Wills
A Will is a legally binding document that sets out your wishes in relation to your estate after your death. A Will must be made whilst you still have the mental capacity to make one. If you die without having made a Will, then you die intestate and what happens to your estate is decided by the rules of intestacy. A Will must be properly signed by the person making it (known as the testator), dated on the date it is signed, and witnessed by two people who are present at the same time when you sign it to be legally binding.
Wills
If you die without having made a Will, then your estate will be dealt with in accordance with the rules of intestacy instead of your wishes. If you have a Will in place, then you will choose who will benefit (or not) from your estate when you have died, and you can also decide the people who will deal with the administration of your estate after your death by appointing executors. You can make a Will yourself, however, there are certain formalities that must be complied with for a Will to be valid and there is less likely to be problems or disputes arising with your Will if it has been made through a suitably qualified solicitor who can offer you proper legal advice and tailor your Will to your personal and financial circumstances. Having a Will in place can also mean that it is quicker and less expensive to administer your estate as the beneficiaries of the estate can be easily identified and contacted.
A Will can also be prepared so that assets can be provided for the use of those that need it, whilst protected for other beneficiaries. Trusts are commonly used in Wills for this purpose. Trusts can be used to safeguard assets against remarriage on the death of one spouse or where a couple each have children from previous marriages and wish to ensure that their own children ultimately inherit on their death, or they can also be useful to protect a share of a couple’s home from being used to pay for care fees.
Wills can also be used for many other purposes such as appointing a Guardian to look after your children if you die while your children are still minors, to ensure that if you have a child who is a vulnerable or disabled beneficiary that their inheritance is managed on their behalf, or to help to ensure that inheritance for your children is protected if they are going through a divorce or some other difficulty in their life.
Making or amending a Will
Making a Will is a relatively straightforward process and is a lot easier than most people imagine it to be. We would arrange an appointment with a member of our Wills & Probate team to discuss your personal and financial circumstances and to ascertain any concerns you may have in relation to your estate. We would then write a Will tailored to your circumstances and send a draft of the Will to you for your approval. If you wish to alter the Will whilst it is a draft, we are happy to do that for you. Once you are happy with the draft Will, we would then arrange an appointment with you to sign the Will and have it witnessed at our offices. We do offer telephone appointments and can arrange to send the final version of the Will out to you in the post (with instructions) for signature if you are not able to attend our offices.
What are the different types of Wills?
Simple Will
This type of Will is made for an individual who may not be in a relationship or may be divorced, or whose wishes are different to those of their spouse or partner.
Mirror Wills
These Wills are made by couples who have the same wishes. Two separate wills are created, one for each person, but the two Wills “mirror” each other in their contents. Usually, the estate will pass to each other on the first death, and then when both have died to an agreed distribution set out the same in both wills. There is an element of trust involved in making a mirror Will as on the death of the first person, the survivor is free to make a new Will. If this is a concern, then a Trust can be put into a will to help guard against this.
Trust Wills
There are various types of Trust Wills that are designed to give you flexibility over your property and assets and how they are dealt with after you have died. Different trusts are used for different purposes. Some of the most common types of Trust Wills are:
Property Protection Trust Wills
This type of trust allows someone to continue to live in your property for a fixed period or until they die, but they will never become the legal owner of the property which means that when that person no longer needs to live in the property, the property will pass to the people you want it to. A common example where this type of trust is used is where you want your property to pass to your children, but you want your spouse to remain in the house until they die, this is useful if you have remarried but want your home to pass to your children from a previous relationship or marriage.
Flexible Life Interest Trust Will
A life interest trust is like a property trust but in this case, a beneficiary can also receive the benefit of any income from the trust such as income from investments or other savings.
Discretionary Trust Will
This type of trust has several “potential” beneficiaries. Your trustees decide which of the beneficiaries you have named inherit, how much, and when. You can provide your trustees with a letter of wishes as guidance as to your wishes on how the trust would be managed. These types of trust are useful for children who are going through a divorce, are in debt, or facing bankruptcy. They can also be used to manage monies on behalf of a beneficiary who isn’t able to manage their own money perhaps in the case of a minor child or an adult with learning disabilities.
There are other types of Trusts which are less commonly used in Wills, but your legal advisor will go through these with you if they were relevant to your circumstances.
