The questions people ask before they trust us with this.
Plain answers, including the one that matters most — where the line is between what we do and what only a regulated professional can.
We are a records bureau — never your solicitor or your adviser. That line is the point.
FAQ
Plain answers, including the one that matters most.
No. Signum is a records and readiness bureau, not a law firm or a regulated adviser. We locate, organise and index your household records, draft your will from your instructions (an unreserved service), and issue a plain Readiness Letter. We do not give legal, tax or financial advice, and engaging us does not create a solicitor-client relationship. Where regulated or reserved work is needed — probate, a personal financial recommendation, complex tax — we coordinate it with an appropriate regulated professional, who does that work.
What we do
✓Locate, gather and organise your records
✓Index and name them to the Estate Standard 2026
✓Chase missing structural details — a missing policy number, an unrecorded account
✓Draft your will from your instructions (an unreserved service)
✓Compile your physical and digital readiness dossier
What we coordinate to a professional
→Personal recommendations on your pensions, investments or insurance (regulated financial advice)
→Bespoke inheritance-tax planning, or interpreting trust structures
→Probate, grant applications, or estate administration (a reserved legal activity)
→Acting as your executor or representative
A Signum Build (£850, one-time) gives you a guided 60–90-minute Build Session, your first record set built for you — an Operating Brief, Authority Register, Designated Places and Records Roadmap — a Readiness Letter setting out what exists, what's missing and what's next, and one follow-up review. It starts with a free 20-minute intake call. Everything is built to the Estate Standard 2026 (ES-2026).
A named person at Signum who runs your engagement end to end — the same person across your intake, your Build Session and your Readiness Letter, so you are never re-explaining your situation to a queue. They are a records and readiness specialist, not your solicitor or financial adviser; when something needs a regulated professional, your Engagement Lead is the one who briefs and coordinates them on your behalf.
An Intake is scheduled within answered within 2 business days. After that, a Build is typically completed within about three weeks of your records being received — most of the work is the one guided session and the dossier we assemble around it. Complex households (property, a business, cross-border, dependants) take longer, and we tell you the realistic shape at Intake rather than after you've paid.
Yes. The intake call is free and carries no obligation — if, after the call, we agree Signum isn't the right fit, you simply don't go ahead. You are never locked in: a Build is a one-time engagement, and Stewardship — the optional annual upkeep — renews yearly and can be cancelled before any renewal. You keep your records and your Readiness Letter either way; they are yours.
Valoren is the do-it-yourself route — the same Estate Standard 2026, built by you, at your own pace. Signum is the done-for-you route: the same standard, built and kept for you by a person. Both are part of Standard Index Group. If you would rather do the work yourself, we will say so and point you to Valoren — we would rather route you honestly than sell you a service you don't need.
Your records are confidential and held under UK GDPR. We collect only what a given record set genuinely needs, we never sell or share your data, and you can ask for it back or for its deletion. Sensitive originals stay with you — we index and reference where things live rather than hoarding copies — and access inside Signum is limited to the people working on your engagement. The full detail is in our Privacy notice.