Privacy Notice

Who we are

Abacus Advice Wills & Estates Ltd (company number 12003717), Pluto House, 6 Vale Avenue, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN1 1DJ, is responsible for the personal information you give us. We are registered with the Information Commissioner's Office, registration applied for in October 2026 (our registration number will be shown here once the ICO issues it). For any question about your information, contact Mike Hardy on 01892 320449 or mike@abacuswills.co.uk.

Information we collect about you

• Your name, address, date of birth and contact details

• Proof of your identity, where the law requires it

• Details of your family and relationships

• Details of your home, savings, investments, pensions, life cover, business interests and any assets abroad

• Your wishes, including any letter of wishes and funeral wishes

• Notes of our meetings and calls

Information about other people

A will, trust or LPA names other people, such as executors, trustees, guardians, beneficiaries, attorneys, certificate providers and people to be told about an LPA. We hold their names, contact details and their relationship to you. Please only give us what is needed, and let them know you have named them. Because your affairs are confidential, we do not usually contact these people ourselves while you are alive.

Health and other sensitive information

For a health and welfare LPA, or where your health affects your planning, we may hold details of your health. Your wishes may also reveal your religion or beliefs. We only collect this with your explicit consent, or where it is needed to protect your interests or deal with a legal claim.

Why we use it, and our legal reasons

• To prepare, check your will, trusts and LPAs, and to advise you: this is needed to carry out our agreement with you.

• To meet our legal duties, such as identity checks, registering trusts with HMRC and keeping proper records.

• To keep records that show our work was done properly, and to deal with any complaint or claim: this is in our legitimate interests, and yours.

• To pass your details to Abacus Advice Ltd for financial advice: only with your consent, which you can withdraw at any time.

We never sell your information or use it for anyone else's marketing.

Who we share it with

We only share what is needed, with:

• The Office of the Public Guardian, to register LPAs

• HMRC, for inheritance tax and trust registration

• A licensed partner firm and the Probate Registry, for grants of probate

• A STEP-qualified solicitor, if your trust needs specialist drafting

• The Society of Will Writers, if you make a complaint to them

• Our software, IT and secure storage providers, and our insurers

• Abacus Advice Ltd, only with your consent

Where your information is kept

Your information is held on secure, password-protected systems. We do not store original documents: you keep your original will and LPAs, and we keep a copy on file. Some of our software providers may store information outside the UK. Where they do, it is protected by the safeguards UK law requires.

We may use secure software tools, including AI tools, to help prepare and check documents. They are only given the information needed for the task, and we choose providers that keep it confidential.

How long we keep it

If you become a client, we keep your file permanently. Questions about a will, trust or estate can arise many years later, often after the person who made it has died, so keeping the records protects you, your family and us. We review what we hold from time to time, and securely destroy anything that is no longer needed. If you only make an enquiry and do not become a client, we delete your details within two years.

After your death

On proof of death, we will give your executors a copy of your will and the information on your file that they need.  Once a grant of probate is issued, a will becomes a public document that anyone can request.

Your rights

You have the right to see the information we hold about you, to have it corrected, and in some cases to have it deleted, to limit how we use it, to object to how we use it, or to receive a copy to take elsewhere. Where we rely on your consent, you can withdraw it at any time. We will reply within one month, and may ask you to confirm who you are.

Complaints

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your information, please tell us first. You can also complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk or on 0303 123 1113.

Cookies

This website uses the basic cookies that Google Sites needs to work, and Google Analytics, which tells us how many people visit and which pages they read. Analytics does not identify you and we do not use it for advertising. You can block it with your browser settings or an ad blocker without affecting the site.

Changes to this notice

We may update this notice from time to time. It was last updated in October 2026.