"rip off solicitors"
I don't suppose the last contributor would care to substantiate this slur. It gets monotonous defending an entire profession, but here goes:
1. I am a solicitor.
2. I rarely charge anything (or at most €50 for the pair)for a perfectly straightforward will (i.e. husband and wife leaving all to each other). In this, I am absolutely typical of my profession.
3. Such a will is rarely a satisfactory solution where there are children, or even the prospect of children. As I point out to all married couples, it is not fair to simply leave the hard choices to the survivor; better to make joint decisions on what will happen when both are gone. For a more complex will I rarely charge, though in this I am probably atypical of the profession. A charge of up to €250 would not be unusual. (And, of course, for a high net worth situation, or where the beneficiaries are nephews/nieces/unmarried partners so that Inheritance Tax planning issues arise, up to €500 is probably not unusual).
4. There is no uniformity of practice, but many solicitors (myself included) routinely refuse to be named as an executor or trustee, on the grounds that if the next generation want my services they can hire them, but if they don't want my services, I don't want to be seen to have tried to secure the business by giving myself an appointment as executor. This is in marked contrast to the attitude of many banks, whose business attitude routinely involves cross-selling of services and attempting to secure business.
For the well educated client, who knows enough to know what he/she needs to put in a will, and who is confident that there are no tax issues, a bank or an online service might be fine. For the vast majority of people, a consultation with a solicitor is a far more sensible way of maing a will.
