We often hear our clients say “it is just something I have never got around to doing”, “I didn’t want to tempt fate by talking about my Will” or “it’s not something I like to think about”.
Making a Will is one job for another day that you really must stop putting off and do something about, today. It is a common misconception that making a Will is something you do when you are elderly or once you have something to leave. In reality, a Will is something we all must put our minds to no matter what stage of life we are at. You may believe that everything will go to your spouse or civil partner and that you do not need a Will but this is not always the truth, and it certainly is not the case that there is a “common law marriage” and everything will pass to your partner automatically.
If you die without a Will, the rules of intestacy will dictate what happens to your estate and who inherits. If you have a spouse or civil partner and children, the first £250,000 of your estate, together with your personal possessions, will pass to your spouse/civil partner. The remaining balance of your estate will be split 50% for your spouse/civil partner and 50% for your children when they attain 18 years of age. If you are not married or in a civil partnership, none of your estate will pass to your partner, instead your estate would pass to your children, and if you do not have children, to your family, depending who survived you, this may be your parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts/uncles or cousins. If you do not have any surviving relatives, your estate would pass to the Crown. The rules of intestacy are unlikely to accord with your wishes.
However, in your Will, you can remain in control of your estate by directing who is to be responsible for collecting in your assets, paying off your debts and liabilities and then distributing your estate in accordance with your Will. You can decide who is to inherit what from your estate and can even include a disaster provision to direct where your estate is to pass should all your loved ones have died before you, such as a gift to your favourite charity or charities. This may be particularly useful if you would not want distant family members whom you may never have met to inherit your estate (or worse, someone with whom you do not see eye to eye!).
You may want to protect your children’s inheritance by ring-fencing your share of your house (and perhaps other assets) rather than giving this to your spouse outright. If your share of your house were to be gifted to your spouse outright, this would then form part of your spouses’ own estate which can be gifted per the terms of their own Will as they please (for example, your spouse could remarry and sign a Will leaving everything to their new spouse). Similarly, you may have re-married and would like your new spouse to live in your house if you were to die first, but ultimately you would like your own children to inherit your share of the house when your spouse has died rather than your spouse being able to gift the entire house by the terms of their own Will. Simcocks can advise you as to which Will best suits your needs, taking into account your personal circumstances.
Once you have your Will in place, it is a good idea to keep it under review every 3 to 5 years, or on significant life events such as a birth, a death or marriage (marriage revokes an earlier will) to ensure your Will accurately reflects your wishes.
Contact us today on 690300 to arrange a no obligation initial appointment to discuss your Will.