Thinking about making your Will?

October is Will month and we are busy with appointments, seeing clients who have decided to make their Will with us, having seen our recent publicity highlighting we’d be donating a proportion of our fee this month to local charity We Hear You.

“Where do I even start?”

One of the things many people say to us when they’ve never made a Will before is “Where do I even start?” For some people this becomes such an overwhelming question they put off making a Will at all. And we’ve talked about how important it is to have a Will in a previous blog.

We are always happy to guide our clients through the process of making a Will. We certainly don’t expect you to arrive at your appointment with us knowing exactly what you want to do with your assets, although for some people this is the case.

In the main though, the process of making a Will requires some thought on your behalf and some prompts from ourselves from a legal perspective and eventually, only when you are happy with everything, your Will is written for you.

What you can do to prepare for making your Will

So, what can you do in preparation for making a will if you’re asking yourself the question ‘Where do I even start?” We hope this series of prompts might help:

Begin by listing your assets

This could include a home, savings, investments, insurances, pensions, and personal possessions. Don’t forget to also list anything you owe – for example, do you own your car or is it being paid for on finance?

Do you have any items of particular sentimental value?

You may own jewellery, art work, clothing or family heirlooms that you want to note down here. These items aren’t necessarily valuable – it could be that you have the family christening dress in your loft or your grandparent’s dinner service. But if you have items that mean something to you that you want to pass on to someone else give this question some thought.

Who would you like to be your Executors?   

An Executor is named in your Will as being responsible for handling your affairs upon your death. You can name up to four people as Executors. You can appoint professionals, such as solicitors, into this role.

Who would you like to be the beneficiaries of your estate?

In other words, whom do you want to leave your assets and possessions to? How do you want to divide your assets and possessions up? You can do this how you’d like – leaving the whole estate to one person, or divide it into percentages between people. Or you can leave set amounts to different people and then split the remainder how you see fit.

Do you have children under 18?

If you have children under 18 you need to decide who you’d like to be their guardian should their parent(s) not survive before the child’s 18^th birthday.

What about your pets?

You might have listed your pets under your items of sentimental value, but if not you might want to think about what would happen to your pets should you die before them? Your Will is your chance to be clear about this and also to consider whether you leave money for their care.

Think about your digital legacy?

Also worthy of mention is a fairly new area for consideration – your digital legacy. A digital legacy is all the information about you that remains in the digital arena after your death – your social media accounts, photos, gaming profiles for example. What do you want to happen to this? What about access to your phone or laptop / computer? Do you pay your joint bills through an online account and does your partner, if relevant, know how to access this if so?

Do you have any funeral instructions?

Making a Will often gives people the prompt to think about their funeral wishes. You may already have a funeral plan in place – if so, would your Executors know where to find it? If not, do you have any particular wishes you’d like your Executors to be aware of?

We are here to help

Hopefully these prompts are a helpful place for you to start when considering the content of your Will. But remember we are here to help and guide you through the process.

To find out more about making a Will or to book an appointment please click here, use our online contact form or call us on 01761 414646 and ask to speak to a member of our Wills and Probate Team.