Wills, Probate & LPA FAQs

We do work on an appointment system, but if your matter is urgent, we will try our utmost to get you an appointment on the day, provided there is a lawyer available. We will need some basic details from you to enable us to carry out a conflict check and allocate your case to the right expert. From there, one of our experts will call you as soon as they are available to discuss your matter further.

We are required by the Solicitors Regulations Authority (SRA) to obtain specific details for each client. This information is only used for our client database and we ensure it is kept confidential.

Unfortunately, we are unable to book you an appointment or take you on as a client unless we have this information.

Of course. We will still be able to go ahead with the free 30-minute appointment, however, if you instruct us as your solicitors, we will require documents to carry out a verification check for money laundering purposes.

We are required by government regulations to confirm the identity of all new clients. If you are a previous client but we have not acted for you within the last 12 months, or if the ID documents we hold on file have expired, we may ask you to provide your ID documents again.

We are obligated by HM Treasury to carry out a complex and risk-assessed search against every new client to protect against fraudulent activity and money laundering. This does not have an effect whatsoever on your credit rating, regardless of the number of times a search is carried out.

We are required by the government to run our Veriphy checks for anti-money laundering purposes before we can begin work or accept monies from any new clients. These checks come at an extra cost to the business.

With most cases, we like to see you at least once, however, telephone/Zoom appointments are an option. For a Will or an LPA, we would need to see you in person in order to proceed, to ensure you are who you say you are. Our friendly experts do offer home visits if required, but this does incur a charge.

Once you have had your initial appointment with a solicitor, they will send you a draft copy of your Will, usually within 7 days. Once you have approved your Will, we can then book a Will signing appointment. We will arrange for two independent witnesses over the age of 18 to witness the signing of your Will.

This will depend on what you want to include in your Will. For more information, please visit our Will Writing Service Pricing page.

If you have complicated circumstances, such as complex assets, charitable donations, trusts, overseas assets etc. then your Will is likely to cost more but this will all be discussed in your initial meeting with one of our experts.

A Simple Will includes appointing executors, funeral wishes, making up to three specific gifts, leaving the rest of the estate to an adult beneficiary and naming substitutes.

A Standard Will includes more than three specific gifts, additional substitute beneficiaries, and a clause to carry out additional wishes or directions.

For up to 3 minor amendments, our costs start from £100 plus VAT (for 1 Will) or £150 plus VAT (for Mirror Wills). However, if the amendments are more complex, the solicitor may advise that a new Will should be made.

If you would like us to store your Will safely, a small annual fee will apply. However, your first year will be free of charge.

If you wish to collect your Will from our Backhouse office in Chelmsford, we will need to see two forms of ID (photo ID and proof of address dated within the last 3 months). If you wish for it to be posted, we also require a signed and dated letter from you confirming that you wish for the Will to be posted and to which address.

Firstly, we will need to take your details to ensure you are named as an executor on the Will. If you are the sole executor, then we require two forms of ID (photo and proof of address dated within the last 3 months) for you, and we would need to see the original death certificate.

If there is more than one executor, then we will need to see two forms of ID for all the executors as well as the original death certificate. If one of the executors is unable to attend to collect the Will, then we would also require a letter from that executor confirming they are happy for us to release the Will to the person collecting.

We also ask for 24-hours notice prior to collection.

There are two types of Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA) namely Property and Financial LPA and a Health and Welfare LPA. Costs vary depending on whether you require both LPAs and if the LPAs are for one person or two.

For more pricing information visit our Lasting Power of Attorney page. Our friendly solicitors will be happy to discuss the costs in more detail at the meeting.

Attorneys do not need to attend any of the appointments. We will send any relevant documents out to them to sign and return to us.

Once we have sent off the LPAs to the Office of Public Guardian (OPG), there is usually a wait of up to 16 weeks before we receive the registered ones back. We understand this is a long time, but unfortunately, it is not down to us but OPG. Be rest assured, we regularly chase OPG for updates and prepare the initial documents as quickly as possible.

While it is possible to expedite the application for registration, the grounds are very limited.

You can book an appointment on behalf of your parents, but we would need your parents to attend the appointment, and the solicitor would need to speak to them on their own. We are unable to take instructions from someone on their behalf. Our client care letter will need to be sent to your parents.

If someone is calling on behalf of someone else, it might be best to check the person they’re calling for has capacity. If they do not, they may need to go down the Court of Protection route.

This completely depends on the size of the estate and how much the executors wish us to do. The solicitor will discuss both options with you during the free 30-minute appointment and will be able explain the process of each. During the appointment, our experts will be able to provide an estimate on the work involved and cost.

We completely understand that cost is a big consideration for clients, so that is something you will need to think about. At Backhouse our costs reflect the high level of service and expertise you will receive from us, and as a regulated firm, our advice is covered by our insurance. We always encourage prospective clients to look at the 550+ genuine 5-star Google reviews from clients we’ve helped.