It starts with a chat

In the last few days, I've started letting people know that I'll be closing shop in mid-November, for pre-Christmas Wills and Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPAs).

You see, it takes a couple of weeks to draft documents, and if your meeting with me is mid-November, that means I'll be posting documents at the start of December.

Post is slow and I want people who have taken action, to have the the opportunity to sign their Wills before Christmas.

If you're concerned about paying fees just before Christmas, please don't stress. My firm's Relaxed Payment policy means that you can pay up to three payments, spaced out to actually feel relaxed. That's right. Some people get everything in place before Christmas, then plan to pay a chunk in February, another in April and the final one in June.

The reason I'm totally cool with that, is that when in April 2020, I was knocked out by Covid, money continued to flow in to my business, for work I'd done previously. It was a good system for me and a great system for my clients.

You may feel ready to take action now, or you may feel that you're not ready to make decisions at the moment.

Either way, my process starts with a chat. We chat through whether you've got children and whether they're joint children. We discuss what age your youngest is, so that I know whether to plant the seed of considering who you'd appoint as guardians. We discuss what you should be looking for in an executor (good with paperwork, honest, responsible enough to look after money) and then I delicately ask you to consider beneficiaries beyond the obvious.

The truth is, I don't always approach this delicately. When I do, some people are so in denial that the unthinkable may happen, that they haven't discussed it.

"What, you mean if we both die and all our children die?!"

Yes, that's the unthinkable. I call it the wipe out provision or common tragedy scenario. Some posh lawyers call it the long stop clause, but that just reminds me of Pippi Longstocking. I try to keep my language simple.

So, whether you're going to set yourself a target of pre-Christmas Wills or pre-Christmas chat, it always starts with a chat.

I don't book an appointment for any Wills clients until we've had a chat.

My number is 01727 840 240 (option 3 for me) and you're welcome to try calling on the off chance you'll reach me. If you prefer to fix a time, drop me a line at [email protected] and let's see where our chat leads.

* the picture came up when I searched Pexels for "chat" and the French speaking among you will know that's French for cat. Hence the cute picture, which I couldn't resist!