Have you made a will? Find out why it’s important here

‘Have you made a will?’ is one of ‘those’ questions. Something we know we ought to do, but often don’t. Planning for later life, including making a will, is something we should all do, no matter our circumstances or our age but it is one of those jobs that can often fall to the bottom of our ‘to do lists’. Yet a will is an important document that enables you to decide what happens to your money, property and possessions after your death.

What happens if we die without a will? Or what if we’ve written our own will, without using a solicitor to oversee the process? A number of high profile cases in the national press recently have highlighted that these scenarios can lead to wills being contested, to family disagreements and to lengthy legal proceedings.

George Persson, one of our partners and a key member of our Wills, Probate and Tax Planning Team explains.

What if we die without a will?

“Dying without a will is known as intestacy. If you die without a will then your property is shared out according to certain rules. This also applies if you have written a will that is not legally valid. What you hoped or presumed might happen to your money and property isn’t necessarily the case for someone who dies intestate.”

Why seek professional advice when making a will

“We are seeing a rising number of cases where the contents of a will are challenged. The increase in DIY wills is one factor that has lead to this, but our lives are often not as straightforward as they might have been a few years ago. Couples who are not married or in a civil partnership are buying homes together, there are second marriages and / or children from a previous relationships to consider or people might have a property abroad or a business, which can also complicate matters. Whilst people can choose to write their own wills, if there is anything about your will that is not straightforward then we would always recommend seeking professional advice.”

Join our free online webinar in March

“Making a will and other later life planning issues, such as inheritance tax, are issues clients often contact us about. So we’ve decided to deliver an online webinar on what we are calling ‘later life planning’. This is being run in partnership with colleagues from Hart Greaves, independent financial advisors, and Richardson Swift, accountants, so we can give people attending plenty of useful information to plan effectively for later life.”

The webinar is free to attend and takes place online on Thursday 18^th March at 10.30am, lasting about an hour. You can register to join the webinar here.

In the meantime if there’s anything we can do to help you with regard to wills, inheritance tax or other ‘later life’ matters, please contact us via our link here or on 01761 414646.