Cost of preparing wills

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465 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1749621 28-Mar-2017 17:31

dafman:
farcus:

Public Trust used to have a pretty comprehensive online tool for setting up a will for free - the catch is that they take a cut when you die.

A BIG cut, not to mention possible years of frustration having to deal with them for those that survive you. I've heard some real horror stories.

From someone who has been through the pain and frustration of dealing with the Public Trust, DO NOT use them. Pay the money an go see a proper lawyer.

My Dad's Will was tied up for three years because "it was the most complicated Will they had ever seen", their words.

For example, they failed to advise my Dad to specifically list what he wanted done with his house. This meant that the house, and most other assets, were pooled together and had to be divided between beneficiaries, which included grand children. As a minor cannot own a house, PT forced the sale of the family home.

And then there was a breach of privacy, relationship property issues...

jonathan18

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#1749698 28-Mar-2017 19:36

Here in the boondocks (Palmerston North) earlier this year we paid the princely sum of $400 plus GST - from what I guess are now are our lawyers (and, no it's not a Saul Goodman-type place!). This was a straight-forward situation - reciprocal (or whatever the term is) wills for me and my wife, two kids, no exes or step kids etc...

A very painless and affordable experience - if we'd known it was that easy we'd have done it a lot sooner, given our eldest is nearly 9.5!

alasta

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#1749710 28-Mar-2017 19:58

I don't have any kids or close family and just want to leave my assets to charity so I figure that a service like mybucketlist.co.nz would work for me, but the reason I've been putting it off is that I've got no idea who to appoint as an executor. Maybe I'm better to go and see a lawyer so that they can be nominated as the executor - do they normally do that?

sxz

761 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1749712 28-Mar-2017 20:03

alasta:

I don't have any kids or close family and just want to leave my assets to charity so I figure that a service like mybucketlist.co.nz would work for me, but the reason I've been putting it off is that I've got no idea who to appoint as an executor. Maybe I'm better to go and see a lawyer so that they can be nominated as the executor - do they normally do that?

Yeah they can usually do that.

networkn

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#1749713 28-Mar-2017 20:05

I've also had a terrible time with the public trust. I wouldn't cross the road to spit on their shoes.

jonathan18

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#1749755 28-Mar-2017 20:53

sxz:

alasta:

I don't have any kids or close family and just want to leave my assets to charity so I figure that a service like mybucketlist.co.nz would work for me, but the reason I've been putting it off is that I've got no idea who to appoint as an executor. Maybe I'm better to go and see a lawyer so that they can be nominated as the executor - do they normally do that?

Yeah they can usually do that.

That's what we elected to do (appoint the lawyers as executors). My father died last year, and my mother was executor of his will - the lawyers ended up doing all the work anyway, and it wasn't that costly. On that experience we decided it was far more logical and easy to appoint the lawyers. In such a circumstance you're also not (generally) appointing an individual to act, so if they die or leave the firm someone else will be there to do it.

mattwnz

20155 posts

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#1749756 28-Mar-2017 20:53

alasta:

I don't have any kids or close family and just want to leave my assets to charity so I figure that a service like mybucketlist.co.nz would work for me, but the reason I've been putting it off is that I've got no idea who to appoint as an executor. Maybe I'm better to go and see a lawyer so that they can be nominated as the executor - do they normally do that?

Can't anyone be the executor? I have heard that a lawyer is an expensive option to use as an executor, unless you sort out how they are paid to do it?. But that may not matter at the end of the day.

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mattwnz

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#1749759 28-Mar-2017 20:55

I suggest going to a smaller town/city lawyer for a quote, as they may not charge the same amount as the big wigs in the major cities. I did for a house purchase using a smaller lawyer, and I thought the price was reasonable.

jonathan18

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#1749767 28-Mar-2017 20:59

mattwnz:

Can't anyone be the executor? I have heard that a lawyer is an expensive option to use as an executor, unless you sort out how they are paid to do it?. But that may not matter at the end of the day.

In my experience last year I think it was money well-spent to have the lawyers do it; really, dooes one want to be handing on the responsibility to someone else to sort out one's stuff at the very same time they're quite possibly grieving in relation to one's death. As a proportion of the size of most people's estates, the cost of having it sorted cleanly and effectively by a professional is minuscule. I can't exactly recall my mother's bill, but I'm thinking it was around the $1500 mark. What's that in the grander scheme of things?

Pumpedd

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#1749772 28-Mar-2017 21:03

robcreid:

I got a Will drafted when I purchased my house about two years ago by the same solicitor that did my house paperwork.

For a single person with no dependents the cost was $120 + GST.

They had a questionnaire that I completed, they sent me a draft which which I questioned and changed a few things on and then signed. All done electronically except for the signing.

$250 last year by lawyer who did my house transaction. They used to do them for their clients free.

Ask your lawyer!!

mattwnz

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#1749773 28-Mar-2017 21:04

jonathan18:

mattwnz:

Can't anyone be the executor? I have heard that a lawyer is an expensive option to use as an executor, unless you sort out how they are paid to do it?. But that may not matter at the end of the day.

In my experience last year I think it was money well-spent to have the lawyers do it; really, dooes one want to be handing on the responsibility to someone else to sort out one's stuff at the very same time they're quite possibly grieving in relation to one's death. As a proportion of the size of most people's estates, the cost of having it sorted cleanly and effectively by a professional is minuscule. I can't exactly recall my mother's bill, but I'm thinking it was around the $1500 mark. What's that in the grander scheme of things?

I think it all depends on how it is charged for . A flat fee is usually a lot better than a percentage of the estate.

Wazza69

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#1749802 28-Mar-2017 21:57

Thanks for all of the input. $1300 does sound a bit expensive but he did quote $1500 for a house purchase which seemed pretty reasonable.

PaulBags

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Ultimate Geek
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#1749812 28-Mar-2017 22:04

There's a kiwibank sponsored will autoform, I don't have the link handy. When my dad was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year we used that as a stop gap to prevent public trust taking huge fees, in the end he went so quickly we never had time to get a lawyer involved. Scary stuff, but in the end all assets anywhere near probate threshold were jointly owned by my mum and survivorship applied. As far as we can tell. So far so good *fingers crossed*.

So scary, so unrecommended. But that's what happens when you don't update your wills until the last minute since 1985.

surfisup1000

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#1749842 29-Mar-2017 00:19

We did a will through public trust, how would we go about 'divorcing them'?

A bit strange that so many people have issues with them, consumer recommends them and a large number of kiwis use them.

Or, do we only get the bad stories here?

PaulBags

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Ultimate Geek
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#1749873 29-Mar-2017 07:46

surfisup1000:
We did a will through public trust, how would we go about 'divorcing them'?

Layman opinion: a new will without them should be all you need, wills are dated as well as witnessed and the first clause should null any previous wills - including public trusts authority as executor etc.

Not sure why consumer recommends them :/. Check their fee structure, they don't make it easy to do so which is a red flag itself, then from what I found they make (taking examples from this thread) $1300 setup + $1500 to execute look like pocket change.

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