Making a will

[lazybloke]

We used Will Aid : https://www.willaid.org.uk/will-makers.
Wills in exchange for a donation to charity.

 

[dicko]

Making your will is certainly a good idea but don’t forget to create a Financial Lasting Power of Attorney drafted ready to register at the same time. I havnt bothered yet with a Health and Welfare as we have been married for 50 years and she will look after my wishes.

 

[steveindenmark]

My fathers entire will read "As discussed with my wife" It was witnessed by 2 friends.

One evening My mother said to my father. "When you die, I am going to walk on your grave. Without even thinking my father replied " Good.because Im getting buried at sea". 😁

 

[MontyVeda]

If Intestate Law complies with your wishes, you won't need to write a Will.

 

[Profpointy]

If Intestate Law complies with your wishes, you won't need to write a Will.

That's a good point to remind people of.

I've heard people talk a lot of rubbish about some aspects of this so I'll include a bit more explanation

1 "Intestate" simply means there is no will. If someone dies without a will there are laws which say how much spouse, children, cousins uncles etc get. By and large the automatic rules are pretty much what you might expect for a normal family set up. It is worth checking though

If you don't have kids you might prefer to leave it all to the scabby donkey sanctuary rather than it all going to your second cousins' children you have never met. Likewise if you are not married but have a long term partner, you really really should make a will else they'll get nowt or maybe even be homeless.

"Intestate" does NOT mean the government or the King gets your money unless you really have no relatives at all

2 "probate" This concerns whoever is the executor, or the next of kin getting control of the money, and being able to sell the house, paying bills etc. "getting probate" is part of the process regardless of whether there's a will or not.

I should caveat this by saying I'm not a lawyer, but did read up on it when I first needed to make a will. Having also at different times read up (fairly extensively) on Tort law and (slightly) on property law, by and large English law is fairly sensible, so if someone claims something daft-sounding is "the law", it's likely nonsense, or at least, there's rather more to it in the claimed instance. It's also worth remembering that we operate under English or Scottish law, not US law, when someone quotes a case they've read about on the internet

 

[MontyVeda]

... if you are not married but have a long term partner, you really really should make a will else they'll get nowt or maybe even be homeless.

...

The other alternative is to just get married, which a couple of friends who've been together since 1987 are doing in a couple of weeks. Marriage has never been on the cards so to speak because it's just not their thing, but from a purely practical POV, they've opted for marriage over a Will. Registry office, four witnesses, no frocks, no reception, no nothing but signing a document. Probably cheaper than a Will too

 

[vickster]

The other alternative is to just get married, which a couple of friends who've been together since 1987 are doing in a couple of weeks. Marriage has never been on the cards so to speak because it's just not their thing, but from a purely practical POV, they've opted for marriage over a Will. Registry office, four witnesses, no frocks, no reception, no nothing but signing a document. Probably cheaper than a Will too

Until they want to get divorced

 

[MontyVeda]

Until they want to get divorced

cynic.

 

[vickster]

cynic.

realist

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

On the subject or marriage - when I was looking at wills and stuff I discovered that when you get married then any existing will become invalid immediately

SO if you have children and think that all is OK because you had a will done ages ago and nothing has changed because your wishes have not changed
but you have got married in the meantime - then something HAS changed - and everything will go to your wife no matter what
hence your kids get nothing from the will whatever you wanted
Of course - in an ideal world your wife would sort it all out

but things happen

 

[oldwheels]

Get a solicitor which should give certainty and there is a good suggestion earlier in this thread to get a Lasting Power of Attorney.
My eldest son died suddenly with no will but I was told by one of his friends about a good firm of solicitors in Aberdeen so I left the whole thing for them to deal with.
It was a jungle and I could never have dealt with the complexities.
It took them 2 years to get the whole thing finally sorted and cost about £2000 which from my point of view was money well spent.

 

[rogerzilla]

Wills are also revoked if you divorce. Children are rather difficult beneficiaries if underage. You can't just leave everything to a 10-year old.

 

[wiggydiggy]

On the subject or marriage - when I was looking at wills and stuff I discovered that when you get married then any existing will become invalid immediately

SO if you have children and think that all is OK because you had a will done ages ago and nothing has changed because your wishes have not changed
but you have got married in the meantime - then something HAS changed - and everything will go to your wife no matter what
hence your kids get nothing from the will whatever you wanted
Of course - in an ideal world your wife would sort it all out

but things happen

I've seen direct examples of this, it's very important. In one case the new wife inheritated everything then immediately made sure her own will excluded all of the husbands relatives, in the second case the new wife remarried and now her and and her new husband live in the family home that was originally intended to go to the dead husbands relatives.

Now I've no real idea of any animosity or the whys/wherefors of why this happened but in both cases the deceased had a wish to be followed, and it wasn't. Change your will if you marry.

 

[Once a Wheeler]

Get a solicitor to do it properly — your beneficiaries will be eternally thankful that you kept them out of court and away from expenseive litigation. Having said that, I seem to remember that hand-written notes penned in the trenches by First World War soldiers have been upheld in law as valid wills. Anything is better than nothing but a legally drafted job will save everyone time and money in the long term.

 

[simongt]

We had our wills done several years ago. Much needs to be considered when making one and don't forget that your circumstances may / will change over the years so you may need to review and possibly periodically update said will.
We've just updated ours, partly unfortunately to exclude my son as he has no financial sense at all and would blow what he would have got on a car or holiday etc. rather than investing it ( he has never has any savings as such although he's had the income to do so and he's nearly fifty ).
Also, don't forget Lasting Power of Attourney dox.