Wills

WILLS

By making a will, you are able to decide who should receive your property and assets owned by you when you die. Your will can also set out your funeral wishes and who you want to be responsible for the administration of your estate (your “executors”).

It is important to make a will, because in the event that you should die without having made one, there are rules as to how your estate will be dealt with. This may not be what you intended and none of your wishes would be carried out.

IMPORTANT POINTS:

# Marriage automatically operates to revoke a will (unless that will was made in contemplation of marriage)

# If you have children you are able to express in your will who you would like to appoint as their legal guardians and also make financial provisions for their upbringing

# Unmarried partners will not generally inherit from each other unless there is a will

# Tax Planning wills can reduce the amount of inheritance tax payable upon death depending on individual circumstances

# Wills should be reviewed on a regular basis as the law changes as well as your personal circumstances.

There are certain requirements which must be met in order for any will to be valid. It is therefore advisable to consult solicitors when drawing up a will in order that all of these legal requirements can be met

Contact one of our specialist team for further information about wills

By making a Will you are able to decide who should receive the property you own, and also who should deal with your affairs and assets, when you die.

Making a Will enables you to leave specific items, gifts, money, or property to people who you would like to receive them. You can also leave any property you own to people outside your immediate family who otherwise would not receive anything if you were to die without making Will.

We can advise you whether you require a tax planning Will, and also whether you require a Trust within your Will.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

• What happens if I die without making a Will?
  1. If you were to die without making a Will you would die 'intestate' and your Estate would pass in accordance with the intestacy rules. These rules decide who is entitled to a person's property when that person does not dispose of it by Will. Essentially your estate would be divided between your relatives who are highest in a list of priority.
• I have recently married, do I need to change my Will?
  1. Unless your current Will was made in contemplation of your recent marriage, your Will would have been automatically revoked by your marriage and is no longer valid. You will need to make a new Will.
• I have an existing Will but I would like to change certain parts of it, what should I do?
  1. If you make an appointment to come and see a Solicitor in our Wills and Probate Department we can advise you as to whether you need to make a new Will, or whether it would be preferrable to execute a codicil. A codicil, which would be supplementary to your Will, can deal with incidental, or fairly straightforward, changes to your Will and is less time consuming than drawing up a new Will.