Will writing & estate planning in Malmesbury
Appointments in Malmesbury and the villages around it — Charlton, Crudwell, Sherston, Brokenborough and Hullavington.
Call 01793 228068Mon–Fri 9am–7pm · Sat by appointment · Home visits across Wiltshire
Business owners and share schemes
Malmesbury has an unusually high concentration of engineers, technical professionals and people running their own small businesses for a town of its size, and the estate planning reflects that. Employee share schemes, options that have not yet vested, and shares in a private company are all assets that behave differently from a house and a bank account, and a standard will handles them badly.
For anyone with a shareholding in a private company, the will and the shareholders’ agreement have to be read together. It is entirely possible for a will to leave shares to a spouse while the articles or a cross-option agreement require them to be offered to the surviving shareholders. If the two documents disagree, the family inherits an argument. We ask to see the shareholders’ agreement, and where there is not one, we say so.
Business property relief is often a significant factor in a business owner’s estate, and how a company is structured affects whether it survives. Recent restrictions make an old will worth revisiting. We deal with the will, the shareholdings as they pass, and how the two fit together — anything that strays into regulated financial or tax advice is not ours to give, and we will tell you so rather than improvising.
The rest of Malmesbury
Away from the business owners, Malmesbury is a long-settled town with a good deal of older housing and a lot of families who have been in the area for generations. Property on the hill and in the streets around the Abbey has risen sharply in value, and several of the wills we are asked to review were drafted when the same house was worth a fraction of today’s figure. The gift of a fixed cash sum that made sense in 1998 can now swallow a disproportionate share of an estate, or fail to reflect the person’s intentions at all.
We also do a lot of straightforward, useful work here: mirror wills for couples, lasting powers of attorney for both partners, and reviews for people who already have a will and just want to know whether it still does the job. That review is free and quite often ends with us saying it is fine as it stands.
Malmesbury and the surrounding villages are within our normal visiting area, so there is no travel charge and no charge for the first conversation.
What we can help with in Malmesbury
Wills
A clear, legally valid will that says exactly what you mean.
from £150
Trusts
Protect the family home and provide for the next generation.
from £400
Lasting Powers of Attorney
Property & financial affairs and health & welfare, registered for you.
from £150
Estate Planning
Everything pulled together into one clear, co-ordinated plan.
quoted after a free review
Executors
Make sure the people you appoint know what they are taking on.
Executor Pack £200
We also cover
Nearby villages include Charlton, Crudwell, Sherston, Brokenborough, Hullavington, Lea — all within our normal visiting area.
Talk to someone in Malmesbury
The first conversation is free, and there is no obligation to go any further.