Personal, professional estate planning across Rye and the surrounding East Sussex villages — at your kitchen table, on your schedule.
Rye is a historic Cinque Port on the East Sussex coast, surrounded by the villages of Romney Marsh and the Rother Levels. From my base I regularly visit clients in Northiam, Beckley, Peasmarsh, Broad Oak, and Ewhurst Green. Home visits to all of these are included in the quoted price — there's no extra travel charge for the smaller villages.
I'm Emma Wrigley — a law graduate with over 20 years in the legal sector — and I set up Kent Legacy Planning because estate planning should fit around your life, not the other way around. The conversations I have with clients are usually held over a cup of tea at the kitchen table, on an evening or weekend if that's what works, with no office visits and no rushed appointments.
All prices include home visits across Rye and the surrounding villages.
From £225
A professionally drafted will that clearly expresses your wishes, protects your assets, and provides for your loved ones with legal certainty. Includes a free phone consultation, a home visit for detailed instructions, careful drafting tailored to your circumstances, and a signing appointment at your home with proper witnessing.
£350
Coordinated wills for partners that reflect shared wishes while accounting for individual circumstances. One phone consultation, a home visit for joint instructions, two complete wills, and a signing appointment at your kitchen table.
£275 per document
Ensure trusted people can make important decisions on your behalf for health, welfare, and financial matters if you're ever unable to. I guide you through every step including registration with the Office of the Public Guardian. OPG registration fee of £92 per document is payable separately.
Free with will / £85 standalone
A personal document to guide your executors on matters close to your heart — funeral preferences, personal bequests, and messages to loved ones. Included free with every will, or £85 as a standalone document.
£595 per couple
Protect your share of the family home while ensuring your partner can continue living there — safeguarding assets for future generations. Includes severance of joint tenancy so your property is properly structured for the trust to work.
1.5% of estate value
Practical, compassionate help administering an estate after a loved one has died. I handle the paperwork — applying for the Grant of Probate, valuing assets, dealing with banks and HMRC, settling liabilities, and distributing the estate to the beneficiaries — so the family doesn't have to. Transparent percentage pricing, far below typical solicitor rates. Probate Registry fees are payable separately.
A recent client near Rye
“When my father died, Emma came out to Peasmarsh to talk us through probate at the kitchen table — including the second home he'd kept on the south coast. She handled the HMRC paperwork and kept us informed throughout, even popping back one Saturday morning with the final papers.”
Losing a parent or partner around Rye, Northiam or Peasmarsh often means inheriting not just memories but a period home, sometimes a second property elsewhere, and the daunting prospect of probate at a moment when nobody has the energy for paperwork. Probate is the legal process of proving a will and getting authority to deal with the estate — collecting in assets, paying debts and tax, and distributing what’s left to the beneficiaries. It sounds straightforward and, with the right hands on it, it is. Done wrong, it can drag on for over a year.
Rye and its surrounding villages skew older, and estate values here tend to sit comfortably above the national average — period property in a Cinque Port and the surrounding Romney Marsh and Rother Levels villages doesn’t come cheap. That combination is exactly where careful, locally responsive probate help earns its keep. The typical Rye estate I’m asked to help with looks something like this:
My probate fee is a flat 1.5% of the estate value — well below the percentage rates solicitors typically charge once VAT and disbursements are added, and entirely transparent from day one. That covers the application for the Grant of Probate, the HMRC inheritance-tax paperwork, dealing with banks, valuers and any agents, settling liabilities, and distributing the estate to the beneficiaries. Probate Registry fees are paid separately at cost, and you’ll see every figure clearly itemised before anything is signed. We start with a free no-obligation phone call so you can describe the estate and receive a clear written quote before committing to anything — and once you decide to go ahead, home visits across the Rye area are included in the fee. No office, no hourly billing, no surprises at the end.
I cover Rye itself and the surrounding East Sussex villages, including Northiam, Beckley, Peasmarsh, Broad Oak and Ewhurst Green. There's no additional charge for visiting any of these — home visits are included in the quoted price, whether you're in the centre of Rye, out on Romney Marsh, or across the Rother Levels. If you're slightly outside this list and not sure whether you're in catchment, give me a ring and we'll sort it out — in practice I rarely turn anyone in the Rye area away.
Solicitors typically charge a percentage of the estate that can run to 3–5%, sometimes more once VAT and disbursements are added. On the kind of period properties common around Rye, Northiam and Peasmarsh, that adds up quickly. My probate fee is a flat 1.5% of estate value — the same careful work, at a fraction of the cost, with the Probate Registry fees paid separately at cost. I handle the application, the HMRC paperwork for any inheritance tax, and the distribution to beneficiaries.
Yes — I'm available seven days a week, including evenings, with no extra charge for out-of-hours visits. Probate conversations often involve several family members, and getting everyone around the same table in Rye usually means an evening or a weekend. I'm happy to fit around school runs, work commitments or relatives travelling down from London or further afield. Whatever suits the family best — I'll come to you, whether that's a Tuesday evening after work or a quiet Sunday morning with the whole family present.
It's more common than people think around Rye, where second homes and inherited property elsewhere in the country are part of the local pattern. A second property doesn't fundamentally change the process, but it does mean an extra valuation, careful attention to capital gains and inheritance tax exposure, and sometimes liaison with agents in the other county. I handle all of that as part of the standard probate service — there's no surcharge for an estate that crosses county lines, and the 1.5% fee is calculated on the total estate.
Of course — most of my clients prefer to discuss these matters in their own home, and it's especially important for older clients or anyone with mobility difficulties. I regularly visit clients in Northiam, Beckley and the smaller villages around Rye. Family members are very welcome to be present, and I'm happy to coordinate appointments around relatives travelling in from outside the area. There's no obligation after the first conversation — we'll talk through the options and you can take your time deciding.
Most couples choose the Complete Peace of Mind Package at £1,195 — mirror wills, both types of LPA for both partners, and letters of wishes. That's six professionally drafted documents in one process. OPG registration fees (£368 for four LPAs) are payable separately to the government.
