A terraced house in East Ham, bought from the council in the 1980s and paid off long ago, with three generations living in it and no will. When the owner dies, the intestacy rules divide the estate between a surviving spouse and the children in fixed shares, the house may have to be sold to pay those shares out, and the son who has lived there for thirty years has no greater claim than the sister who moved to Essex. Will solicitors in Newham see this situation often enough to recognise it on the first phone call.
The borough's families need wills that do several jobs at once. Many want their estate to pass under Islamic, Hindu or Sikh principles, which a solicitor can achieve in a will that is valid under English law. Many hold land or a house in the family's country of origin, which may need a separate will there, or at least a clause that stops the English will revoking it. Many hold the family home in one name while everyone contributed, and a declaration of trust can settle who owns what before a death turns it into a dispute. Younger owners in the new flats at Stratford add pensions and death-in-service benefits that should be nominated rather than left to chance.
Lasting powers of attorney give a daughter or son in Newham legal authority over an elderly parent's affairs rather than informal trust. After a death, the same firms obtain the grant of probate, deal with HMRC and distribute the estate, including the paperwork for assets abroad. Wills and powers of attorney are generally fixed-fee; probate may be charged on a fixed, hourly or estate-value basis.
The wills and probate firms serving Newham are listed below, verified firms first. The site's guides cover wills, trusts and probate, the cost of making a will, lasting powers of attorney and what probate costs, and the general will solicitors page.
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