The house in Swinton was bought from the council in the 1980s, the mortgage was paid off long ago, and the son who never left home still lives in the back bedroom. When his mother dies without a will, the intestacy rules will split the house equally between him and his two sisters in Cheshire, and he will have no right to stay. Scenes like this are what will solicitors in Salford spend their days preventing, and the fix is cheap: a will that gives the son a right to live there, or a share that reflects what he contributed, drafted while his mother can still say what she wants.
Salford's estates tend to be modest and mostly bricks: an ex-council semi, a terrace in Eccles or Pendlebury, perhaps a flat at the Quays, a pension and some savings. Inheritance tax rarely bites, but the order of deaths, second marriages and unmarried partners cause trouble. A partner who was never married to the deceased inherits nothing under intestacy, however many years they shared the house. In Broughton and Kersal, solicitors regularly draft wills that satisfy Jewish inheritance law and English law at once.
Lasting powers of attorney matter as much as the will. Salford Royal is the region's specialist centre for strokes and neurological illness, and its wards are full of families who wish they had signed one for property and one for health before the crisis. Without them, relatives face a deputyship application to the Court of Protection, which is slow and dear.
Probate follows: valuing the estate, settling tax, obtaining the grant and distributing. A single will, mirror wills and lasting powers of attorney are nearly always fixed-fee; probate may be fixed, hourly or a percentage of the estate, so ask which.
Wills and probate solicitors around Salford are listed below, verified firms first. Read wills, trusts and probate explained, what a will costs, probate costs and lasting powers of attorney explained, or the general will solicitors guide.
