Wills, probate, and later-life planning
SWR Wills is Steven Robinson’s private client practice, working alongside All Types of Mortgages. Wills, lasting power of attorney, estate planning, and probate support, with free home visits across London and Essex.
The same adviser, the other half of the picture
It is normal for people to meet Steven through a mortgage review or a new mortgage enquiry. Getting the mortgage right decides the present. Getting the will right decides what happens to the mortgage afterwards, and the two questions belong together far more often than people realise.
SWR Wills handles that second half. It is the same person you already deal with, so nothing must be explained twice.
Steven takes care of the whole advice journey for you. Mortgage, protection, wills, and estate planning sit with one adviser from start to finish, rather than being split across a broker, an insurer and a solicitor who never speak to each other.
Everything that decides what happens next
Eight services covering the whole of later-life and estate planning. Most clients start with a will and a lasting power of attorney, then add the rest over time.
Wills
A properly drafted will that says who gets what, who looks after your children, and who carries it out. Single wills and mirror wills for couples.
Probate and estate administration
Support for families dealing with an estate after a death, from valuing assets to distributing what is left.
Lasting Power of Attorney
Property and financial affairs, and health and welfare. Put in place while you still have capacity, because afterwards is too late.
Living wills
An advance decision recording the medical treatment you would refuse, so your family are never left guessing on your behalf.
Pre-paid funeral plans
Fixing the cost of a funeral at today's prices and taking the arrangements off your family at the worst possible moment.
Estate and tax planning
Structuring what you leave behind so more of it reaches the people you intended and less is lost along the way.
Severance of tenancy
Converting a joint tenancy into tenants in common, so each of you can leave your share of the property to whoever you choose.
Trusts
Protecting assets for children, vulnerable beneficiaries or a second family, and keeping a share of the home out of reach where that matters.
Free home visits
Steven comes to you, at a time that suits, anywhere across Essex and London. No office appointment and no charge for the visit.
We come to you; the visit is free of charge
Nobody enjoys sitting in an office discussing their death. Our experience is that a better and more relaxed conversation usually takes place in the comfort of your own home.
Covering Essex and London. Daytime appointments are available throughout the week, and if daytime appointments prove inconvenient we can arrange an evening or weekend visit as an alternative for you.
- No charge for the visitThe first appointment costs nothing and carries no obligation to proceed.
- No jargonPlain English throughout. If something is not clear, we have not explained it properly yet.
- Confirmation of fees upon requestFees are confirmed in writing before any work begins. Ask at the first visit and you will have the figure in front of you before you decide anything.
- Couples seen togetherMirror wills, joint lasting powers of attorney and severance of tenancy all handled in one visit.
A member of the Society of Will Writers
Will writing is not a reserved legal activity, so anyone may lawfully offer it and plenty of people do. SWW membership is the voluntary standard that separates a professional practice from someone with a template. Membership is not optional to maintain, it is audited annually.
Two million in cover
Members must hold professional indemnity insurance of at least £2 million with an approved insurer, and prove it to the Society every year. Unregulated will writers are not required to hold any at all.
A binding code of practice
Members are bound by the SWW Code of Practice and its complaints and disciplinary procedures. The Society can order errors put right at no cost, or financial loss made good.
Audited annual training
Twenty four hours of continuing professional development every year, with sixteen structured hours evidenced at the annual audit. Membership lapses without it.
The Society of Will Writers is a self-regulatory trade body, not a statutory regulator. It does not confer FCA authorisation or the right to carry out reserved legal activities.
What happens if you do not leave a will
Dying without a will in England or Wales does not mean your family decides. It means the intestacy rules decide, using a fixed formula set out in the Administration of Estates Act 1925. The result surprises most people.
Unmarried partners get nothing
However long you lived together. A partner of thirty years has no automatic claim at all, and no automatic right to stay in the home.
The estate splits by formula
With a spouse and children, the spouse takes the personal possessions, the first £322,000, then half of what is left. The children share the other half.
Stepchildren are excluded
A child you raised from infancy but never legally adopted inherits nothing. The estate passes to biological children only.
Statutory legacy of £322,000 applies in England and Wales, in force since 26 July 2023 and unchanged for 2026/27. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own separate rules.
One adviser, from the first conversation to the last signature
Most people end up with their mortgage at a bank, their protection with an insurer, and their will with a solicitor, and none of the three ever speak to each other. Steven takes care of the whole advice journey for you, so the pieces actually fit together.
A free home visit
At a time that suits you, daytime, evening or weekend. We go through your family, your property, who you want to provide for and anything that complicates it. Nothing is charged and nothing is committed to.
The whole picture, not one product
Mortgage, protection, wills and estate planning looked at together. Where a mortgage or protection product is part of the answer, we have access to a whole of market panel rather than one lender or one insurer.
Recommendation and confirmation of fees
You get the recommendation in plain English and confirmation of fees on request, in writing, before any work begins. Nothing is drafted until you have the figure in front of you.
Drafting and your review
We prepare the documents and send them for you to read in your own time. Nothing is signed until you are satisfied it says exactly what you meant it to say.
Signing, witnessing and storage
We handle correct signing and witnessing, which is where most home-made wills fail, then arrange secure storage and make sure your executors know where everything is.
We stay in touch
Marriage, divorce, a new child, a house move or a change in the tax rules can all undo a plan that was right when it was written. We review it with you rather than leaving it in a drawer.
Access to a whole of market panel
Estate planning rarely sits on its own. It touches the mortgage, the protection policies and sometimes the pension, and those are the parts where being tied to one provider costs you real money.
- Not tied to one lender or insurerWhere borrowing or protection forms part of the plan, we search a whole of market panel rather than a single provider's range.
- One adviser holds the whole fileNo repeating your circumstances to three different firms, and no gaps opening up between them.
- Joined-up recommendationsA will that assumes life cover you do not have, or cover written outside trust, are the sort of mismatches that only show up at claim.
Where the two sides meet
Life cover written in trust pays out in weeks rather than waiting on probate. Severance of tenancy decides whether your share of the house can pass under your will at all. A mortgage that outlives you becomes an estate problem. These are the joins that get missed when advice is split across three firms.
Inheritance tax calculator
A quick estimate of what your estate might owe, using the 2026/27 thresholds. The nil rate band, the residence nil rate band and the two million taper threshold are all frozen until April 2031, so more estates cross them every year.
An estimate only, using 2026/27 thresholds. It does not account for lifetime gifts in the last seven years, business or agricultural relief, trusts, or pensions, which come into scope from April 2027. Inheritance tax planning is not a regulated activity in itself but can overlap with one. Take advice before acting on any figure here.
Common questions
How much does a will cost?
Do I really need a solicitor to write a will?
What is a lasting power of attorney and when should I set one up?
What is severance of tenancy and why would I want it?
What is a living will?
Can you help after someone has died?
Book a free home visit
No charge, no obligation, and no need to come to us. Covering Essex and London, with virtual meetings also available.
SWR Wills, 1 Burnt Oak Lodge, 711 London Road, Hadleigh, Benfleet, Essex SS7 2EE