Many of the people who own houses on the Becontree estate are the first in their family ever to own one, and the first to need a will. Will solicitors in Barking and Dagenham spend much of their time on basics that wealthier boroughs take for granted: that a house held in one name passes under that person's will or, without one, under the intestacy rules; that a partner who is not married inherits nothing under those rules however long the relationship has lasted; and that stepchildren are not children for inheritance purposes unless the will says so. In a young borough full of unmarried couples with children, those three facts cause more hardship than any others.
The will itself is usually simple, and priced accordingly. The complications come from the family: a second relationship, children from the first, or a council tenancy, which passes under its own rules and only once, whatever a will says. Residents who arrived in the last twenty years from Nigeria, Ghana, Eastern Europe or South Asia often have property or relatives abroad, and may want their estate distributed according to religious principles, which an English will can accommodate.
For the older generation who stayed in Dagenham, lasting powers of attorney matter as much as wills, letting a son or daughter manage money and care decisions without applying to the Court of Protection. Care-fee questions arrive at the same time.
After a death, the same firms obtain probate and distribute the estate, which in Barking and Dagenham is usually a house and a small bank account. Fixed fees are the norm for wills and powers of attorney; ask how probate is charged.
Wills and probate firms serving Barking and Dagenham are listed below, verified firms first. See wills, trusts and probate explained, how much a will costs, what a lasting power of attorney does, probate costs and the general will solicitors page.
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