Writing a Will – Make Sure Your Possessions End Up in the Right Hands
Make sure that you do not make a huge mistake by leaving your loved ones with a difficult situation to sort out after you have passed away. Writing a will can be a crucially important to get right. There are many stories of people who have never got around to creating a will so you are wise to make sure that this matter is sorted out sooner rather than later.
Writing a Will – Make Sure Your Possessions End Up in the Right Hands
By Andrew Roberts
No one likes to think sooner rather than later. death, but sometimes life changing events such as marriage, divorce or a serious illness can get our minds racing and trigger thoughts about what will happen after we die.
As sad as it is, it’s inevitable that all of us will die one day. This is something that we have absolutely no control over. We may be asking ourselves who will look after the children. To whom shall I leave my jewellery to? Who will I divide my finances to? The list goes on and on.
Taking all these point into consideration, some people still never get around to making a will. Some people literally can not face the prospect of dying so shy away from anything that involves death, for others it may be a case of putting it off for a rainy day, and for others it may be a case of literally being far too busy to deal with it at that point in time, so decide to postpone until they have some free time, unfortunately some times this may be too late.
Making a will is very important and something that should be made a priority in your life. You do not want your hard-earned assets ending up in the right hands. You probably want to leave your possessions to your nearest and dearest and the only sure way that you can this happen is if it is instructed in the will. If you do not get around to writing a will, you will have no guarantees that your personal items and finances will go to your chosen people. Act now! Do not put of till tomorrow what can be done today.
If you are looking for a professional company with the skills, knowledge and expertise to arrange a will for you then contact Will North Wales.
6 Top Tips For Writing Your Will
Let us try and make things as simple as possible for you. Here are six very straight forward air used to consider before you start to write your Will. There are many ways in which you can do this so please click around this blog to find some ideas. More than anything, just make sure that you get around to getting your well written soon!
6 Top Tips For Writing Your Will
By Christopher Spiers
Writing your Will is often seen as an arduous task, it’s estimated that 70% of us are yet to make one. Clearly no one likes to talk about death, especially their own. Yet making a Will is an important step in your family’s future to ensure grieving loved are looked after and your estate is distributed according to your wishes.
Take the example of billionaire aviator, Howard Hughes, he never made a Will and for 15 years his surviving relatives fought over his vast estate. You may not be a billionaire but its still worth taking the time to consider your Will and this article will highlight some important issues.
1. Internet Wills, DIY kits or see a solicitor?
These days there are many options for making a Will and which option you choose really depends on how complicated your estate is. DIY kits are fine if your confident filling out legal forms and your estate is relatively straightforward. An Internet Will or online Will is a good choice for most people as they ask you simple questions and construct a Will based on your answers. The better sites do not use automated systems and will check your Will for errors before it is produced. If your estate is complicated or you are a wealthy individual then its probably best to speak to a solicitor.
2. Your executors
These are the people or person who will be responsible for distributing your estate after your death. They will also be responsible for paying off your debts, burial costs and any Inheritance Tax liability that may arise. It can be a demanding role and you will need to pick some you can trust. If you are married, your spouse will normally take on this role but its a good idea to appoint an alternative in case they are unwilling or unable to perform the role.
3. Looking after your children
If you have children then it is a good idea to appoint guardians in your Will. For married couples the surviving spouse will normally take on the parental responsibility but should the worst happen and both parents die at the same time your appointed guardians would then take on the responsibility. For unmarried couples its even more important, if the female dies, her male partner does not automatically get guardianship. Its important you appoint each other to avoid difficulties like this.
4. Be specific
If you have items that are important to you and you want to leave them to certain family members you need to be clear about what the item is and who you are giving it to. For example you may wish to give your grandmother’s wedding ring to your daughter or maybe you wish to give a £1000 to Macmillan’s Cancer Research. That’s fine, but specify the gift with as much detail as you can.
5. Storage
A Will is only valid and exercisable if it can be found and is not damaged. Its an important legal document so you should store it safely. A good tip is to make a Will with extra copies which you can give to your executors, guardians or family.
6. Sign it
It may seem fairly obvious but unless your Will is correctly signed, dated and witnessed it will not be legal. Many people go to the effort of having a Will drafted only to leave it unsigned gathering dust in their office drawer.
Christopher Spiers is founder of Harmony Wills an online will writing service.
5 Myths of Will Writing and Estate Planning
How many times have you thought about getting your Will written but thought that you keep not need to do so? Lots of people think that they know what would happen upon their demise but they may well have got it wrong. There are many this understandings and myths when it comes to writing your will. Find out about some of the most common ones here.
5 Myths of Will Writing and Estate Planning
By Ade Oduyemi
There are many and varied myths of wills and will writing – here are my top 5.
1. My spouse would get everything – therefore there is no need to write a will. Dying without a will [or a valid] will means that one has died intestate. Dying intestate means that the deceased has given up the right to decide whom the beneficiaries of his or her wealth are and ceded that power to the state – which would divide the deceased’s estate according to the laws of intestacy – this could mean if your spouse died, you could be sharing the estate with some of the extended family of whom you were never very fond.
2. My common law spouse would get the protection afforded married couples – the point above, the spouse gets some but not necessarily all of the estate. There is no such thing in law as a common law spouse. So, if the person with whom you’ve lived for any length of time dies without a will, you stand to get nothing from the estate. Writing a will with your partner prevents the loss assets you could have expected to inherit
3. Inheritance tax is a problem for the rich. Most people have assets in excess of the inheritance tax threshold. A bit of planning, and the figures come to light. In our experience we come across people who for want of an hour or so and a few hundred pounds in fees end up paying thousands, tens of thousands in inheritance tax. In certain cases, the family home has had to be sold to settle the inheritance tax bill.
4. It would be tempting fate. While we all have our beliefs and superstitions there is no correlation between writing a will and death occurring. On the contrary not writing a will is to tempt fate by risking intestacy with all expense and hassle involved.
5. My affairs are so simple I do not require professional help. In over 20 years of my involvement in writing and drafting wills. I have met only one person who did not require help. He was a disabled gentleman who had so little he there was barely enough in his estate for a funeral. He got a cheque for a refund of his fee with his will.
In simple terms, wills prevent intestacy. While they are grieving your demise, the extra hassle expense and possibly bad feeling arising from having to second guess your wishes is on they could do without.
Experienced Power of Attorney. Maximum Inheritance Specialists – experts in Wills Trusts and Avoid Care Home Fees.