Estate Planning
At Berkeley Weston, we help you create an end-of-life plan to secure your independence later in life, reduce stress on your loved ones and help protect your legacy from the taxman.
Download our "Getting Your Affairs In Order" document below for a comprehensive list of everything you need to do:
The team at Berkeley Weston have been immensely helpful in helping our family with Last Will and Testaments and advice around Lasting Power of Attorneys. Unlike several solicitors I've spoken to, they speak in plain English and don't bombard you with jargon, which is really refreshing.
I'd highly recommend the Berkeley Weston team if you have any requirements for Wills or Lasting Power of Attorney.
I'd highly recommend the Berkeley Weston team if you have any requirements for Wills or Lasting Power of Attorney.
Here’s how we can help you with your estate planning:
Last Will and Testament
If you die without a valid Will, your property, money and assets will be divided up according to legal rules drawn up by Parliament, which may be inconsistent and at odds with your personal wishes.
A lack of Will results in a complicated legal mess, which will no doubt add significant stress and heartache at a time when they could really do without it.
If children under the age of 18 are part of the equation, it’s even more vital that a Will is written up – it’s the only certain way to ensure your children are raised by someone of your choosing in the event of your death.
We’ve been writing Last Will and Testament documents for over 20 years, we’re much more affordable than your average solicitors, and you’ll end up with a legally compliant Will that reflects your circumstances, protects your loved ones and gives you peace of mind.
Worse than that, without a valid Lasting Power of Attorney, you risk losing control of decisions about where you live and who looks after you.
Over the years, we’ve stopped this happening to thousands of people:
- You CAN prevent the Government making decisions you don’t want them to make on your behalf.
- You CAN stop them forcing you into a care home.
- You CAN protect your assets, and ensure that they end up with your loved ones rather than in the treasury
- You CAN ensure that everything you’ve worked so hard to build up isn’t wasted and does end up helping the people you care about to forge a fantastic future
And we can help you with all of the above.
Lasting Power of Attorney
If you own your own home and/or have assets, whether in cash, property or funds, then keep watching, unless you’ve put specific provisions in place, there’s every chance that the government will plunder those assets and your home.
What our customers say:
I had intended to obtain probate in respect of my late sister as I thought it would be quite straightforward. However, it soon became apparent that it was going to be a complex and stressful process and I needed a qualified professional person who specialised in this area to act on my behalf.I did some research and found Phil Weston had over 20 successful years of experience in this field. From my initial telephone conversation with Phil I knew that I had made the right decision in asking for his help and guidance. He put me at ease straight away and I chose to use his Assisted Probate Service. Phil dealt with the entire process and the IHT submission was approved straight away. Once I had paid HMRC the amount of inheritance tax required, Phil submitted the probate application on 16th May 2025 and it was approved on 31st May.If you are looking for a professional, courteous and friendly person to obtain probate on your behalf I would recommend Phil Weston and his team without hesitation.Thank you Phil.
Decided to use Berkeley Weston after first seeing them online, but especially after a first phone call with Samantha who was not only excellent, but really friendly and knowledgeable of my fairly complex (well to me anyway) double IHT and Probate application.She immediately put my mind at rest with what we needed to do and when, so after the IHT forms were sent in and IHT paid, I applied for Probate on the 19th May via a video call with the excellent Phil, and here I am just 14 days later with Probate granted. No fuss, no mistakes, just a completely smooth process from start to finish.Can't recommend them highly enough, and, more to the point, it cost me exactly a third of the majority of other quotes I'd had from Solicitors and some of the big Probate specialist companies when shopping around.....
An excellent service. Never having dealt with probate, it can seem overwhelming, I came across Berkeley Weston online, they offered a professional service at a competitive price , also quicker than using a solicitor. From the first phone call I was putat ease & they carried me through the probate application process with precise & helpful instructions.Phil, Samantha & Sarah are true professionals, I would not hesitate to recommend Berkeley Weston.
Diane and I would like to thank you and your team for the help with the assisted probate applications for both Mum and Dad (Leslie and Lona Foster) who passed away within eight months of one another.Both were handled promptly and professionally and probate was received quickly.It was nice to deal with you personally via the internet and we would not hesitate in recommending your services to others.
I have previous experience of probate applications, and I know them to be, in some cases extremely complex, time consuming ( my mothers took 9 months) oh and stressful too. Phil helped me enormously, made things very easy, stress free and lo and behold from application to grant was 14 days, a miracle to my mind…take the pain away, use Phil, he’s fantastic….
I am so happy with the help I have received from Phill. I had started to do the whole progress of getting probate for my late wifes estate. I had started to complete the on line application and after going from the first stage to the second, and had to confirm facts I had entered, I got cold feet and decided that maybe some help might be a good Idea. After seeing Phill's website I decided this was the person who could put my mind at rest. I telephoned Phill's company and spoke with a very helpful person who answored some questions I had regarding the information I had answored on the on line application only to find I had misunderstood what was required on one of the sections.I submitted all the information regarding my late wife's estate for Phill to deal with, and a few days later I had an on line consultation with Phill. He ran through what I had sbmitted and had corrected my mistakes. . My application was submitted, I sent off the necessary documents to the Probate office and low and behold 10 days later after answoring a query from probate office I was granted probate.I now need to contact one of Phill's colleague's to find what steps I need to take to finalise the estate.I am quite sure I have saved a considerable ammount of money using Phill's DIY service
I found the DIY Probate Guide extremely useful along with more information online. I used the Assisted Probate which was very reassuring. Phil Weston & Samantha Petit were extremely helpful & only a phone call away if needed. I would definitely recommend.
The probate guide was excellent and very good value for money. It was well written with clear instructions and easy to read. The ability to ask for advice or to hand the process over to Berkley Weston was a big plus.
I used this guide to complete probate on my father's estate when he died in November 2024. The guide made the process a lot more straightforward and easy and I didn't need any additional outside help to obtain the grant of probate. I've since been named as an executor in another will, so obtaining this guide was very timely.
Dear Mr Weston and TeamThis is another commendation to add to the ones already sent to you by satisfied customers.My Mother passed away at the end of August and named me as an executor. I did initially consider doing all the Probate myself, but having struggled with the online Form for a while I started to worry, because some questions were not very clear. I found Berkeley Weston's DIY Probate service online and contacted you. My first email from you was on 1st November. I filled out the details necessary for the PA1 Probate Form and returned it to you. When you sent the completed PA1 back to me I noticed with interest that there were four questions I would have filled out wrongly, had I done it myself! Having signed the PA1 Form I returned it to you.I was delighted to receive my Letters of Grant of Probate on 20th December - the whole process having taken less than two months.I have already recommended you to friends who may need your service in the fairly near future, and will continue to do so, to anybody who needs help with filling out the PA1 ( probate) Form.I will just add that when I contacted my solicitor to ask for his help, he told me it would cost about £4,000 for the cost of executing the Will of my Mother, and could take up to a year to complete.SincerelyGrant Perry
I thought this service was going to be too good to be true but, thankfully, I was wrong. Initially, I opted for the do-it-yourself option, which was a comprehensive pack but then following a telephone call with Sam P, I decided to go with the Assisted DIY Probate. Once we had collated all the information needed, we had a 'on line meet' with Phil who went through everything with us, and within half an hour or so, the application was finalised and posted out the same day. This was mid December, and we had Probate granted in the first week of January which was less than 4 weeks. An amazing service which Berkeley Weston made so much less daunting. Thank you to Phil and the BW Team.
Excellent, fast, hassle-free and cost-effective Assisted service with great advice and support from both Phil and Samantha. Definitely recommend using this service as they make it so easy at a decent price. (We had received a quote for five times the amount we paid to Berkeley Weston.)
I found Berkeley Weston Ltd. DIY Probate by chance and I am so glad I did!They have made the whole process much less stressful than I anticipated.Their DIY pack is a mine of information at an exceptional price saving a lot of stress and keeping costs down.I would definitely recommend Berkeley Weston Ltd. to any person needing assistance through the probate process.
The pack clearly explained the inheritance tax and probate process. The guidance in the pack enabled me to make my own submission saving time and money. I would thoroughly recommend the Berkeley Weston Ltd DIY Probate pack.
Exceptional assistance and guidance in obtaining IHT400 clearance and Grant of Probate for my late wife’s estate. The process and form filling were rather daunting when one is at a personal low ebb. Berkley Weston aided this process and provided support which was much appreciated. Grant of Probate received in a much quicker time than I had expected.
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Hello, I would just like to say how pleased we are with the service provided by Phil for our IHT probate application. Much cheaper than a solicitor and equally professional. He kept us informed all the way and as it turned out a very quick service from the probate office - probably due to the forms being properly filled in! We went for the full service and it has proved very worthwhile, a big thanks to Phil and his team.