Wills
Why do you need a Will?
To ensure your loved ones receive the inheritance you want to give them when you are gone.
If you die without a valid Will the law of Intestacy will decide what happens to your assets and this could be very different to what you want.
We can review your existing Wills to check that your existing plans are up to date.
FAQs
Wills
Yes you can write your own Will, but it is crucial to understand that a Will must meet specific legal requirements to be valid.
We offer a free consultation meeting which can be a face to face meeting in the comfort of your own home, at one of our offices, by video call or by telephone.
The cost of Wills varies, and it depends on what we need to include in your Will. We offer a free no obligation consultation meeting and following that we will give a fixed price depending on your requirements.
We can include a Will Trust in your Wills which offers increased protection for your loved ones.
Your spouse will receive a portion of your assets, this is currently set at £322k, anything over would be divided between your spouse and children.
Your children would inherit your entire estate, if no children then it would be your parents, if no parents then it would be your siblings.
This is called dying intestate – rules are set out in law to determine who will inherit and how much they will receive. Unfortunately, these are often not the people you would want your estate to go to. An application would have to be made to appoint a deputy to act as your executor which could delay the application for probate and delay getting matters sorted.
This would be treated the same as being single and no assets would pass to your partner.
An application for a grant of letter of administration may need to be made to the supreme court by your next of kin.
In your Will you can appoint legal guardians for your children, and you can set out wishes to those guardians regarding your children’s upbringing, education etc. Unfortunately, without Guardians appointed a court would decide who would look after your children if you were no longer here.
A mirror Will is two Wills usually created by spouses or partners that name each other as the main beneficiary.
A Will requires two independent witnesses. A witness must be over 18 years old, and they cannot be a family member or anyone who is mentioned in your Will.
Anyone over 18 can be an executor, an executor can also be a beneficiary. We would always recommend that you name at least one reserve executor. You can appoint a professional executor if preferred.