Why you should make a Will

If you don’t have a valid Will, the Government has written a Standard Will for you, which might as well read as follows…

…To my Family & Loved Ones
I hereby leave you all several months, possibly years, of financial hardship and expense, whilst you go to unnecessary lengths to sort out my affairs.

…To my Spouse/Partner
I hereby leave you some (but probably not all) of what I own.

…To my Children
I hereby leave you the remainder of my Estate and give you the authority to enforce the sale of any part of it (including the family home) to realise your inheritance.

…To Social Services
If my children are orphaned, I give you the authority of Guardianship and the power to choose who shall look after them, including allocating them to foster parents.

…To the Tax Man
I hereby leave you all the Tax that I could have avoided and given to my family.

…To the Local Authority
I hereby authorise the local authority to force the sale of my house and to liquidate any investments I have to pay for my care. I realise that this could make the local authority one of my major Beneficiaries to my estate.

…To my family who desperately need state funded benefits for any disability
I hereby authorise you to pay funds to any of my disabled beneficiaries so the state can then save money which they can then give to others not related to me. I realise that this could make the state one of the major beneficiaries to my estate.

…To my children and grandchildren
If you get divorced I hereby instruct you to ensure that half of what I left you is payable to your ex-partner after the divorce proceedings and they have ample money to look after the new spouse and any children they may have. I realise that this could make my divorced ex in laws one of the major Beneficiaries to my estate.

…To my Bank and/or Solicitor
I hereby authorise you to charge whatever you feel necessary, to sort out the mess that I have left behind. I realise that this could make you one of the major Beneficiaries of my estate.

…To everyone else
I leave you nothing!

Make a Will

You can put off making a Will until it is too late and this poses all sorts of problems for the people left behind. Not making a Will could mean that some, or all of your Inheritance either goes to the wrong person, or to the state.

Without a Will:
You cannot be sure those you would wish to benefit will actually do so • Your spouse/civil partner will not automatically inherit ALL of your Estate • ‘Common Law’ partners may not receive anything • Minor children could be taken into Care whilst Guardians are appointed • There could be lengthy delays for your Beneficiaries and disputes • You cannot prevent certain family members from benefiting • You will not be able to leave something to friends, colleagues or charities, which fall outside of the Rules of Intestacy.

Even if you do have a Will in place, the most important question should be, do you have the CORRECT Will in place? Unfortunately, the majority of new clients we meet either have no Will in place or learn that their existing Will (often prepared by a local Solicitor at a considerable cost) has no asset protection strategies in place and is just a basic Will!