What is a Will?

It is a document which sets out;

(a) who will wind up your affairs after your death

(b) how your property will be divided and

Why do I need a Will?

Keep Your Family Safe

We none of us know when we are going to die. In most cases it will happen at the end of a long and happy life, but in some cases accident or illness will intervene at an earlier stage without warning. It is therefore not a good idea to put it off. So for the following reasons you need to be prepared.

Death is a difficult and emotional time for friends and family. A Will gives you the chance to say, for example, whether you wish to be buried or cremated as well as listing requirements for a funeral service. It also appoints trusted friends or relatives to be executors. They will have the power after your death to pay off your creditors and distribute your property in accordance with your wishes. Without a Will and application has to be made for the appointment of a relative or other person as administrator. This takes time and is an unnecessary expense.

In a Will you can decide who is to inherit your property (although there are some restrictions on cutting out a spouse or children under the age of 18). If you do not have a Will there is a strict procedure laid down by law as to who inherits. Contrary to popular belief, for example, an unmarried partner (or one who was not party to a Civil Partnership) will inherit nothing. Even if you are married, your spouse will often not receive everything and part of your estate may be tied up in inflexible trusts provided by law. See Intestacy Rules

In a Will you can provide who will be the guardian of your children under the age of 18. Do you want to leave this decision to Social Services?

If your assets total more than £312,000 (for the tax year 2008/9) your estate will at your death be liable to Inheritance Tax @ 40% on the excess over that sum. With helpful planning and a properly structured Will, this liability can be reduced and in some cases completely wiped out.

Even if you have nothing much more to leave than a student loan, a simple Will makes life considerably easier for your friends and family to pick up the pieces after a sudden and unexpected death.

In short, everybody over the age of 18 should have a Will, even if it is a very simple one.

The next step

When you contact us we will send you a questionnaire and some explanatory material for you to go over. We will then visit you at your home at a mutually agreed time. At that stage we can discuss with you what your requirements are and give you a price or a range of prices for our work. This gives us the chance to estimate how much work will actually be involved and quote accurately. If you are happy with our pricing, we move ahead and produce a Will or Wills within a few days. If there is no agreement as to price, we leave it there at no cost to you.

A personal interview is vitally important. A Will is just one component in how you plan for your estate and in our experience most people realise that they need to consider not merely simple Wills but Protective Trusts (to reduce the likelihood of a house or its proceeds being applied for Care Home Fees) and Lasting Powers of Attorney.

Articles and News

Lasting Powers of Attorney