Making a Will

It would probably be easier to explain when you don’t need a Will, because there are endless benefits to making one. Here are some of reasons you should think about making a Will:

Provide for loved ones

Did you know that unmarried partners cannot inherit if you don’t make a Will? Failing to leave a Will can sometimes result in unpleasant surprises. The only way to be sure that your wishes will be followed is to make a Will.

Make sure children are protected

If you have under-18’s, you can appoint guardians in your Will to take care of them should something happen to you and their other parent.

You can also use your Will to set up trust funds and set aside money until your children are older.

Provide for vulnerable family members

Use your Will to set up trusts to put aside money for people who cannot look after it themselves. Money in trust is looked after by trustees, reducing the risk of exploitation or that the money will be spent inappropriately.

Protect the family home from being sold to pay for care

Care can be very expensive. While you live in your home, it cannot be sold to pay for care. But if you need to move into a residential care home, the value of your home can be taken into account during care assessments.

If you and your partner jointly own your home, you may be able to protect a share to pass on to your children or grandchildren, even if you need to move into a care home.

Setting up a property protection trust allows your share of the home to be put into trust after you die. Then, if your partner needs to move to a care home (leaving the property empty), your share cannot be taken into account during care assessments.

Reduce Inheritance Tax

Structuring your estate in the right way can significantly reduce your estate’s liability for Inheritance Tax. For example, you can leave your entire estate to your spouse or civil partner tax-free. The best way to make sure that Inheritance Tax is minimised is to make a Will.

Appoint people you trust to administer your estate

When you make a Will, you can appoint executors who will be in charge of sorting out your final affairs after you die. If you don’t leave a Will appointing executors, you have no control over who ends up administering your estate,

Leave money to charity

If you do not leave a Will, you cannot leave money to charity, even if you supported a charity your entire life.

Head off family disputes

When someone dies without leaving a Will it can be very upsetting and confusing for their loved ones. Your family may have differing expectations or views about what you would have wanted. This could end up leading to long, expensive, relationship-destroying legal disputes.

If you die intestate, your estate will be dealt with under the Rules of Intestacy. The Rules set out a narrow hierarchy of people who can inherit from you – i.e. close family members. You won’t be able to control who gets what or how much. Your family may also have to pay more Inheritance Tax than they would have done if you had made plans during your lifetime.

It is common for legal disputes to arise when someone dies intestate because there is a lot of uncertainty about the deceased’s wishes and the results of intestacy can sometimes be unfair.

You can avoid any unnecessary drama altogether by leaving a Will.

A Will needs to fulfil strict legal criteria to be valid. An invalid Will may be ignored after your death. The rules are:

• You must be over 18 years old.
• You must make it voluntarily and be of sound mind.
• It must be in writing.
• It must be signed by you in the presence of two witnesses.
• Your witnesses must sign it in your presence.

If you make changes to your Will, you must follow the same process.

Technically you can make a Will without a solicitor, but it isn’t recommended. The presence of a solicitor is an assurance that everything has been done right, so you can rest assured that there is little chance of the Will being challenged after you die.

View our pricing page for information.

Yes, you can use your Will to reduce Inheritance Tax. Here are just a few of the ways:

• Leave your estate to your spouse or civil partner – your estate can be transferred tax-free, and your partner can take advantage of your tax-free allowance when they die.
• Leave your home to your children or grandchildren – you get an Inheritance Tax break if you leave your main residence to your direct descendants.
• Leave money to charity – money left to a charity, political party or local sports club will be free from Inheritance Tax. If you leave more than 10% of your taxable estate to charity, Inheritance Tax on the rest of your estate is reduced from 40% to 36%.
• Set up trusts – trusts are affected by different Inheritance Tax rules, so could save on your estate’s tax bill. However, trusts can be affected by other types of tax, such as Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax. We always recommend that you seek independent tax advice.