wills and lpas in bawtry.

Bawtry is one of my favourite places to visit. The Georgian high street, with its wide market place, is as good a setting as any for a cup of tea before a meeting. It sits right on the line between South Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire, about twenty-five minutes from me.

coming to you in bawtry

I come to your home in Bawtry or the villages round it, like Austerfield, Misson, Everton, Scrooby and Tickhill. The visit is included in the price, and evenings are no problem. I’ll bring everything we need, and you won’t need to go anywhere.

what happens locally when someone dies

Being on the county border makes Bawtry a little unusual, so it’s worth knowing how this works.

Bawtry is part of the City of Doncaster. If someone dies at home here, the death is registered at Doncaster Register Office in the Civic Office on Waterdale. Since 2024, a medical examiner reviews every death first, and then the register office contacts the next of kin to book an appointment.

But a death is registered in the district where it happens. If someone from Bawtry dies at Bassetlaw Hospital in Worksop, it goes through Nottinghamshire instead, at Worksop Register Office on Memorial Avenue or Retford Register Office. That catches families out more often than you’d think.

Probate, thankfully, works the same everywhere. There’s no local probate office now. Most executors apply online through GOV.UK, and paper forms go by post to HMCTS’s central probate service.

what if your will was written for a different life?

A lot of the people I meet in Bawtry have moved here, sometimes after the children have grown up. Some have downsized. Some have retired. Some have remarried.

Any of those can leave an old will out of date. It might name a house you’ve sold. It might name executors who have since died, or who you’ve lost touch with. It might leave things to people in a way that made sense twenty years ago but doesn’t now.

One thing catches people out more than any other. In England and Wales, getting married cancels any will you made before, unless it was written with that marriage in mind. So if you remarried and never made a new will, you may effectively have no will at all.

an example from bawtry

This is an example of a common situation, not a real client. Names and details are made up.

Richard and Ann moved to Bawtry from Leicestershire when they retired and downsized. Their wills were from 2004. They named a solicitor’s firm that had since merged twice as executor, left “my house at 14 Elm Road” to their children, and had no LPAs at all.

That specific gift of the old house is the problem. Because Elm Road has been sold, the gift fails. The children’s share would then depend on how the rest of the will was worded, not on what Richard and Ann actually wanted.

New mirror wills named their two children as executors and left the estate in shares that reflect what they want now. Both LPAs mean their son, who lives in Doncaster, can step in if either of them gets ill. The old wills were destroyed properly, so there’s no confusion later about which will counts.

what it costs in bawtry

• Single will: £149
• Mirror wills for a couple: £249
• Lasting power of attorney: £199 per document
• Will storage with HMCTS: £249, one-off

I’m happy to read through an existing will and tell you honestly whether it still does what you want. There’s more on the wills page and the prices page.

If you’re in Bawtry, book a home visit or call me for a chat first.