Wedding Wills?

Weddings require meticulous planning, from choosing the cake and flowers to ensuring that the seating arrangements give no opportunity for any family ‘personality clash’ to arise. Weddings have also become extremely expensive affairs, with recent estimates indicating that the average wedding in the UK now costs in excess of £27,000.

Laura Ablett is one of our solicitors and a partner in the firm.

‘If things go wrong at a wedding or in the run up to a wedding, then a great deal of financial as well as personal and emotional investment is at stake,’ says Laura. ‘That is why most couples are extremely well organised with a long list of tick boxes from sorting essential insurance to making sure that the passports are not out of date on arrival at the airport for that expensive honeymoon.’

‘It may not seem an obvious item on the wedding tick list, but making a Will or reviewing an existing Will is just good common sense,’ adds Laura, who herself specialises in the drawing up of Wills. ‘This becomes even more important if the couple are about to buy their first home, or there are children involved, then the drawing up of a Will brings certainty and above all else peace of mind. Couples must also bear in mind that exchanging the wedding vows changes everything, particularly regarding the law of inheritance.’

Laura also says that over the past few years Pre-Nuptial Agreements have become increasingly in demand.

‘We may not have a string of the Hollywood great and the good lining up at our doors to make a Pre-Nuptial Agreement and in any event for most couples such an agreement is neither desirable nor necessary,’ explains Laura. ‘Instead, it is usually ‘ordinary’ people with sometimes complicated and complex lives often involving existing commitments to children, who are now quite sensibly seeking to draw up a Pre-Nuptial Agreement.’

‘Weddings are joyous and wonderful occasions,’ says Laura. ‘However, for both parties quietly checking out the legal position first helps makes sure that the wedding is just the start of a wonderful relationship, built on certainty and stability that is the bedrock of every great marriage. The cost of seeing your solicitor is also likely to be a great deal less than the cost of the wedding flowers!’

This article originally appeared in the September edition of the Chew Valley Gazette. For more details about the Gazette or to view their digital publication go to www.chewvalleygazette.co.uk

For anyone wanting more information on how the law can affect you upon getting married, then contact Laura Ablett and her colleagues on 01761 414646