davidnichollsassociates.co.uk

Extremely Bad Experience & Poor Attention To Detail

My wife and I engaged David (Nicholls) to write our Wills, which would include trusts, life assurance trusts and also Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) documents for both of us.Let me note here that David is not a qualified solicitor, but an estate planner.Initially David was charming and helpful, but in his explanations did not seem that comprehensive. In spite of this, we went ahead and provided the information he requested. At this point we agreed the total fees. I made the big mistake of then paying the total fee prior to receiving all documentation that was to our satisfaction. Be warned – I recommend you do not pay David any money up front (or in fact afterwards ).To keep this review succinct – over the course any many emails David sent us documentation but there were always mistakes in it. For example, incorrect names, omissions, dates, wrong beneficiaries. We emailed him the correct information each time and new mistakes would come back. For the trusts, each time he sent a document it was called something different, firstly ‘Discretionary Trust of Residue’, then ‘Combined Nil Rate Discretionary Trust of Residue’ and finally ‘Interest in Possession Trust’. None of these were explained to our satisfaction. My wife never received her Will draft, and when requested we were sent another client’s document.My wife and I are both professionals. I am a chartered engineer, and my wife a qualified schoolteacher, now counsellor, so in our work attention to detail is paramount. David lost our confidence after multiple emailed mistakes and confusing advice.At this point we lost all confidence in the documents and advice David had given, so we terminated his services and requested 50% of the fee already paid back, which we think was more than reasonable. However, he refused this. In the end we took him to small claims court and he did agree to pay some (but not all) of the fee back, which was ordered by the court, and he still has not paid this two months after it was due.No doubt David will respond to this that we could have rectified the mistakes and used the documents. These are some of the most important documents in a person’s life (and death), so after multiple mistakes and confused advice this was not possible, in our view.Footnote: We engaged a reputable local solicitor to produce our Wills, Trust’s and LPA’s. The Wills were resolved in about 5 emails, clear advice, and are now signed and sitting in their safe (at no fee for storage).

Date of experience: Sep 01, 2022