An estate planner who went from selling windows to producing wills has shared an exclusive extract from a book he was “never supposed to write”.
Steve Bish, from St Albans, lost one of his closest friends, Carl, in a scooter accident in 2001. Carl had not left a will, and Steve helped his widow deal with the estate. The experience proved ‘life-changing’: Bish left his role as managing director and founder of a traditional timber window company and retrained.
Nearly 25 years on, he now runs S Bish Estate Planning from offices in Hertfordshire. His journey is the focus of a new book, Where There’s A Will, There’s A Way.
In an exclusive serialisation in Today’s Wills and Probate, Bish shares extracts from the book, which sets out to “…offer practical advice on probate and inheritance tax, safeguarding children, pets, digital assets and more.”
“This book is about giving people clarity and confidence. It takes something we all tend to avoid and makes it manageable, even comforting. If it helps just one family avoid the pain I witnessed all those years ago, then it’s done its job.
“I’ve tried to cut down the jargon and talk in plain English, to help reduce some of the stress and burden families like Carl’s face in their darkest hours.”
Keep an eye out in the New Year for an interview with Carl’s daughter, Chloe, a journalist and writer supporting the book.
Where There’s a Will, There’s a Way
This isn’t a book I was ever supposed to be writing. But, if I’ve learned one thing above anything else over the last couple of decades in work, and in life, it is to always plan for the unexpected.
The events of 24 years ago, which bring us to where I am today, are a very personal illustration of that.
It was a calm Friday evening back in 2001 when my good friend Carl and I attended a ride out, with other members of our vintage scooter club, the St Alban’s Scooters (yes we really did call ourselves the SAS!). Carl was proudly riding his 1963 Lambretta Li150, while I was on my 1967 Vespa SS180.
Carl left for home shortly before me. His last words were something along the lines of: “I’ve had enough bubbles, I’m off home for a proper beer!” We always stuck to cokes and lemonade shandies while on the bikes.
I got home safely, and I hadn’t been in bed long before getting a phone call to say Carl had been involved in an accident. Not knowing how serious it was, my wife Jiose and I got dressed and we made our way over to Carl’s house, where we received the worst possible news.
Carl had been killed by a boy-racer who’d lost control of his hot hatch on a bend, hitting Carl head on. It was the start of a nightmare for Carl’s wife Ann. Now a widow at just 31, she had an 18-month-old daughter who would never see her daddy again. Losing Carl not only left Ann bereft, but Carl hadn’t made a Will. It meant she had the tragic task of organising his affairs and trying to work out what he’d have wanted while having to follow the ‘Rules of Intestacy’ (a strict set of guidelines laid down by the government which must be adhered to when someone dies without leaving a valid Will). As a friend I tried to help and advise the best I could by researching and passing on information I was able to find, but at times I felt helpless.
That experience stuck with me. And it came to my mind a couple of years later when I spotted a franchise offering, which included full training to become a qualified estate planning practitioner. At the time I was a 40-something managing director and the founder of a traditional timber window company. But I wasn’t particularly fulfilled or that happy in my work. So, I decided to make the leap. Today, I see buying that franchise as one of the best decisions I’ve made. Why? Well, it allowed me to work on my own when it suited me. Plus I was able to work for, and in some cases run, other people’s companies.
After gaining many years of experience, some good, some not so good, I started S Bish Estate Planning in April 2022. Now we are a multi-award winning paralegal law firm (which became incorporated in December 2023).
I doubt I’d have given the Will writing franchise opportunity a second glance had it not been for seeing what Carl’s family went through with the rules of intestacy. Not having a Will in place certainly made things harder for them, and it makes things so much harder for many others in the same position too.
That’s why I’ve decided to write this book, to provide help to people who don’t know where to turn, and just need some support and advice. I’ve tried to cut down the jargon and talk in plain English. Hopefully it may help reduce some of the stress and burden which families like Carl’s have to go through in their darkest hours…”
Where There’s a Will, There’s a Way is now available to purchase, with a proportion of each sale being donated to the Kaotic Angel Foundation.
