Will & LPA Planning Service Terms

1. What is Will & LPA Planning?

Will & LPA Planning coordinates arrangements for your estate after death and for certain decisions during your lifetime if required. A will and a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) are different legal documents with different functions. A will generally deals with arrangements after death; an LPA operates during the donor's lifetime under its terms and applicable law. Neither replaces the other.

2. Scope of the service

Depending on your agreed instructions, the service may include discussion of overall planning needs, a will, mirror wills, testamentary trust provisions, a Property & Financial Affairs LPA, a Health & Welfare LPA or both, registration assistance, coordinated document review and signing guidance. Not every package includes all these services. We confirm the exact documents, clients, tasks and exclusions in the written quotation and engagement confirmation before work begins.

For mirror wills, each person remains a separate client and each LPA belongs to its own donor. One person's package selection, approval or acceptance does not instruct us for, or approve documents for, the other person. The agreed joint scope must identify each person's documents and any registration assistance separately.

3. Individual service terms still apply

The General Terms & Conditions apply. The Will Writing Service Terms apply to included will services. The Mirror Wills Service Terms, Will Reviews & Replacement Wills Service Terms and Wills with Testamentary Trusts Service Terms apply only where those respective services are included. The Property & Financial Affairs LPA Service Terms and Health & Welfare LPA Service Terms apply to the respective LPAs included. The LPA Preparation & Registration Service Terms govern included LPA preparation and any agreed execution support or registration assistance; they do not add registration assistance to a preparation-only instruction.

These terms add coordination provisions only. Your acceptance must name and link the documents relevant to your actual selection, not every possible service. Use the service selector on this page to see relevant links and the terms acceptance step to record the agreed selection.

4. A will and an LPA do different jobs

Both may be useful in appropriate circumstances, but serve separate purposes. Naming an executor does not give them lifetime authority; an attorney's LPA authority ends on the donor's death and does not make them executor.

5. No requirement to purchase both

You do not have to purchase both a will and an LPA because you enquire about one. We do not treat a combined package as automatically necessary or pressure you to buy multiple documents. A coordinated service should be recommended only where relevant to your circumstances and wishes. You may choose the individual service instead.

6. Coordinated instructions

We seek to understand your instructions consistently, check relevant names and relationships across included documents, distinguish executor and attorney choices, keep different wishes separate, and identify and discuss obvious inconsistencies. This is not a promise to identify every possible legal interaction, particularly where relevant information has not been disclosed.

7. Client information

Provide accurate and complete information relevant to the agreed service. Depending on scope, this may include your full legal name, address, date of birth, marital or civil partnership status, children, dependants, beneficiaries, executors, guardians, attorneys and replacement attorneys, proposed certificate provider, property ownership, business interests and foreign assets. Tell us about relevant existing wills, LPAs, Enduring Powers of Attorney, advance decisions, trusts and other planning documents. We request only information necessary for the agreed service. Do not put medical details or unnecessary sensitive information into the terms acceptance form; use the appropriate instruction process.

8. Capacity

Capacity requirements differ between making a will, making an LPA and giving valid instructions. Capacity for one decision does not automatically establish capacity for every other decision. Where necessary we may speak privately with you, ask questions or seek further information, pause work, recommend a medical assessment or specialist legal advice, or decline or stop acting. We do not provide medical capacity assessments. Accepting these terms does not establish capacity.

9. Free and independent instructions

All instructions must be freely and independently given. We may pause or stop where there are concerns about coercion, undue influence, family pressure, abuse, fraud, conflicting instructions, authenticity or financial exploitation. We may speak separately to each client. Assistance by a relative or proposed attorney does not replace your own instructions. The relevant mirror-will terms continue to govern joint-client confidentiality and conflicts; this package does not promise absolute secrecy between joint clients.

10. Executors and attorneys

Executors deal with the estate after death. Attorneys act during the donor's lifetime within the authority granted by a valid, registered LPA. You may sometimes choose the same person for both roles, but this is not required. We do not automatically act as executor or attorney, or select either role-holder for you.

11. Guardians

Where relevant to your will, guardianship provisions concern minor children and are separate from LPA attorney appointments. An attorney does not automatically become a child's guardian.

12. Will trusts

Where testamentary trust provisions are included, the Wills with Testamentary Trusts Service Terms apply. This is will drafting, not a lifetime transfer of assets or our appointment as trustee. Lifetime trusts, property-transfer trusts, care-fee avoidance trusts and complex tax-planning trusts are not included. Any different service would require separate, express agreement and appropriate specialist advice; these terms do not offer it or guarantee asset protection or tax savings.

13. Property & Financial Affairs LPA

Where included, the Property & Financial Affairs LPA Service Terms apply. Within the authority granted, the registered LPA may enable chosen attorneys to deal with financial and property matters. Their authority is not unlimited. Do not assume this type operates only after loss of capacity; its use depends on the document, your instructions and the law.

14. Health & Welfare LPA

Where included, the Health & Welfare LPA Service Terms apply. Attorneys act only where the donor lacks capacity for the particular health or welfare decision at the relevant time. Registration does not transfer immediate control or remove your autonomy while you retain capacity for that decision.

15. Life-sustaining treatment

If a Health & Welfare LPA is included, the donor must separately make the required choice about life-sustaining-treatment authority through the Health & Welfare instruction step. No answer is pre-selected. This choice is not bundled with package acceptance or an early-start request. If you do not understand it, select the human-review route; instructions requiring review must not proceed automatically until reviewed. Life-sustaining treatment is not limited to resuscitation.

16. Advance decisions and other health documents

Where a Health & Welfare LPA is included, disclose through the appropriate instruction process any existing Advance Decision to Refuse Treatment, advance statement, living will, care plan or written treatment preference. A new LPA does not automatically revoke or override every prior document. Potential conflicts may require specialist advice. We do not provide medical advice.

17. Existing documents

Tell us about relevant existing wills, codicils, LPAs, Enduring Powers of Attorney, trusts, advance decisions, foreign wills and other succession or authority documents. A new document may interact with an earlier one. Earlier documents are not automatically replaced unless the law and valid drafting or revocation provide for that. A draft will does not revoke an existing will, and foreign wills require particular care.

18. Consistency across documents

We use reasonable care to identify obvious inconsistencies between documents prepared within the same instruction, such as incorrect names, inconsistent addresses or family information, conflicting appointments or contradictory preferences. We discuss relevant issues with you. This is not a guarantee that every possible legal conflict or future issue will be identified.

19. Tax and financial advice

The combined service does not include specialist inheritance tax, income tax or capital gains tax advice, regulated financial advice, investment or pension advice, or care-fee planning. We may give relevant general information or recommend an independent specialist. Any specialist tax service would require separate express agreement; it is not supplied by buying this package.

20. Property and conveyancing

Conveyancing, land transfers, severance documentation, Land Registry legal work and lifetime property transfers are excluded. Property ownership can affect planning. A change to ownership arrangements or specialist property advice may require a solicitor or conveyancer.

21. Probate and estate administration

Probate applications, estate administration, professional executor services and prepaid probate arrangements are not included. Preparing a will creates no obligation to use us for future estate administration and makes no promise that we will provide those services.

22. Certificate provider

An included LPA requires an appropriate certificate provider satisfying the legal requirements. We do not automatically act as certificate provider. Unless an appropriate separate arrangement is expressly agreed, the donor must arrange one. Family involvement or package acceptance does not satisfy that requirement.

23. OPG registration

Where registration assistance is included, the LPA Preparation & Registration Service Terms apply to that assistance. The Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) controls registration and its processing times are outside our control. Neither registration nor a registration date is guaranteed. The written scope identifies submission to the OPG or completion of specified administrative assistance as the agreed assistance completion point. Submission does not complete any further agreed support tasks. An LPA must be correctly executed and registered before use.

24. Government and third-party fees

Government or third-party fees may apply and must be identified before commitment, with mandatory fees made clear. Our written quotation identifies the exact pricing basis, included professional services and any separately payable amounts. Your written quotation confirms whether the OPG registration fee is included in our quoted price or is payable separately; neither fee model is assumed by these terms. No current OPG fee amount or entitlement to remission is promised by these terms. Third-party fees are distinct from our professional fee; accepting the package does not verify payment or remission.

Our normal process is to begin drafting once your instructions and the agreed payment have been received. The amount and payment arrangements are confirmed in the written quotation or engagement confirmation. Before starting during the statutory cancellation period, we also require your express early-start request and separate acknowledgement of loss of the cancellation right after full performance.

25. Draft review

Review each draft separately. For wills, check executors, beneficiaries, guardians, gifts and trust provisions. For LPAs, check attorneys and replacements, how they act, preferences, instructions and any life-sustaining-treatment choice. Raise errors or changes promptly. Approval of one document is not approval of another; each client or donor approves their own documents.

26. Signing and execution

Follow the guidance for each will and each LPA, including witnesses, certificate-provider completion and attorney signatures. Each document has its own legal requirements and signing order. The documents cannot simply be signed together in any order. Supplying drafts or final unsigned documents does not itself execute them.

27. Separate legal effect

Each document has its own legal effect. A defect, delay, revocation or non-completion of one does not automatically invalidate the others. For example, failure to register an LPA does not automatically invalidate an otherwise validly executed will; failure to execute a will does not automatically invalidate a separately valid LPA. The legal outcome may depend on individual circumstances.

28. Changes to one document

Later changes to one document do not automatically update another. Changing a will does not amend an LPA, and changing attorneys does not alter the will. Changes in family circumstances may require review of several documents. Ask us for a review where appropriate; further work requires agreement.

29. Life events

Consider review after marriage, civil partnership, divorce, dissolution or separation; birth or adoption of children; death of a beneficiary; death or inability of an executor or attorney; significant asset changes; moving abroad; major health changes; or a significant change in wishes. These events may affect different documents differently. This recommendation does not create an ongoing monitoring obligation.

30. Future review

Unless a separate ongoing service is agreed, we do not undertake to monitor legal changes, your family circumstances, capacity, health, asset ownership, attorney suitability or executor suitability. You remain responsible for seeking a review when appropriate.

31. Storage

You are responsible for safely storing the signed original will unless separate written storage arrangements have been agreed.

Custody and any agreed return of LPA documents will be confirmed in writing as part of your agreed arrangements.

Unless separate written arrangements are agreed, you remain responsible for safe custody of signed originals and relevant access details. We may retain copies and records in accordance with the Privacy Policy. Permanent storage of original wills or LPAs is not automatically included.

32. Cancellation

The General Terms & Conditions and Cancellation Information govern distance or off-premises contracts, the normally applicable 14-day cooling-off period, immediate commencement, lawful proportionate charges and loss of the cooling-off right following full performance with the required safeguards. Our normal process starts once instructions, agreed payment and engagement are confirmed; during the cancellation period we also need your separate express early-start request and full-performance acknowledgement.

Work may be completed in stages. If you cancel before the whole package is complete, a lawful proportionate charge must reflect the work actually performed against the exact agreed scope and pricing basis. Starting or completing one component does not justify an automatic full-package charge. Remedies for faulty services remain unaffected.

33. Full performance

Full performance of a combined planning service requires completion of every service in the exact agreed package. Completing or starting one component does not by itself complete the whole package or end its cooling-off cancellation right. The final will and execution instructions, each agreed LPA and signing guidance, any agreed review or trust-drafting work, the agreed registration assistance and all other agreed tasks must be supplied or completed as applicable. Successful OPG registration is not our contractual completion point; OPG processing may continue afterwards.

Starting work alone does not end cancellation rights. The statutory cooling-off right ends after full performance only where the required express request and separate acknowledgement and other legal conditions are satisfied. Faulty-service remedies remain available. For a review-only component, completion concerns the agreed findings or recommendations, not supply of a new will.

34. Partial completion

Different components may be completed at different times. A completed component may be recorded as completed while others remain outstanding; it does not automatically complete the package or remove cancellation rights for the remaining work. Any lawful cancellation charge or refund calculation must fairly reflect completed and outstanding work, the agreed pricing basis and applicable statutory rights. We do not apply package-wide forfeiture because one component has begun.

35. Completion

Completion concerns the exact written scope. A will and one LPA require the agreed work for those documents only. A will and both LPAs require the agreed work for all three documents and any included registration assistance. Mirror wills and LPAs require all documents and tasks in the agreed joint package, identifying each separate client and donor. Any review, trust drafting or other expressly included task must also be completed. We record the exact scope in the engagement confirmation; neither an unselected service nor successful OPG registration is silently added.

36. Complaints

The General Terms & Conditions complaints process applies. A complaint about a particular document or service is assessed under its applicable service-specific terms as well as these coordination terms. Your statutory rights remain unaffected.

37. Relationship with other terms

Read these Will & LPA Planning Service Terms with the General Terms & Conditions and each applicable service-specific document, identified dynamically for your agreed package. These terms take precedence only for an inconsistency specifically about coordination of the combined service. They do not expand substantive attorney authority, replace individual execution requirements or limit mandatory consumer rights. For LPA preparation and registration mechanics, the shared preparation terms continue to apply; those mechanics do not complete an otherwise unfinished combined package.