There can’t be many jobs where you get paid in crabs, clients stipulate their loved ones can’t blow their inheritance on “fast cars and fast women”, and you handle £80 million of personal wealth.
But for one family-run company celebrating its 25th anniversary, such cases are part and parcel of the daily routine.
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.
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.
After a stint in the Royal Navy, which he joined at 16, and 11 years as a Kent policeman, Robert became a financial advisor.
It was common to deal with people who’d made no arrangements for their deaths, so he started thinking.
He said: “I thought it’d be a good idea if we could recommend somebody, so I spoke to my wife’s cousin in Norfolk, who wrote wills, and asked whether we could recommend him.
“He said ‘no’ because he was miles away, but suggested we did it ourselves with his help.”
The Falklands veteran joined the Institute of Professional Will Writers and has passed various courses over the years to gain the qualifications needed.
Because of client confidentiality, the 62-year-old can’t go into too many details but says it’s often tricky to marry people’s requests with what is legally possible.
Take the mum who wanted to ensure her sons didn’t spend their inheritance on “fast cars and fast women”.
He said: “Who defines fast women? I tried to explain that you can’t really put that in a will. All what will happen is there’ll be endless court arguments over what counts as a ‘fast car’ or ‘fast woman’.
“We always tell clients not to rule from the grave; if you’re leaving money, it’s better to trust people to use it wisely.”
While most wills involve relatively modest sums, Robert and Gill, 61, have dealt with some major arrangements, including “someone from London” who had £80 million to leave.
At the other end of the scale, there are often issues arising with recipients not being happy or entirely truthful about their circumstances.
For example, someone asked to have their inheritance paid into their sister’s bank account, even though the law required the payment to go directly to them as the person named in the will.
Robert explained: “They’re saying, ‘I haven’t got a bank account, could you pay it to my sister’s account?’
“It was likely they were on benefits and didn’t 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.”
With will writing, it’s not just a head for figures and legal knowledge you need, it’s vital to have people skills as you’re dealing with folks going through the worst of times.
“I personally do two interviews a day with people who’ve lost their mums or their dads or their children,” said Robert.
“So, I’m always so happy, because I have to stay happy, because otherwise I’d be miserable, because all I do is talk to people who’ve lost loved ones every day.
“Having 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’t get emotional. I might feel inside, but I stay calm and unemotional.”
They say death brings out the worst in people, so how often do the couple have to deal with people challenging wills?
He added: “It’s becoming more and more regular since the pandemic. Because of changing circumstances, people have been desperate for money, so they’ll challenge a will when they know they’ve got no real chance of winning. We’ve never had one challenged and won.”
But what about getting paid for their work?
“I had a client who couldn’t pay me, but we always talked about seafood, so he gave me a huge live crab as part of the payment,” Robert recalled.
“It had elastic bands around its claws. I felt so bad for it, so I drove it down to Sharp’s Green in Gillingham and released it into the sea.
“I was worried someone might think I was up to something suspicious, so I actually called the police to let them know.
“I said ‘If anyone reports someone acting suspicious, it’s just me, putting a crab back into the sea’.”
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.
He added: “The 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.
“If we didn’t put it in our will, the law wouldn’t recognise him as our grandson.
“It’s 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.”
Also, it’s crucial for parents to name legal guardians for their children in case something happens to them, such as a fatal accident.
He said: “Lots of people say, ‘Oh, don’t worry, we’ve got godparents’. The law doesn’t recognise godparents. Only legal guardians, named in a will, have the right to care for a child in the event of a parent’s death.
Looking back on their 25 years, Robert added: “We’ve always treated people the way we’d like to be treated. The real reward came when we saw our clients returning and recommending us.
“But the best reward for us has always been the relationships we’ve built over the years.”
To celebrate the anniversary, they plan a special event on June 18 at their office in Watling Street, Gillingham.
Their children, Gareth, 37, and Leah, 35, have been with them in the business from the very beginning.
“They’d been helping us out for years,” Robert added. “And one day, they’d probably take over.
“I’m sure they’d have their own funny stories to tell…”
