Areas covered

Will writing, LPAs and probate in Tonbridge

Personal, professional estate planning across Tonbridge and the surrounding villages — at your home, on your schedule, evenings and weekends.

Tonbridge is the second-largest town in the area, a Medway-side commuter town with strong rail links to London and a band of villages to its north and west. From my base I regularly visit clients in Capel, and Five Oak Green. The signing visit is included in the quoted price wherever you are on that list — 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 happen mostly on the phone, at whatever time of day suits you, and the signing happens over a cup of tea at your own kitchen table — evenings and weekends if that's what works, with no office visits and no rushed appointments.

Services available in Tonbridge

Every fee is quoted in writing before you commit, and will and LPA prices include a signing visit to your home in Tonbridge or the surrounding villages.

Wills & related documents

Powers of attorney & health decisions

Probate & estate administration

Other documents

A recent client near Tonbridge

“Emma came out to us in Five Oak Green one Tuesday evening after the children were in bed and walked us through mirror wills and guardianship for our two boys. We'd been putting it off for years — she made it straightforward, and signed everything off at our kitchen table over a cup of tea a fortnight later.”
Rachel
Mirror Wills client, Five Oak Green
Emma meeting with a client at home

Mirror Wills for Tonbridge couples and families

For families in Tonbridge, Capel and Five Oak Green, mirror wills are usually the most sensible starting point — a coordinated pair of wills for a couple whose wishes broadly match. They’re the bread and butter of estate planning for the commuter families who make up so much of this part of Kent.

If you’re in your thirties or forties with a mortgage, young children, and a busy working life split between London and home, the chances are you’ve been meaning to sort out a will for years and never quite got round to it. The trouble is that without one, the rules of intestacy decide what happens to your estate — and crucially, the courts decide who looks after your children if the worst happens. Mirror wills fix both of those problems in a single, affordable appointment.

The typical scenarios where mirror wills are the right answer:

  • Couples with young children who need to name guardians and structure how money is held for the children until they’re old enough to inherit.
  • Mortgage-protected estates where most of the value sits in the family home and any life-insurance payout, and you want everything to flow cleanly to the surviving partner and then to the children.
  • Couples with simple, aligned wishes — everything to each other first, then to the children equally — who don’t need anything more elaborate but do want it properly drafted and witnessed.

The fee is a single fixed price for the pair, quoted in full before you commit to anything. Because both wills are drafted together from one set of instructions, they cost less than two wills commissioned separately — and, far more importantly, they dovetail properly instead of contradicting one another. That fee covers the initial phone consultation, a questionnaire and follow-up calls to take instructions from both of you, the drafting of two complete and coordinated wills, and a visit to sign and witness them at your kitchen table. There’s no extra charge for the signing visit and no extra charge for evening or weekend appointments, and a letter of wishes can be prepared for each of you alongside the wills, for a small additional fee, capturing funeral preferences and any personal messages alongside the legal document. If you’d also like to think about lasting powers of attorney at the same time — sensible while you’re already going through your circumstances in detail — we can roll that into the same conversation and quote the Peace of Mind Package as an alternative.

Questions from Tonbridge clients

Which villages around Tonbridge do you cover?

I cover Tonbridge itself and the villages immediately south and east of the town — Capel and Five Oak Green in particular, both of which sit on the road out towards Paddock Wood. The signing visit is included in the quoted price, so there's no extra travel charge for either. If you're a little further out — for instance towards Hildenborough, Leigh, Penshurst or Hadlow — do get in touch and I'll happily confirm whether I can come to you. In most cases the answer is yes.

We're a young family in Tonbridge — why do we need mirror wills rather than just one each?

Mirror wills are designed for couples whose wishes broadly match — typically: everything to each other first, then to the children equally, with named guardians if both parents die before the children grow up. Drafting them together rather than separately means the two documents dovetail properly and there are no contradictions between them. For most Tonbridge families with a mortgage and young children, it's the most cost-effective way to get proper protection in place — one set of instructions and one fixed fee for the pair, rather than two wills commissioned separately at a fee each.

Do you offer evening or weekend appointments in Tonbridge?

Yes — I'm available seven days a week, including evenings, with no extra charge for out-of-hours visits. Most of my Tonbridge clients are commuters or working parents, so an evening appointment after the children are in bed, or a Saturday morning over coffee, tends to work far better than trying to take time off during the working day. I'll travel out to you in Tonbridge, Capel or Five Oak Green at whatever time suits — just tell me what works and I'll fit around it.

How do guardianship clauses work, and what should we think about before our appointment?

Naming a guardian for children under 18 is one of the most important parts of a will for any young family. The guardian only takes over if both parents have died, and you can name backups in case your first choice can't act. Before our appointment, have a conversation about who you'd want — usually a sibling, close friend, or grandparent — and ideally check they're willing. You'll also want to think about how money is held for the children until they're old enough to inherit; I'll talk you through the options when we meet.

I'm helping a parent in Tonbridge or Capel sort out their will — can you visit them at home?

Absolutely — most of my older clients much prefer to talk through these things in their own home rather than travelling to an office, and family members are welcome to be present if that's helpful. I'm happy to coordinate the appointment around relatives travelling in from further afield, including evenings or weekends if that makes life easier. For clients with mobility difficulties or who simply find an unfamiliar setting stressful, signing at home rather than in an office makes the whole thing far less daunting.

What does it cost to get everything sorted in one go?

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.