Author profile

Oliver Asha

Oliver Asha is a Solicitor of England and Wales and a Trust and Estate Practitioner. He founded Capacity Vault Limited, the company behind both Capacity Vault and Make a Will, and he is the named author of the guides and articles published on this site.

Oliver Asha, Solicitor and TEP, founder of Capacity Vault

Oliver Asha

Solicitor · TEP · Founder of Capacity Vault

Oliver is a Solicitor of England and Wales (SRA number 372772) and a Trust and Estate Practitioner (TEP). He qualified in 2006 and founded Capacity Vault Limited, the company behind both Capacity Vault and Make a Will. He also founded Make a Will Online and Digilegal Trustees. He built Capacity Vault after watching his own family struggle to arrange a capacity assessment. He is the named author of the guides and articles on this site.

Verify Oliver’s credentials: Law Society · SRA register · STEP directory

Professional credentials

Why he built Capacity Vault

Oliver's grandfather was diagnosed with vascular dementia. As a solicitor, Oliver had told clients for years to go and get a capacity assessment. Arranging one for his own family turned out to be far harder than he had been telling people.

There were about 600 professional assessors in the country. An assessment cost between £800 and £2,000. And because his grandfather's capacity came and went, an assessor might arrive on a bad day. Capacity Vault came out of that experience.

Areas of expertise

  • Testamentary capacity. The mental ability the law requires to make a valid will.
  • Will drafting under the law of England and Wales.
  • Lasting powers of attorney, both property and financial affairs, and health and welfare.
  • Contested wills. What evidence a court looks for when a will is challenged.
  • Estate planning for blended families, unmarried couples and business owners.

Other roles

Capacity Vault Limited trades as both Capacity Vault and Make a Will. The two are the same company.

  • Solicitor and founder, Make a Will, the will writing service run by the same company. makeawill.co.uk
  • Solicitor and founder, Make a Will Online (2008 to present). makeawillonline.co.uk
  • Founder, Digilegal Trustees.

Recognition

Work Oliver has led at Capacity Vault has been recognised at:

  • British Wills and Probate Awards 2024
  • Modern Law Private Client Awards 2023
  • Legal Growth Awards 2024
  • LexisNexis Awards 2024
  • Smee & Ford Legacy Giving Awards 2023

He spoke at the Society of Will Writers annual conference in 2024. The full list is on the about us page.

Editorial responsibility

Oliver is the named author of the guides and articles on this site. Each one is written under his direction, drawing on his work as a private client solicitor and a TEP.

These pages are general information about the law of England and Wales. They are not legal advice for any particular person's circumstances. Capacity Vault is a member of the Society of Will Writers and is not regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

Contact

To contact Oliver about anything on this site, email contact@capacityvault.co.uk.

Written by Oliver