From a first call to a household
that's actually ready.
One guided build turns scattered household records into a continuity file your executor, attorney and family could pick up and use. Here's exactly how that happens — step by step, with you the whole way.
You don't fill in forms alone and hope. You sit with someone, once, and it gets done properly.
The journey, in full
Five steps, from Day 0 to a household that's ready. The pace is yours — the first three move quickly once your records are to hand.
Intake
Answered within 2 business daysWe listen, then send you a clear list.
A short, unhurried triage call. We capture your situation — who's involved, what kind of household this is, what you already keep — and send back a specific, plain list of the records we'll need. Nothing vague, nothing generic.
- A 20-minute intake call to understand your situation
- A specific records request — named documents, not a checklist
- We tell you exactly what a Build would involve before you commit
Build Session
60–90 minutes, guided, liveWe build your first record set with you — in one sitting.
This is the heart of it. A guided 60–90-minute session where your record set is built live, with you on the call. You don't fill in forms alone and hope it's right — your Engagement Lead works through it with you, asks the questions an executor will one day ask, and writes it down properly the first time.
- Worked through live — you talk, we structure and write
- We surface what's missing while it's easy to fix
- Named, indexed and organised to the Estate Standard 2026 (ES-2026)
Your first record set
Built within ~3 weeks of records receivedFour records your family could actually use.
Out of the Build Session comes a usable continuity file — not a folder of forms, but four working records that fit together. This is the spine of an estate that's ready.
How the household actually runs — the things only you currently know, written down so they don't leave with you.
Who has the standing to act, and where their authority is recorded — executors, attorneys, the people who'll need to step in.
Where everything lives — the originals, the keys, the accounts, the digital logins — so nothing has to be hunted for.
What exists, what's outstanding, and the order to deal with it — the map your family follows when the time comes.
Readiness Letter
Delivered with your dossierA plain letter: what exists, what's missing, what's next.
You receive your dossier and a Readiness Letter written in ordinary English — a clear picture of where your household stands, what still needs attention, and the specific next steps. If a step needs a regulated firm, the letter says so plainly, and you choose the firm. Nothing is paid for introductions, in either direction.
- What exists, what's missing, what to do next — in plain terms
- Specific next steps, prioritised, nothing left as 'sort this out'
- Anything that needs a regulated firm is flagged, never guessed at
Kept current
OptionalAnnual, with same-week queueOptional Stewardship keeps it true, year after year.
A record set is only useful if it's still accurate. Stewardship keeps it live — an annual review, a refreshed Readiness Letter, and your trusted-person routing kept current — so the file your family reaches for is never out of date.
- Annual review and a refreshed Readiness Letter
- Trusted-person routing kept live
- A same-week priority queue when something changes
You work directly with the person building the standard.
Signum is small and founder-led on purpose. There's no call centre, no handing your file between strangers. The person on your Intake call is the person who runs your Build Session, writes your Readiness Letter, and — if you keep it current — reviews it every year.
That's not a luxury add-on. It's the only honest way to build something this personal: one named person who knows your household, sets the standard, and stays accountable for it.
Who does what, on the record
Signum is Valoren's case-work desk. Valoren is not a law firm and is not regulated: no regulator, no Legal Ombudsman and no compensation fund cover our part. For an estate, two written agreements: one with us, one with the regulated firm. The firm's part is covered by its own regulator and the Legal Ombudsman. Complaints about our work come to us, in writing.
- Locate, gather and index your records to the Estate Standard 2026
- Chase missing structural details — a missing policy number, an unrecorded account
- Draft your will or lasting power of attorney from your instructions (an unreserved service)
- Gather what an administration needs — assets, debts, valuations, dates, beneficiaries
- Chase the institutions and prepare the inventories, chronology and factual schedules
- Issue a Readiness Letter: what exists, what's missing, what to do next
- Explain, in general terms, how inheritance tax, probate and LPAs work
- After the grant, help you collect, settle and distribute — and keep your records current year after year
- Preparing and submitting the probate application (a reserved legal activity)
- The inheritance-tax account (IHT400), where one is needed for that application
- The steps that turn on legal judgment — entitlement, capacity, a trust, a disputed will
- Deeds relating to the estate — a deed of variation, a declaration of trust — generally reserved
- Anything before a court — a caveat, a contested will, a Court of Protection application
- Personal financial recommendations — arranged separately, with a regulated adviser
- Acting as your executor, attorney or trustee — Signum never takes the role
Most of the work an estate needs — gathering, valuing, chasing institutions, drafting a will or a lasting power of attorney — needs no licence, and Signum does it. For an estate you sign two written agreements, never one. The first is with Valoren, for the groundwork Signum does itself. The second is with a separate regulated firm, for the probate application and, where one is needed, the inheritance tax account. The firm is named in your written quote. Both agreements, with both prices, are put in front of you before you commit to either. A deed, anything before a court, and personal recommendations on pensions, investments or insurance are never done by the desk: a solicitor or regulated adviser does them, under their own agreement with you. Valoren is not a law firm and is not regulated: no regulator, no Legal Ombudsman and no compensation fund cover our part. The firm's part is covered by its own regulator and the Legal Ombudsman. The regulated work is always done by the regulated party.
What the journey costs
It starts with a Free Intake, online, or a 20-minute call · no obligation. The full Build — the session, your record set, and the Readiness Letter — is £850, one-time.
Keeping it current with Stewardship is £395 per year, after a Build, and is entirely optional.
See full pricing and tiers→It begins with a free intake.
Send us your details online and we reply by email — or book the free 20-minute call. Either way we tell you exactly what your Build would involve. No obligation.
Start your intake — free