Do you have a will?
29th Jun 2009
Are you married or do you live with a partner? Are you separated or divorced? Are you single? Do you have children? Do you own a house, or have bank accounts or investments? If the answer to any of these questions is yes then you should have a Will.
Making a Will should be part of everybody’s financial arrangements.
Without a correctly drawn up and executed Will, you cannot guarantee that upon your death yours wishes will be carried out. You risk depriving your spouse of your home, paying more inheritance tax and assets passing to people you do not wish to benefit. If you are not married your partner may not get anything.
Under current intestacy rules, if you die leaving a surviving spouse and children your spouse in basic terms is entitled to the first £250,000 of your estate. Where you leave a spouse and no children, this rises to £450,000.
Whilst, you may think that the intestacy rules deal with your estate as you would wish and therefore take away the need to make a Will, in reality reliance upon the intestacy rules should be avoided. The intestacy rules, make no provision for long term partners or step children.
The legal cost of dying without a Will can often out weigh the costs of preparing a Will and having your estate dealt with in accordance with its terms. By making a Will, you can ensure your wishes are carried out. It will make the administration process smoother and quicker for your loved ones. You can make decisions about who gets personal effects. You can decide at what age beneficiaries should inherit. It allows you to remember people who have been kind to you during your lifetime e.g. friends and neighbours. You may also wish to leave money to charity.
It is important that your Will is correctly drawn up. A Solicitor has the knowledge and expertise to ensure that it is worded correctly and so avoid costly mistakes.
Once you have made a Will, it cannot simply be forgotten about. It should be reviewed regularly and also whenever there is a major event in your life e.g. marriage, divorce, birth of a child, or grandchild.
If you would like to have a Will drawn up, wish to review an existing Will or simply wish to obtain further information, please contact Helen Biglin on 01325 466794 or HelenB@bhplaw.co.uk.
Author: Helen Biglin, Partner (HelenB@bhplaw.co.uk)
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