Government for a one off fee of circa £30 for life but if you want to change it or get a new will then you are talking £200 for each change via your local solicitor/will writer.

We decided to pay the £22 by standing order (due when they supply the will circa 4 or 5 weeks after the initial paperwork/visit is complete) & give it a go.

Its a proper will writing service including property, kids etc etc & totally free is you chose. We however are donating £2k to Oxfam included in the will as a gesture to be paid at death.

Nothing dodgy about it at all. Its legit.

Has anyone completed their will yet and can comment on the experience?

thank you
but
not mine
mine not only has been taxed several times income/vat/un avoidable fees i've paid double the amount once the mortgage has been paid to the bank

What about the slaughter of ethnic's too? (while your at it?), or don't they count in that list of your's .....

nice find

Can everyone stop their moaning re Oxfam and comment on the deal.

It's a will (something everyone should have), written by a solicitor (which all wills should be), for free.

Should be getting waaaay more heat.

All right thinking people should seriously consider their support for Oxfam, which like the Labour party has become somewhat Fascist in its outlook, promoting those views of anti semitism, killing of homsexuals, and oppression of women.
There is an awful lot of criticism of this charity on line :

http://standforpeace.org.uk/oxfam-promotes-anti-semitic-homophobic-terror-activist/

That's an arbitrary percentage without any actual figures, which again, we don't have for context. If it "only" costs £120k to pay for a CEO who ensures that millions upon millions more get sent to the people who need it, I'm more than happy with that. It's more than I'm certainly doing, and I imagine the vast majority of people on HUKD as well.

I'd rather have a breakdown of the percentage of the donations they take from the general public that they pay their execs. If it's anything over 5%, it's WAY too much.

You can but unless you get it checked by a competent lawyer, you're wasting the paper.

You definitely need to get a will sorted. As it stands, neither of you have an automatic right to the other's estate if the worst happens. There is no such thing as a common law husband/wife. As a minimum, make sure you are registered as joint tenants rather than tenants in common of your house at the Land Registry. If not, if your partner passes away, their half of the property would pass to their beneficiaries.

I'd be careful with those. I used to deal with Wills and Probate and dealt with a few of these. Every single one was written incorrectly and as such caused issues when it came to registering with the Probate Registry. It may seem like a cheap solution in the short term, but a poorly done Will can cost your family a lot more money and heartache in the future.

When you pass you want to make dealing with the estate as quick and painless as possible for your loved ones. The only winner in a DIY is a solicitor and your family are left with a long drawn out process.

The vast majority of peoples estates comes from the rise in value of their and their inherited parents capital in their homes. This has never been taxed and therefore it is completely untrue to suggest that inheritance tax is a second tax on earned income.

They will probably try and get you to leave an amount to them in your will and "guilt" you into doing so... Nothing in life is free really... always a cost.

Just another though who gives a **** what they do when your dead!!!! your dead!!! and still no reason why it is not in freebies which was my comment, but if you want to play at being a snippy **** this is what you get back :smiley:

You and your wife should most definitely have a will in that case.

This is basically a sales pitch for solicitors who offer free services to charitable people... The charity hope by facilitating the solictor you will include them in your will and the solicitor hopes that buy working for free now, you'll make them the executor so they get paid in the long run.

Your choice completely.

I thought this was a good deal but now not so sure.

Both my partner and I own a house together and arent married. Apart from not making the solicitor the executor are there any other pitfalls?

Cheers mate :wink:

...and because nobody looks in Freebies, and get over yourself...?

For context, would you also be able to post the amount of money that was raised in the name of the charity and/or the good things they did in that year?

I think that would be appropriate, because otherwise your comment risks coming off as jealous, particularly without understanding the need for a capable CEO and/or suggesting that people shouldn't give to charity because a tiny amount of the money raised goes towards paying people to make it happen in the first place.

An awful lot of amateur legal eagles sprung up in here!! :smile:

For what it's worth, if you live in Scotland then take advantage of this, or similar, or a paid option, as quickly as you possibly can.

Life is significantly harder without one.

And as for the charity argument, the term "speculate to accumulate" should be remembered here, they are businesses at the end of the day so don't wet yourself when you find out the people get paid, however handsomely.

They can so long as the wording is right x

No-one here has yet given a reason why a person can't write and sign their own in front of a couple of friends. As long as people know where to find it once you're dead then what's the problem?

No its not

Lottery is 28% to causes.

National lottery comparison is nonsense. Lottery operators profit is 1% and operating costs is 4%.

Its always interesting to look at charities accounts on the charities commission website
http://apps.charitycommission.gov.uk/Accounts/Ends18/0000202918_AC_20150331_E_C.pdf

Oxfam had 70 people earning between £60k - £130K in 2015, I worked it out that those 70 people would cost the charity a minimum of £5m a year.

Do a 360° with the camera. Have someone witness your selfie will if you like.
You could coerce someone into writing a paper will.
It's like using cheque/signature to pay when biometric alternatives exist.

All this paper will, paying a solicitor oodles, storage fees and 'witness' nonsense seems so backwards and well out of date.

But it isnt. It doesnt record your state of mind or if you were coerced by someone pointing the camera at you :wink:

:man: The camera is the perfect witness.

2016


No witness.

I'm sorry but what year are we living in?
Why do you need a piece of paper with a signature on it that's has been witnessed by a 3rd party and finally signed off by a solicitor?

Surely a video of yourself stating who gets what in the event of your death is 1) free and 2) undisputable.

as people have posted- if you're not happy you can always just tell them you'll think about it- you dont have to sign anything if you're unhappy with a hard sell.

thanks for this nice share.

No one can fight if you have no will. There are set rules if you die intestate which are law in regards to distribution of an estate.

Also, be careful of these free wills, never appoint a bank or a solicitor as one of the executors and be careful of storage or retriving charges.

Meant to vote hot but hit cold by accident :-(

I understand business and operating cost very well, better than you would know. Why should benefits for charities include private school fees? Google Oxfam, but you seem to know it very well, so you know what is written extensively about it. Good deal on the will though, as long as you are in no way pressurised to donate. Everyone must make their own choice on that one.

"Oxfam spends 25% of its funds on wages and running costs"

Yep

Thats about right for any charity

Most are more than that. But hey flash negative media doesnt mean anything unless you actually understand business & operating costs.

Do you play the national lottery? What is their net profit?

I will tell you............ 28% of lottery revenue goes towards charity.

So Oxfam is doing 3 times better...........

Top 7 executives paid combined 700k a year PLUS benefits including private school fees for kids. Over 100m a year spent on salaries and running costs, I bet they'd be delighted if you left money in your will:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3193050/Oxfam-spends-25-funds-wages-running-costs-Charity-spent-103m-year-including-700-000-bonuses-senior-staff.html

Google Oxfam and left wing . They won't get a penny from me I am afraid. http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2015/01/what-oxfam-doesnt-want-you-to-know-global-capitalism-means-theres-less-poverty-than-ever/

you dont have to. its free :wink:

Loving the fact you promote "BRITAIN'S DEADLIEST MEN" lol

sorry.....oxfam is a business and not a charity in my eyes and i won't be leaving them any more money than they've already gotten out of me over the years prior to learning how they really work

Thanks

I hope you also realise they will write a bog standard will. This will only suit non-homeowners.
Also most will try and sell the executor option, most of the public will not realise it's more costly having a solicitor executor on their Will.
You really think Solicitors are coming to homes out of the kindness of their hearts to write free wills?! They make a killing from Free wills months. From being appointed executors and/or selling Will extras like trusts.

If on desktop, go to the home page and there is a red submit button top right

Dont be silly. Wise point but you are not going to get a solicitor around your house defrauding you on this one.

You name the executors.

I bought in whs for £3

Be careful with these offers. The Solicitor writes themself as the executor of your Will. The average fee they place for this is 3.5% of the value of your estate plus extras. So the minimum they will take is £3500 for every 100k your estate is worth. So especially house owners beware.
You are better off paying for your will upfront and name a family member as the executor. Even a very detailed and advanced Will will only set you back around 500-1000. It will work out much cheaper in the long-run! Free wills are a false economy.
I could recommend a good company or two but obviously can't as it'd be advertising. I'm sure though with a bit of homework you can find one.
Wills are one of the most important documents you will construct. Do your homework before you make yours.

Guys how do I post a deal

Mr Green has pretty much committed fraud.

The cost of this is exactly the amount I'm planning on leaving.
Spooky or what?

Is there a decent and valid PDF or DOC I could download and print off, and then get witnessed and signed?

Hahahahahaha, thanx.

Zippidee dooda, zippidee da, perhaps?, hehehe. :-)

October is actually free wills month too though to get one you must be 55 or over.

A number of trade unions also offer free or heavily discounted will-writing as well.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/free-cheap-wills

Agreed!, after all, look at Mr. Green, aka Arcadia King Pin.

He's not exactly suffering on Living Wage like most, is he ...

lol my thoughts exactly but I couldn't top that comment!

Voted hot. I got a price a couple of weeks ago which I thought was reasonable at £140, but then they wanted another £890 to store it and make any further amendments.

Always remember people, that lawyers make a lot more money out of people who don't make wills than people who do. God knows, I've seen this and it is true.

Fun fact: the Oxfam CEO enjoyed a wage of £119,560 in 2012. Enjoy, and give lovingly!

you dont need this,
just write on paper:
i (insert name)
of sound mind give most of my already taxed money to hmrc
the rest of my toenail clippings you can have
(signed)(dated)

Re Storage of will, you can store it with the probate office itself for a one off £20 need to pay again if adding new will or codicil - might be england and wales only though.

There is no chance it will be overlooked as executors will likely need to apply to probate office anyway.

See details via link below.

https://www.gov.uk/make-will/writing-your-will

Nectar also has an offer of Oxfam. Support good causes! :smiley:

do you have to leave everything you own to the Oxfam to get it for free? :wink:

Think this is worthwhile but agree with comments around executor side of things. remember you can always walk away if they push to be execute the will. a family member can do this for you just as easily.
ps if you're ever feeling like you're doing charities out of money just google their head offices. oxfam is a great example. they've got an incredible HQ that they work from which is far from the austere space you'd expect based on claims where your money goes! I work for one of the big 6 energy companies and there's barely 2 pennies to scratch together to develop workspace as we're focusing on cutting costs to reduce bills to save money at every turn (we want to keep granny's heating on), but charities don't get any scrutiny and your money doesn't always end up where you'd think! I'd enjoy this freebie while you can...

Depends how you feel about the deal I suppose. We are going to donate money via the will when death occurs so its actually going to cost us but its money we dont have to pay upfront.

WARNING !!!! My friends wife did a Free Charity will as she was dying. The solicitor who drew it up named himself as one of the executors (who knew any different?) she died a year ago and the estate is still not settled and the solicitor has run up £11,000 in legal fees. Fine to do a charity will but think carefully if naming the solicitor as an executor.

Because more people would see it?

​But, why isn't it in freebies if it's free? Free is free, no matter what the content of the deal

And this is not in freebies................... because?

Great cause.

Do you really need a will with these companies, can I not just write one on Paper and give it my mum?

Do you have to support Oxfam. ie make monthly contributions?

How long before some sad-act decries those who would have the audacity to take something for nothing from a charity and go to great lengths to tell us all how generous they were with their donation?

thought you had to be over 55

on at least a weekly basis I bang on to my friends about the importance of Wills - not point spending a lifetime bargain hunting if your nearest and dearest can't benefit from it!