A daughter in Eltham rings her mother's bank after a stroke, asks to pay the care home from her mother's account, and is refused, politely and correctly, because nobody holds a lasting power of attorney. The alternative is an application to the Court of Protection to be appointed deputy, which takes months and costs far more. Will solicitors in Greenwich make more lasting powers of attorney than almost any other document, because Eltham, Shooters Hill and the older streets of Charlton have a large retired population, and because the moment to make one is before it is needed.
Wills go with them. A 1930s semi in Eltham or a house on the Progress Estate that was bought for very little is now worth enough to raise inheritance tax questions, and a solicitor will plan around the allowances, the family home and any lifetime gifts. Second marriages are common at this age, and a trust in the will can let a spouse stay in the house while protecting the children's inheritance. Across Woolwich, Plumstead and Thamesmead, at the other end of Greenwich, the typical client is younger, often with family in Nigeria, Ghana, Nepal or India, and the advice is about guardians for children, property abroad, and the fact that an unmarried partner inherits nothing under the intestacy rules.
When someone dies, the same firms deal with probate: valuing the estate, settling inheritance tax with HMRC, obtaining the grant and distributing to the beneficiaries. Executors can act alone, but they are personally liable for mistakes, and estates with property in two countries are rarely simple.
Expect fixed fees for wills and LPAs; probate is charged fixed, hourly or as a percentage, so ask.
Greenwich will and probate firms are listed below, verified first. The guides to lasting powers of attorney, wills, trusts and probate, the cost of a will and the cost of probate give the background, with the general will solicitors page for more.
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