Will writing, LPAs and probate in Maidstone

I cover Maidstone itself and the villages around it, including Bearsted, Boxley, Detling, Penenden Heath, Weavering, Downswood, Otham, Loose, Boughton Monchelsea, Coxheath, Barming, and Allington. There's no additional charge for visiting any of them — the signing visit is included in the quoted price for whichever service you choose, and I'm based only a few miles from the town, so none of it is a long trip. If you're in a hamlet I haven't listed, or just the other side of a parish boundary, do ring anyway. The list is a guide rather than a limit, and I'd far rather you asked than assumed the answer was no.

I don't charge a percentage of the estate at all. There's a fixed fee for an initial executor and estate review, a quoted fee for whichever specific jobs you'd like help with, and a fixed quotation for the full administration once I know what's involved. Whichever you choose, it's in writing before I start and it doesn't change as the work goes on. Firms more commonly charge a percentage of the estate and then bill their time on top at an hourly rate, so the final figure isn't knowable when you agree to it — it grows with every letter and every phone call. Maidstone has plenty of long-established solicitors and I'd always encourage you to get a written quote from one to set against mine. Ask specifically whether the percentage includes the hourly charges or sits alongside them. That one question usually tells you everything.

Yes — I work seven days a week and there's no out-of-hours premium. Administering an estate tends to land on people who are already stretched, and a good many of my Maidstone clients would rather sit down at seven in the evening than take a morning off work to do it. Weekends suit families who want a brother or sister in the room for the conversation, especially when someone is driving in from outside Kent. Tell me what works when we first speak on the phone and I'll fit around it — school runs, shift patterns, and the M20 at rush hour included.

Longer than most people expect, and I won't pretend otherwise. Applications are processed centrally by HMCTS rather than through a local registry, so being in Maidstone neither speeds things up nor slows them down. What matters is whether the application is right first time — a stopped application goes back into the queue and can add months. HMCTS publishes its current average timescales and I'll tell you where they stand when we speak, but they're approximate and they move, so I won't dress one up as a guarantee. The application itself is one you make to HMCTS as executor — preparing it for you is a reserved legal activity I'm not authorised to carry out — but I'll talk you through what it asks for, make sure HMRC is settled first, and do the rest of the chasing rather than you.

Yes. The detail is gathered by questionnaire and phone, so there's no formal appointment for them to sit through, and then I bring the documents out to be signed — that visit is part of the service rather than an extra, so there's nothing to weigh up about whether a trip to Bearsted, Coxheath or Boughton Monchelsea is worth it. For older clients, or anyone who finds getting out harder than they used to, going through it all in a familiar chair with a cup of tea makes a real difference to how much sinks in. Family are very welcome to sit in, and I'm happy to work around a relative travelling in for the weekend.

Most couples choose the Complete Peace of Mind Package — mirror wills, both types of LPA for both partners, and letters of wishes. That's six professionally drafted documents in one process, and it works out cheaper than arranging each piece separately. I'll give you the exact figure on our first phone call, and OPG registration fees are payable separately to the government.