A short orientation
Arvéla does not fit cleanly into the categories most visitors arrive expecting. It is not a Will-writing service, and it is not a law firm website. This page explains what it actually is, and how to get the most out of it.
Two things, side by side.
The first is a set of free diagnostic tools, paid self-help guides, and an interactive Planning Companion. They are educational, structured, written by an experienced solicitor, and designed to help you understand your own position before anyone asks you to spend on advice. You can use as much or as little of them as you want. You can read a guide and put it down. You can run the diagnostic and decide nothing further is needed. None of these obliges you to do anything else.
The second is a smooth introduction to expert lawyers. Wills, Lasting Powers of Attorney, the more specialist work, and probate. The prices are fixed or clearly bounded, and they are published. When you instruct, you get an experienced solicitor working on your matter, with the accountability and oversight that comes with regulation.
The architecture is deliberate. You can see your position before anyone asks you to spend on advice. If you decide to spend, you know what you are buying.
Behind the scenes. Arvéla is the consumer brand. The guides and the Companion are published by Cascade Legal Ltd. The legal services are delivered through Arvéla’s chosen legal service provider, an SRA-authorised firm. The two work together, but they do different things. Read more about the arrangement.
Five things make up Arvéla. You do not need to use all of them. Most people use one or two.
01
Free, takes about ten minutes. A short diagnostic that gives you a clear picture of where you stand. Runs in your browser, with nothing stored. The natural starting point.
Start the health check02
Four self-help workbooks (Essential, IHT, Blended Families, Business Owners). Full PDFs, around 100 pages each. The Library bundle saves on buying individually.
Read about the guides03
An interactive environment with an AI assistant trained on the guides you own, a scenario modeller, an asset register, an IHT indicator, and a gift tracker. £9.99/month or £99/year.
Read about the Companion04
Wills, LPAs, the full ladder of advisory tiers (Foundation Essentials, Strong Foundations, Trust Essentials, Family Structures, and Family Investment Companies), and the specialist work. Delivered at fixed published prices by a regulated solicitors' firm.
Read about the arrangement05
If someone has died, this is where to start. A free diagnostic that helps you understand the probate process for the specific estate.
Start the NavigatorArvéla is structured around how people actually think about estate planning. A four-step ladder you climb in your own time. The diagnostic tools at steps 1 and 3 are free. The guides at step 2 and the work itself at step 4 carry transparent fixed prices, published, no surprises. Most readers move through the steps in order. Some skip a step. Some come back down and re-climb after a life event.
Run the free Estate Health Check. It takes ten minutes, runs entirely in your browser, and gives you a clear picture of where you stand. It will tell you whether your situation is straightforward, whether there are areas that need attention, and where the structural questions sit.
Read the guide that fits. If the health check has flagged inheritance tax as an area to think about, read IHT and Your Family. If you have a blended family, read that one. If your business is the dominant asset, read the Business Owners guide. If you want the foundation, read the Essential Guide. There is no harm in reading more than one.
Use the free Scenario Modeller. Input your own circumstances; see the IHT consequences under each Will form; understand what active planning could mean for your numbers. Arrive at any conversation already armed with your own data; you'll have a sharper question and a clearer expectation of the answer.
Two routes. The configurator at arvela.uk/instruct if you know what you want: fixed prices, self-serve, no obligation until you accept. Or a 20-minute welcome call with a solicitor if you'd like advice on which structure fits your situation, no obligation, no sales pitch. Some readers move on with Strong Foundations, Trust Essentials, or Family Structures for the advisory layer alongside the documents. Either route is fine; both are partner-agnostic and disclosed.
After you've acted: the Planning Companion (in build, summer 2026) will hold your ladder over time; life events bring people back to Explore, Understand, Prepare. The Companion is the persistent space where the ongoing journey lives.
No. The guides explain Wills, the Companion helps you model your estate, and Arvéla’s chosen legal service provider drafts and executes the Will when you instruct through us. There is no automated Will-writing tool on the site, and there will not be one. Wills carry real legal consequences; the route Arvéla offers takes that work through a regulated firm.
No. Most readers buy a guide, read it, and that is the end of the relationship. The guides are written to be useful in their own right.
No. The other Arvéla services, and engagement with Arvéla’s chosen legal service provider, are available directly. Reading a guide first tends to make the conversation more efficient, but it is not a precondition.
No. The diagnostic tools run in your browser and store nothing on our servers. Purchase data is held to deliver the product, generate the personalised PDF, and meet tax and accounting obligations. We do not run mailing lists or send promotional email. The Privacy Policy lays out the named processors we use and why.
Email hello@arvela.uk. We will respond within two working days, and there is a real person at the other end.
It takes about ten minutes, runs entirely in your browser, and at the end you will have a clear picture of where you stand.