The following standard terms of business apply to all instructions accepted by Us. All work carried out in the provision of will writing and other estate planning services is subject to these terms except where changes are expressly agreed in writing. These Terms of Business form the basis of the contract between Us and You.
Definitions and Interpretation
In these Terms of Business the following terms shall have the following meanings:
“Calendar Day” means any day of the year;
“Cancellation Notice” means the notice attached to these Terms of Business at Schedule 1 or such other written document containing the same information, produced by You;
“Cancellation Period” means a period of 14 calendar days from the start of the Contract;
“Charges” Means the amount You pay for Our Services and as set out in the invoice We send to You;
“Contract” means the contract for the purchase and sale of the Services provided under these Terms of Business;
“Data Protection Legislation” means all applicable data protection and privacy legislation in force from time to time in the UK including the UK General Data Protection Regulation, the Data Protection Act 2018; the Privacy and Electronic Communications Directive and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations all as amended from time to time;
“You”/“Your” means the individual purchasing the Services from Us;
“Document” means the draft or final version of the Last Will and Testament, the draft or final version of the Lasting Power of Attorney and / or any other estate planning document relating to the provision of Our Services;
“Services” means the services which We shall provide in accordance with these Terms of Business, and any specific terms which apply only to those services relating to the provision of estate planning; and
“We”/“Us”/“Our” means Capital Life Legal Services Limited incorporated and registered in England and Wales with company number (13257860) whose registered office is at Brooke Court Lower Meadow Road, Handforth, Wilmslow, SK9 3ND.
1 Procedures & Payment of Our Charges
1.1 On the initial appointment with You, Your detailed instructions will be taken and appropriate advice given on matters relating to the Services You require. Any queries or questions will be answered and a full explanation given on the contents and terminology used in the drafting of Your Documents.
1.2 Should You decide to proceed with Us in providing You with the Services You agree to pay a deposit representing 50% of our total antiscipated Charges for the Services.
1.3 After the 50% initial deposit has been paid, We will email You a draft of Your Documents alongside an invoice for the remaining 50% balance of Our Charges. Please note Your Documents will not be sent to You for signing and completion until You have emailed us to confirm the draft Documents are correct and You have checked them for spelling or grammatical issues, and You have paid the remaining 50% of Our Charges for Our Services by BACS, Card or cleared Cheque. This must be paid within 28 days as per the terms of Our invoice.
2 We undertake to:
2.1 Provide You with advice on matters relating to the Services. In some cases this may mean advice to draw up other Documents, or take other action, which may incur additional fees and charges, such as providing an attestation (signing of the will) service. In such cases full details of such fees and charges will be given to You in advance and You are under no obligation to proceed with any additional Services offered. However, in some circumstances You may be asked to sign a declaration stating that you are acting against the advice given.
2.2 Comply with Your instructions using all due skill, care and expedition appropriate to Your needs.
2.2.1 Dispatch to You the Documents within 28 days on receiving Your instructions to provide the Services.
2.2.2 Explain to you any delay in delivering Your Documents, whether the delay is within or beyond our control and which continues beyond the 28 day period. Under these circumstances We will give You the opportunity to renegotiate or cancel the Contract, with a full refund being provided to You at Your request.
2.2.3 Maintain the strictest confidentiality and not to pass on Your details to any other organisation without Your express written permission unless We are legally required to do so and We shall comply with all applicable Data Protection Legislation.
2.2.4 At an additional cost, offer an attestation service that supervises the signing and witnessing of Your Documents at Your home. We will not take responsibility for ensuring the validity of your Documents where the attestation service has not been taken up by You and the execution supervised by Our agent. The signing of Your Documents must be carried out according to the law of England and Wales in order for Your Documents to be valid. All Documents will be supplied to You with full written instructions of how these should be completed.
2.2.5 Refund any money paid by You to Us in respect of the preparation of Your Documents should You change Your mind within the Cancellation Period. After the expiration of the Cancellation Period We reserve the right to charge You for the advice given and for any work already carried out on Your behalf and in accordance with Your signed instructions. An itemised invoice will be produced for any Charge falling due (See section 4, below).
2.2.6 Where We offer a Document storage service, We do not accept any liability or obligation to advise You of any changes in legislation or taxation which may affect You either directly or indirectly and which may necessitate a review of your Documents. Any will should be reviewed every three (3) years and/or on the occasion of any material change in Your circumstances, such as divorce, marriage, the birth of children or the inheritance of a large sum of money etc. and the responsibility for arranging any update of the Will rests with You. However, as part of our Service, we offer a free annual Will review, should You wish to take this service up.
2.2.7 Where We cannot legally or practically follow the instructions given by You, We shall explain any differences between Your instructions or expectations and the Documents to be provided.
3 Your Obligations are:
3.1 To disclose all relevant facts and answers to all the questions asked to allow Us to provide accurate and timely advice and to produce an effective legal Document. We shall not accept liability in respect of information which was not disclosed by You, and therefore not documented when taking your instructions, and which comes to light at a later date as being of relevance and which affects the validity or content of your Documents or the advice given.
3.2 To pay an initial deposit representing 50% of our total Charges for the Services. Following Our initial appointment with You.
3.3 To provide proof of Your identity, including the identity of all persons named in Your Document(s) (if relevant).
3.4 To permit Us to contact Your executors, guardians and/or trustees for the purposes of providing the Services.
3.5 To read through the draft Documents provided to You, to confirm that they correctly reflect Your wishes as to the distribution of Your estate and that the names and addresses of the persons mentioned in Your Documents are correct, adding any missing information not supplied at the time of taking Your instructions.
3.6 Where Documents have been provided to You without error and with suitable instruction but You cause a defect to the Will or its proper attestation, You undertake to pay for the additional work and costs necessary for replacement Documents to be provided by Us.
3.7 To return the Documents together with any amendments to Us as soon as possible. If You fail to return the Documents to Us within 28 days of receiving them, We shall accept no liability for the draft Documents. We shall not be responsible for any delay due to Your failure to comply with the above. The expense and responsibility for ensuring the safe return of the Documents to Us rests with You.
3.8 To pay the the balance of 50% of Our Charges due for the provision of the Services in accordance with the terms of Our invoice and clause 1.3.
3.9 To notify Us if You do not receive Your draft Documents within two (2) weeks of the first appointment, unless otherwise agreed.
3.10 If You are having the attestation (signing and witnessing the will) service, you should arrange for the witnesses to be present at the time of the execution of Your will.
3.11 If You do not require the attestation service offered by Us it is Your sole responsibility to ensure the attestation is valid.
3.12 If You have not opted for the storage and aftercare service of Your Documents it is Your responsibility to ensure that the Documents are signed, dated and witnessed correctly within the 28 day period of Us issuing the Documents to You. We will not be responsible thereafter.
3.13 Should You wish to take out Our storage aftercare service, You agree to complete a Direct Debit Mandate (DDM) for the annual storage fee. Should this DDM be cancelled a £25 charge will be incurred by You in order to process the return of the Documents held by Us. We will then release, acquit and forever discharge any liability(s) pertaining to the ongoing safety for the storage of these documents and any agreed future and recommended updates would be charged at standard rates at the time.
3.14 A £25 charge will be incurred by You for the retrieval of Your Documents from storage. These documents with regards to cancellation or any missed payment (which is not remedied within 28 days), shall be at the absolute discretion of the Company, be returned to the address we have on file at the time. It is Your absolute responsibility to ensure We are kept informed of Your current address and any change of address in the future.
4 Notice of the Right to Cancel
4.1 You have the right to cancel the Contract within the Cancellation Period by completing the Cancellation Notice as set out at Schedule 1 and returning it to Us at the address provided in sub-Clause 5.3.1 below.
4.2 For the purposes of this Cancellation Notice, the Reference Number must be quoted in all communications as detailed on Your invoice/receipt.
4.3 Cancellation Notices must be sent to Us in the following methods:
4.3.1 A Cancellation Notice sent by post or delivered by hand must be delivered to Capital Life Legal Services Limited, Brooke Court, Lower Meadow Road, Wilmslow, SK9 3ND
4.3.2 A Cancellation Notice sent by email must be sent to: legalservices@capitallife.com.
4.4 Cancellation Notices shall be deemed served upon Us:
4.4.1 In the case of a Cancellation Notice sent by post, at the time of posting; and in the case of a Cancellation Notice sent electronically, on the day it is sent.
4.4.2 Use of the Cancellation Notice is optional; however all Cancellation Notices, in whatever format, must be in writing and must contain all information included in Schedule 1.
4.5 Refunds Following Cancellation
4.5.1 If You choose to exercise the right to cancel the Contract within the Cancellation Period, We will refund in full the 50% initial deposit paid to Us by You.
4.5.2 If You choose to exercise the right to cancel after the Cancellation Period We reserve the right to retain the 50% initial deposit paid to Us by You.
4.5.3 You must inform Us of Your exercise of the right to cancel within the period required by Clause 5.
5 Liability
5.1 If We fail to perform the Services with care and skill We shall carry out remedial action at no extra cost to You.
5.2 We shall not be liable to You or be deemed to be in breach of these Terms of Business by reason of any delay in performing, or any failure to perform, any of Our obligations if the delay or failure was due to any cause beyond Our reasonable control or where You have failed to meet Your obligations under Clause 4 above.
5.3 The extent of Our liability under this Terms of Business whether arising in contract, tort, negligence, breach of statutory duty or otherwise howsoever shall not exceed the lower of the Charges and/or monies received.
6 Client Care
6.1 We are committed to providing You with a high quality service for the Services. An essential part of that Service is that We will communicate effectively with You so that You are kept informed of progress.
6.2 All complaints shall be acknowledged as soon as received and by no later than 7 (seven) days after receipt. A formal response shall be provided to a complaint within 14 (fourteen) days or, where this is not possible, You shall be advised of the reasons for this and thererafter provided with a formal response as soon as possible and by no later than 28 (twenty-eight) days after the complaint is received.
6.3 If the matter is unable to be resolved by Us to Your satisfaction You may refer it, in writing, to the Complaints Department, The Society of Will Writers. Chancery House, Whisby Way Lincoln, LN6 3TQ.
We comply with the Society’s Code of Practice a copy of which is available upon request.
A customer satisfaction survey is available from your consultant upon request. The survey is also available online at https://www.willwriters.com/public/customer-satisfaction-survey/.
The law applicable to this Terms of Business Agreement
This Terms of Business Agreement and the Services which We provide under it, are subject to the laws of England and Wales and is subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.