There can\u2019t be many jobs where you get paid in crabs, clients stipulate their loved ones can\u2019t blow their inheritance on \u201cfast cars and fast women\u201d, and you handle \u00a380 million of personal wealth.<\/p>\n
But for one family-run company celebrating its 25th anniversary, such cases are part and parcel of the daily routine.<\/p>\n
Robert and Gill celebrating 40 years of marriage and 25 years of building a successful business<\/p>\n
Back in 2000, Robert and Gill Phipps set up Pembroke Will Writers with a second-hand laptop and printer in the dining room of their home.<\/p>\n
A quarter of a century and 30,000 wills later, they have probably seen and heard it all – from requests with no legal bearing to families challenging what loved ones wanted.<\/p>\n
After a stint in the Royal Navy, which he joined at 16, and 11 years as a Kent policeman, Robert became a financial advisor.<\/p>\n
It was common to deal with people who\u2019d made no arrangements for their deaths, so he started thinking.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cI thought it\u2019d be a good idea if we could recommend somebody, so I spoke to my wife\u2019s cousin in Norfolk, who wrote wills, and asked whether we could recommend him.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said \u2018no\u2019 because he was miles away, but suggested we did it ourselves with his help.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Falklands veteran joined the Institute of Professional Will Writers and has passed various courses over the years to gain the qualifications needed.<\/p>\n
Robert in his living room office, where it all began over 25 years ago<\/p>\n
Because of client confidentiality, the 62-year-old can\u2019t go into too many details but says it\u2019s often tricky to marry people\u2019s requests with what is legally possible.<\/p>\n
Take the mum who wanted to ensure her sons didn\u2019t spend their inheritance on \u201cfast cars and fast women\u201d.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cWho defines fast women? I tried to explain that you can\u2019t really put that in a will. All what will happen is there\u2019ll be endless court arguments over what counts as a \u2018fast car\u2019 or \u2018fast woman\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe always tell clients not to rule from the grave; if you\u2019re leaving money, it\u2019s better to trust people to use it wisely.\u201d<\/p>\n
While most wills involve relatively modest sums, Robert and Gill, 61, have dealt with some major arrangements, including \u201csomeone from London\u201d who had \u00a380 million to leave.<\/p>\n
At the other end of the scale, there are often issues arising with recipients not being happy or entirely truthful about their circumstances.<\/p>\n
For example, someone asked to have their inheritance paid into their sister\u2019s bank account, even though the law required the payment to go directly to them as the person named in the will.<\/p>\n
Pembroke Will Writers has celebrated its 25th anniversary<\/p>\n
Robert explained: \u201cThey\u2019re saying, \u2018I haven\u2019t got a bank account, could you pay it to my sister\u2019s account?\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was likely they were on benefits and didn\u2019t want the money to go into their own account for fear of losing those benefits. But you have to pay the inheritance directly to them.\u201d<\/p>\n
With will writing, it\u2019s not just a head for figures and legal knowledge you need, it\u2019s vital to have people skills as you\u2019re dealing with folks going through the worst of times.<\/p>\n
\u201cI personally do two interviews a day with people who\u2019ve lost their mums or their dads or their children,\u201d said Robert.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, I\u2019m always so happy, because I have to stay happy, because otherwise I\u2019d be miserable, because all I do is talk to people who\u2019ve lost loved ones every day.<\/p>\n
\u201cHaving seen death so much in the navy and the police has made me a good person to talk to people about it because I don\u2019t get emotional. I might feel inside, but I stay calm and unemotional.\u201d<\/p>\n
They say death brings out the worst in people, so how often do the couple have to deal with people challenging wills?<\/p>\n
Robert and Gill in front of their new office<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cIt\u2019s becoming more and more regular since the pandemic. Because of changing circumstances, people have been desperate for money, so they\u2019ll challenge a will when they know they\u2019ve got no real chance of winning. We\u2019ve never had one challenged and won.\u201d<\/p>\n
But what about getting paid for their work?<\/p>\n
\u201cI had a client who couldn\u2019t pay me, but we always talked about seafood, so he gave me a huge live crab as part of the payment,\u201d Robert recalled.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt had elastic bands around its claws. I felt so bad for it, so I drove it down to Sharp\u2019s Green in Gillingham and released it into the sea.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was worried someone might think I was up to something suspicious, so I actually called the police to let them know.<\/p>\n
\u201cI said \u2018If anyone reports someone acting suspicious, it\u2019s just me, putting a crab back into the sea\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although it is a difficult subject to speak about and people usually put it off, getting a will written is vitally important, especially when it comes to blended families.<\/p>\n
Gill Phipps with children Gareth, 37, and Leah, 35<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cThe law only follows the bloodline. So, for example, my own son has two sons, but one of them, his wife already had when he met her.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we didn\u2019t put it in our will, the law wouldn\u2019t recognise him as our grandson.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very important in a will, especially now with second relationships and children from previous marriages. People need to make sure all children are included if they want them to be.\u201d<\/p>\n
Also, it\u2019s crucial for parents to name legal guardians for their children in case something happens to them, such as a fatal accident.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cLots of people say, ‘Oh, don\u2019t worry, we\u2019ve got godparents’. The law doesn\u2019t recognise godparents. Only legal guardians, named in a will, have the right to care for a child in the event of a parent\u2019s death.<\/p>\n
Looking back on their 25 years, Robert added: \u201cWe\u2019ve always treated people the way we\u2019d like to be treated. The real reward came when we saw our clients returning and recommending us.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut the best reward for us has always been the relationships we\u2019ve built over the years.\u201d<\/p>\n
To celebrate the anniversary, they plan a special event on June 18 at their office in Watling Street, Gillingham.<\/p>\n
Robert with his family in the early days of the business<\/p>\n
Their children, Gareth, 37, and Leah, 35, have been with them in the business from the very beginning.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019d been helping us out for years,\u201d Robert added. \u201cAnd one day, they\u2019d probably take over.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sure they\u2019d have their own funny stories to tell\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There can\u2019t be many jobs where you get paid in crabs, clients stipulate their loved ones can\u2019t blow…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":135588,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3093],"tags":[51,474,609,1491,607,2499,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-135587","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-finance","10":"tag-human-interest","11":"tag-in-depth","12":"tag-medway","13":"tag-personal-finance","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114579143838764772","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135587","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=135587"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135587\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/135588"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=135587"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=135587"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=135587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}