Most people come to me because something has made them think about it. A friend died without a Will. A parent started forgetting things. A grandchild arrived. They’ve been meaning to sort it out for years, and now they’d like someone to just tell them what they actually need.
That’s the job, as I see it. Not selling you a structure — working out what you need, saying so plainly, and telling you when the answer is less than you were expecting.
How I work
I don’t rush the first conversation. It takes about an hour and it’s at my cost, and you don’t need to bring your affairs into order beforehand — half of what I do is help people work out what they’ve actually got. Pensions, business interests, that old life policy nobody can find the paperwork for.
Then I tell you what I’d recommend and why, in writing, in plain English. That includes the things I don’t think you need. Plenty of what gets sold as estate planning is machinery in search of a problem, and a well-drafted Will naming the right people does more for most families than an elaborate structure they don’t understand and can’t maintain.
If you’ve been quoted for something and you’re not sure about it, bring the quote. I’ll tell you what I think.
Fees, before you commit
Fixed fees, quoted in advance, agreed before any work starts. You won’t get an invoice for something you didn’t know was coming, and you won’t be billed by the hour for a conversation.
Your details don’t go by email
Anything you send me goes through a secure client portal with controlled access, not email attachments. Estate planning means handing over a fairly complete picture of your family and your finances, and email isn’t the place for that.
Where I stop
I’m not regulated to advise on pensions or investments, and I won’t pretend otherwise. When a decision needs that kind of advice — and the pension changes coming in April 2027 mean it often will — I’ll say so and work alongside your adviser rather than guessing.
Wills and powers of attorney in Ukrainian
I speak fluent Ukrainian, and I’ll do the whole thing in Ukrainian if that’s easier for you.
This matters more than it sounds. There are a lot of Ukrainian families in the UK now making decisions about Wills and lasting powers of attorney with a son or a niece translating as they go. That’s not the same as doing it in your own language. You end up agreeing to things you’ve half-understood, and nobody wants to keep asking the interpreter to go back over the bit about trusts.
So: the meeting, the questions, the explanations, all in Ukrainian if you prefer. The documents themselves have to be in English to be valid here, but you’ll understand every line of them before you sign.
Credentials
The practice is regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. That carries more than it sounds like it does: there is a regulator you can complain to if I get something wrong, a complaints procedure I have to follow, rules about how client money is held, and insurance that pays out if a mistake of mine costs you money. A lot of people offering to write your Will are regulated by nobody at all. Ask whoever you speak to who theirs is.
Professional indemnity insurance to £3 million.
I’m also a STEP Affiliate. That’s the entry grade rather than a qualification in estate planning, and I’d rather say so than let you find out later. What it does carry is worth knowing: I’m bound by STEP’s Code of Professional Conduct, I complete continuing professional development every year, and professional indemnity cover is mandatory rather than optional. Not every firm you’ll speak to can say all three.
Where I work
In person, by video call, or at your kitchen table — whichever suits you. Evenings and weekends by arrangement, because the conversations that matter are never conveniently timed.
One thing about what’s on this website
The pages here explain how estate planning works in general terms. They can’t tell you what’s right for your family, because that depends on things I’d need to ask you about — who’s involved, what you own, what you’re worried about. That’s what the first conversation is for, and it’s free.