Why Make a Will?

The majority of people in the UK die without making a Will. However, only by making a Will can you ensure that the people you want will inherit on your death. There are also other good reasons for making a Will:

• If you die without making a Will (known as dying “intestate”), your spouse will not necessarily inherit the whole of your estate as the intestacy rules will dictate how your assets are to be dealt with.
• A frequent misconception is the idea of a “common-law spouse”. If you are co-habiting your partner will not automatically inherit your assets, and the only way to ensure that they are protected is to provide for them in your Will.
• You can appoint guardians to care for your minor children in the event of your death and create trusts to delay children/grandchildren from inheriting from age 18 to 21 or 25 or even indefinitely.
• The death of a loved one is a distressing time and by making a Will now you can at least ensure that dealing with your affairs will be as straightforward as possible for those you leave behind.
• You can choose who will administer your estate. This is particularly important if you have young children.
• A properly drafted Will can ensure that your loved ones do not pay any more Inheritance Tax than is necessary on your death, and can even save them Inheritance Tax!
• Your Will can protect assets from the risk of the survivor re-marrying or your children/grandchildren divorcing or encountering financial difficulties (e.g bankruptcy).
• Your Will can mitigate/avoid the payment of nursing home fees by providing for assets to pass into trust on the first death. This is perfectly legitimate financial planning and cannot be challenged by the Local Authority.

Why Use Gabb & Co?

We have considerable expertise and experience in this field and our specialist and dedicated team can guide you efficiently through the various options which may be available to you.

• We are rated as one of the top firms in Wales in the “Legal 500” and Chambers Directory for our personal tax, trusts and estate planning service and pride ourselves on offering a first class and cost-effective service where your Will is tailored to your individual needs.
• We specialise in advising in Inheritance Tax mitigation and where there are agricultural or business assets we can ensure that your Will is fully tax efficient.
• We offer a comprehensive service across the whole private client spectrum from dealing with contested estates to Wills to Inheritance Tax/Capital Gains Tax planning and Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA).

Our online Will Service enables you to give instructions for your Will at your convenience. By completing and submitting our questionnaire we will ensure that your will is prepared by an experienced member of our team, who will tailor your Will to your individual needs. Using our online service is easy, and you will be given the same high level of professional service as clients who attend at our offices in person.

Alternatively, our specialist Team is always on hand to answer any query you may have and you can simply contact us or use our enquiry form and we will ensure that a specialist Team member contacts you to discuss any queries/concerns you may have.

How Much will it Cost?

We offer a fixed price Will service for those clients whose affairs are straightforward. These are as follows:-

• simple Will £150 plus VAT
• Husband & Wife ‘mirror’ Wills £225 plus VAT

A more bespoke service is also available where advice on trusts or tax issues may be required. This is likely to be the case if:-

• You have young children or grandchildren that you wish to inherit assets
• You are concerned about nursing home fees
• You are concerned about Inheritance Tax

Please indicate on the enquiry form or questionnaire if any of the above apply in which case we will be pleased to let you have a quotation once we know exactly what you want.

If you are unsure as to the type of Will you require, please contact a member of our Team or complete an enquiry form, and a Team member will be more than happy to guide you through the process.

What should I do now?

If you would like to talk to us about making a Will, please click on the enquiry form below, complete and return it to us. We will then contact you.

If you would like to proceed now with making a new Will, please complete the questionnaire below, complete and return it to us. New clients to the firm must provide us with proof of identity as requested in the questionnaire.

Contact details:

email privateclient@gabb.co.uk
post 32 Monk Street, Abergavenny, Monmouthshire NP7 5NW or Old Bank House Beaufort Street Crickhowell NP8 1AD
fax 01873 857589

If you have any general questions at this stage, you can always telephone us and ask to speak to a member of our Private Client Team on 01873 852432 (Claire Lewis or Dawn Sullivan) or 01873 810629 (Nicky Sherrard)

How long will it take?

If you would like us to contact you for a preliminary discussion, we promise to contact you within 2 working days of receiving your enquiry form.

If you would like us to draft a Will for you, we will send a draft to you for approval within two weeks of receiving your completed questionnaire.

Download the Will Questionnaire.