The following standard terms of business apply to all instructions accepted by the Company. All work carried out in the provision of Will Writing Service is subject to these terms except where changes are expressly agreed in writing. These terms of business form the basis of the contract between the Company and the Client.
Definitions
- The ‘Company’ shall mean Family Wills & Trust Ltd Trading as Simply Wills
- The ‘Client’ shall mean anyone instructing the Company for the provision of Will writing services
- The ‘SWW’ shall mean the Society of Will Writers.
- ‘Will Writing Services’ shall mean the provision of Wills, Lasting Powers of Attorney, Trust Deeds, Living Wills, Notices of Severance, Probate Advice and other services of a legal nature provided by a Member to its clients.
- ‘Documents’ shall mean Wills, Powers of Attorney or other legal documents produced as a part of the Will Writing services
Procedures
a) On the initial appointment your detailed instructions will be taken and appropriate advice given on matters relating to Will Writing Services. Any queries or questions will be answered and a full explanation given on the contents and terminology used in the drafting of our Documents.
b) The Company undertakes to;
i.Comply with your instructions with reasonable skill, care and expedition appropriate to your needs.
ii.Provide you with the best advice on matters relating to Will writing Services. In some cases this may mean advice to draw up other documents, or take other action, which may incur further fees. In such cases full details of charges will be given to you in advance and you are under no obligation to proceed with any ancillary service offered. However, in some circumstances you may be asked to sign a declaration stating that you are acting against the advice given.
iii. Dispatch your draft Documents by either first class post or email within 48 hours of taking your instructions. Where circumstances occur which are outside of the Company’s control which will result in a delay beyond this period you will be given an explanation and the opportunity to renegotiate the contract or cancel the agreement with a full refund being provided.
iv. Maintain the strictest confidentiality and not to pass on your details to any other organisation without your express written permission unless legally required to do so and shall comply with all legislation in force relating to data protection.
v.Where the Company offers a Will Storage service, the Company does not accept any liability or obligation to advise you of any changes in legislation or taxation which may affect you either directly or indirectly and may necessitate a review of your Documents. Any Will should be reviewed every three years and on the occasion of any material change in your circumstances, such as divorce, marriage, the birth of children or the inheritance of a large sum of money etc. It always remains your obligation to request a review of your Will should any of the above apply to you.
Notice of Right to Cancel
i.As a consumer under the cancellation of Contracts made in the Consumers Home or Place of Work etc regulations 2008 (the ‘Regulations’) you have the right to cancel this contract within 14 days (the cancellation period) starting from the date you are issued with the notice of your rights to cancel. The cancelation period will be the lesser of 14 days or the date that the client has approved the draft Will by email or verbally or in writing.
ii.Your notice of cancellation must be in writing and issued within the Cancellation Period and sent to the Company or other person if specified in the notice of the right to cancel.
iii.A cancellation notice sent by post is taken to have been served at the time of posting whether or not it is actually received. Proof of posting may be required.
iv.Where a cancellation notice is sent by electronic mail it is taken to have been served on the day it is sent.
v.The effect of a cancellation notice under the Regulations is that the contract is treated as if it had never been entered in to and the liabilities of both parties are terminated.
vi.If you require the Documents urgently and require that the Company commence the work prior to the expiration of the cancellation period you can agree to waive your rights under the Regulations by signing a waiver agreement. This will mean that you will lose your right to the Cancellation Period.
Your Obligations are;
i.To disclose all relevant facts and answers to all the questions asked to allow the Company to provide accurate advice to produce an effective legal Document. The Company shall not accept liability in respect of information which has not been disclosed, and therefore not documented by the person taking your instructions, and which comes to light at a later date as being of relevance and which may affect the validity or content of your Documents or advice given.
ii.To read through the draft Documents provided, to confirm that they correctly reflect your wishes as to the distribution of your estate and the names and addresses of the persons mentioned in your Documents are correct, adding any missing data not supplied at the time of taking your instruction.
iii.To return all Documents duly signed and completed as set out in the instructions in relation to your Lasting Powers of Attorney to enable the Company to register these with the office of the Public Guardian. If after 6 months, these signed documents have not been returned to us, we will send (via post) the required registration fees in the form of a cheque payable to The Office of the Public Guardian so that you may register these yourselves upon receipt of the signed forms from the relevant persons. Failure to obtain the required signatures from your Attorneys will render the Lasting Powers of Attorney invalid.
iv.To notify the Company as soon as possible of any amendments and in any event no longer than 21 days after the Instruction Take. If you do not respond within 21 days, we will assume the drafts are accepted as being accurate and we will proceed to issue Master Documents. The Company shall not be responsible for any delay due to your failure to comply with the above.
v.To notify the Company if you do not receive your draft Documents within 14 days of the first appointment, unless otherwise agreed.
vi.To pay the fee due for the provision of Will Writing Services in full and in accordance with the terms of the signed Fee Agreement.
vii. If you jointly remortgage/move home, you must ensure that you instruct your Solicitor to register the property with the Land Registry as ‘Tenants in Common’ in order to ensure that any previous Trust and Estate planning will still be relevant and valid. If in any doubt, please contact us immediately.
Price and Payment
i.The price of the Service will be as set out by the Company to the Client and as detailed in the invoice provided during the process of Will provision.
ii.The fee includes V.A.T. However, if the rate of V.A.T changes between the date of the order and the date of delivery, the Company will adjust the V.A.T. unless payment has been made in full before the change in the rate of V.A.T takes effect. In respect of Lasting Power of Attorney’s, Family Wills & Trust Ltd merely acts as an agent for the Office of the Public Guardian and therefore is exclusive of V.A.T.
iii.Without limiting any other remedies or rights that the Company may have, if the Client does not pay on time, the Company may cancel or suspend the performance of the Will Writing Service or any other services provided in accordance with this agreement until the Client has paid the outstanding amounts.
Client Care
i.The Company is committed to providing you with a high quality service. An essential part of that service is that we will communicate effectively with so that you are kept informed of progress.
ii.Any complaint should in the first instance be addressed to the Estate Planning Manager. The Company maintains a full complaints procedure and a copy of this is available upon request.
iii.The Company complies with the SWW’s Code of Practice of which a copy is available upon request.
