Ensured Wills Logo Ensured Wills is one of the area’s leading specialists in Wills, Probate & Estate Administration and associated services, covering Warwickshire, Worcestershire and the wider West Midlands. Contact Us
IPW Logo Ensured Wills are a member of The Institute of Professional Willwriters (IPW). The Institute of Professional Willwriters is a professional body consisting of and representing the Willwriting profession. Read More
Ensured Wills Logo We have a friendly approach and explain things in a jargon free manner. Contact Us

Some of the services that we offer

  • Standard Wills for Individuals
  • Mirror Wills for cohabiting couples
  • Revocation of existing wills
  • Comprehensive selection of Will Trusts (including Letter of Wishes where appropriate)
  • Lasting Powers of Attorney for: Property and Financial Affairs and Helath and Welfare
  • Safe Document Storage. Via 'National Will Safe'
  • Will Registration. Via 'Certainty' - The National Wills Register
FREE Information Pack

Consists of "A Guide on Will Writing and making Lasting Powers Of Attorney", "A list of services and fees" and "Our Terms of Engagement and Rights of Cancellation".

FREE Home Visit

Home visits enable us to firstly take your formal instructions and secondly to complete the signing/witnessing of your documents also known as "attesting".

Fixed Fee Structure

Absolutely no hidden costs. Payment is only due on completion of all work undertaken and when everything has been completed to your total satisfaction.

IPW Logo
The Institute of Professional Willwriters (IPW)
The Institute of Professional Willwriters (IPW) is a professional body, established in1991, consisting of and representing the Willwriting profession.

The role of the Institute has been to:

• To set and maintain high professional standards for the Willwriting profession.

• To increase public awareness of the skill and integrity of its members.

• To promote the concept of Willwriting both to the general public and to corporate bodies.

• To ensure that the public is protected from unqualified and unregulated practitioners.

Membership of the Institute is open only to those professional Willwriters who pass the IPW Entrance Examination and agree to be bound by the IPW code of standards and conduct.

Members are regulated to ensure that they keep abreast of changing legislation and case law reports relevant to the profession of Wills and Estate Planning and as such must complete a regulated amount of time each year on Continuing Personal Development (CPD).

IPW members must hold Professional Indemnity Insurance cover to the value of £2 million for any one claim through the Institutes own, or another approved insurer.

IPW members are subject to strict rules governing standards and conduct. Any member in contravention of these rules can be subject to a disciplinary hearing and, if found guilty, can be expelled from the membership of the Institute.

Being a client of an IPW member ensures that you will receive a comprehensive, professional service of the highest standard. You will also have the peace of mind of knowing that your consultant’s ability and conduct are regulated by the IPW.

Ensured Wills

Wills

A Will permits you to do many things that would not be possible if you were to die “intestate” (without a Will). This includes specifying the individuals who will administer your estate (“Executors”), giving direction to your executors as to how to allocate specific assets, achieving desired tax and estate planning objectives, protecting your assets from being used to pay for Long Term Care fees and indicating who should be the guardians of your young children. Find Out More
What happens if I die without a Will?
Recent research tells us that around 70% of UK adults don’t bother making a Will because they believe everything they have will go directly to their partner or children.

This is not the case...

If you die without making a Will, your estate will be distributed under the Law of Intestacy. Amongst the many pitfalls that may ensue, these include:

  • This can sometimes leave your children without any of your estate.
  • The law does not recognise common-law partners so if you are unmarried, your partner may not inherit anything and could be forced out of the home you have shared together.
  • If you have children under 18, the courts could decide who looks after them and they could be placed into care in the meantime
  • The law will dictate who administers your estate and they might not be the people you trust the most
Why should I make a Will?
A will permits you to do many things that would not be possible if you were to die without a will.

These things include:

  • Being able to specify the individuals you trust to administer your estate. (your “Executors”)
  • The ability to give direction to your Executors, such as:

    What is to happen to your estate and financial affairs after your death

    Giving instructions to allocate specific assets from your estate to the people, charities or other organizations of your choosing. This may be in the form of specific bequests of personal items (also known as “chattels”), monetary one-off gifts and allocation of your “Residuary Estate” (the net proceeds of your estate after payment of debts, taxes, testamentary expenses, bequests and monetary gifts)
  • Appointing people to have the legal authority “Guardianship” for your children’s welfare in the event that you die before they reach adulthood (18 years of age)
  • The opportunity to provide your funeral wishes, decisions on burial or cremation, including considerations on disposal of your body or its remains
  • Save money and arguments. If you die without having a Will administering your estate is likely to take longer and cost more in fees. There is likely to be more family arguments and upset. The Treasury may become entitled to a larger part of your estate
Will Trusts

There are also many trusts that can be placed in your Will that prevent, or, are a safeguard against other potential pitfalls that you may encounter following your death.

More Information
For more information on Wills and to get in touch with Ensured Wills please click here Contact Us
Ensured Wills

Safe Document Storage

National Will Safe Logo The complete document storage solution – Via National Will Safe. The “original” Will document that you have signed and paid for is the ONLY legally binding version. Scans, photocopies and computer records are not legally valid because they don’t have your original signature on them. Find Out More
You should not store your will at home!

01

If you have a fire, flood or burglary, you risk losing your Will. If your Will is damaged in any way, then the courts could declare the Will invalid.

02

If your Will ever falls into the wrong hands, this person may destroy your Will to make a claim on your estate through the courts!

For a small annual fee...

1. Your Will and any other relevant legal documents, such as Lasting Powers of Attorney or property deeds can be stored in waterproof wallets in a specialist document storage archive.

2. While your documents are with National Will Safe they are fully insured against loss or damage. If anything happens to your documents, they will be recreated and replaced to you free of charge.

3. If your Will is lost or damaged after your death, or its loss or damage only comes to light after your death, then your Executors are insured for up to £2million to compensate your estate and it’s beneficiaries.

4. You can access your documents at any time – free of charge. These documents can be returned to your executors, attorneys or to you, using an insured delivery service.

5. All location of your documents are automatically recorded on the National Wills Register.

Safety is the cheapest insurance policy. Guarantee your will is safe! Contact Us
Ensured Wills

Will Registration

National Will Safe Logo Certainty the National Will Register is the Law Society's endorsed provider of a national Will Register and is chosen, endorsed and used by the public, legal profession, law firms, PI insurers, Government agencies, charities, the public and other associated sectors and organisations to Register Wills and Search for Wills. Find Out More

Certainty is the longest-established and by far the largest register in the UK. Thousands of Will writing professionals and the public use Certainty to register Wills and search for Wills prior to distributing the estate. Registering your Will is an essential part of the Will making process and you should ensure you do so with a long-standing register with impeccable credentials.

Will Search

Certainty Will Search is proven to reduce the risk of distributing an estate during probate on an assumed intestacy basis or when a Will or later Will may exist. There are many reasons why a Will may have been forgotten about, maliciously destroyed, or where an unknown later copy exists. Certainty Will Search provides a recommended and accredited search process that searches for registered and unregistered Wills to understand if a Will or later Will exists.

Will Registration

Certainty Will Registration is also proven to protect the Testator's beneficiaries by ensuring, through Certainty Will Registration, their Will can be found and their last wishes adhered to. Certainty does not disclose the existence of a Will or need to see a copy of it to register it. The existence of a Will is disclosed by the 'holder' (solicitor, etc) after a death has been confirmed by way of a death certificate.

In excess of seven million Wills are now in the system and continues to grow daily.

Get in touch with Ensured Wills to arrange your Will registration today. Contact Us
Ensured Wills

Will Trusts

A Trust is a legal arrangement that allows assets such as property to be looked after for the beneficiaries in your Will. Assets are looked after by a third party, known as the ‘Trustee’, to avoid anything passing to someone you don’t want to inherit. Find Out More
How do I protect my property and assets to ensure wherever possible my estate passes to the intended beneficiaries or gives them specific rights?
Protecting your property against future care fees

If your intention is to safeguard as much of the value of your property as you can against the potential of future possible residential care fees, the best safeguard is to let Ensured Wills sever the joint ownership and convert your method of ownership to an equitable “Tenants In Common”, thereafter, we will create a property protection trust in your Will offering a life interest in the property to the surviving spouse.

Contact Us
Protecting your childrens' inheritence if your spouse remarries after you die

If your spouse remarries after your death it is possible that their new spouse may inherit on their death and your children could get nothing! This is known as “Sideways disinheritance”. Contact Ensured Wills to protect your property and assets against sideways disinheritance.

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Protecting beneficiaries who are disabled or vulnerable

At the time of your death, if any of your intended beneficiaries receives local authority care benefits, is going through a divorce or bankruptcy or has an addictive dependency any benefit due to them can be protected rather than potentially lost.

Trustees of a discretionary trust have the ability to use the capital and income from the trust on a discretionary basis. The beneficiaries of the trust are decided by you but the distribution of the fund is left to the Trustees. Discretionary Trusts are particularly useful when leaving funds to vulnerable or disabled beneficiaries.

If you have children under 18 then any provision that you make for them will be placed in a Child Trust, which will be used to provide them with financial support. The Trustees manage the fund on behalf of your children and decide how the funds are used.

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Giving your loved ones right of occupation

Rights of Occupation allow you to ensure that loved ones are able to remain in your property after your death, even though they may not be the ultimate beneficiary. This is useful in the instance of a remarriage, where you leave your property to your children but wish for your new spouse to be able to remain living in it, or to protect a child who is still living at home.

Rights of Occupation can be put in place for whatever duration you choose – whether it be a set amount of time, indefinitely, or under certain conditions such as until remarriage or cohabitation.

Contact Us
Trusts to be left at the discretion of your executors/trustees

Most people don’t choose when they are going to die which means most beneficiaries can’t choose when they receive their inheritance. When the time comes it may not be the best time. For instance they may being going through a divorce or a bankruptcy and the inheritance may be lost during this process.

In addition, leaving an inheritance directly to a loved one may cause or worsen an inheritance tax situation and when they die be taxed at 40%.

By leaving an inheritance to beneficiaries in a Discretionary Will Trust (created on death), instead of leaving it to them directly, the money does not form part of their estate and is therefore protected against threats such as divorce or bankruptcy and does not form part of their estate for IHT purposes. They still have access to the money.

Contact Us
For more information on Will Trusts and to get in touch with Ensured Wills please click here Contact Us
Ensured Wills

Lasting Powers of Attorney

We never know what is going to happen in the future and any of us could have an accident, illness, injury or simply become too old and frail to deal with our own financial affairs or care for ourselves.

A lasting power of attorney (LPA) is a legal document that lets you (the ‘donor’) appoint one or more people (known as ‘attorneys’) to help you make decisions or to make decisions on your behalf.
Find Out More
To make a Lasting Power of Attorney, you must be aged 18 or over and have mental capacity (the ability to make your own decisions) at the time of making your LPA.

There are 2 types of Lasting Power of Attorney:
Property & Financial Affairs
Read More
Health & Welfare
Read More
Property and Financial Affairs
Lasting Power of Attorney

Use this LPA to give an attorney the power to make decisions about money and property for you, for example:

  • Managing a bank or building society account
  • Paying bills
  • Collecting benefits or a pension
  • Selling your home
Health and Welfare
Lasting Power of Attorney

Use this LPA to give an attorney the power to make decisions about things like:

  • Your daily routine, for example washing, dressing, eating
  • Medical care
  • Moving into a care home
  • Life-sustaining treatment

It can only be used when you’re unable to make your own decisions.

Important information about your LPAs

An LPA can be used with your permission as soon as it has been registered with the courts. (The Office of the Public Guardian – OPG).

An LPA is a bit like an insurance policy – hopefully you will never need it, but if unforeseen circumstances arise and you cannot manage your own affairs, you have peace of mind knowing that your affairs will be taken care of by someone you have chosen, and someone you can trust.

Furthermore, it is much cheaper to take out an LPA now as a safeguard, than to wait until the need arises and have to apply through the courts.

Without an LPA anyone can apply to the courts to take over your financial affairs and it would be up to the courts to decide. This may result in the appointment of a person or persons that you would not have chosen yourself.

It is imperative that you take out an LPA as soon as possible because if you have an accident or illness that affects your mental capacity – it will be too late!

To make your Lasting Powers of Attorney now Contact Us