Plan your legacy with our expert will writing services

It’s not something that many people like to think about but, sadly, the day will come when we’re not around anymore.

Although you can never fully prepare for the loss of a loved one, you can plan your legacy to make sure your family is taken care of and that suitable arrangements are made in the event of your death.

Why is it important to have a Will?

Regardless of your financial situation, the importance of making a Will can’t be understated, and there are a number of crucial issues that a Will can address after your death.

Protecting your assets

Writing a Will ensures you have control over your estate and can distribute your wealth and assets in the way that you wish. If you don’t create a Will your estate will be settled based on set rules known as the ‘intestacy rules’.

In England and Wales, the intestacy rules work as follows:

The deceased’s spouse (including civil partner) keeps the assets, including property, up to a value of £322,000. They also keep all personal possessions, regardless of value.
If the total value of assets exceeds £322,000, the deceased’s spouse has full rights over half of the remainder.
The other half is divided equally between surviving children.
If a son or daughter has already died, their children will receive the inheritance in their place.

For married couples that do not have any children, the surviving spouse will receive the entire value of the estate.

Looking after your children

If you’re a parent to children under 18-years old, you can use a Will to appoint legal guardians to look after them in the event of your death. These are known as ‘testamentary guardians’.

This could be a close family member or friend and, once appointed, they will assume the legal responsibility for your children and be able to make decisions relating to their upbringing and welfare.

Protect vulnerable loved ones

If you’d like to make a family member or friend who has learning difficulties a beneficiary in your Will, you might be worried that they won’t be able to effectively manage the inheritance themselves. If so, you can use your Will to create ‘discretionary trusts’ to help protect them.

You can also appoint trustees who will be responsible for looking after the money on their behalf

Protecting your assets from care fees

As you or your spouse get older, you might be required to use some of the money wrapped up in your estate for care fees. However, during the planning of your Will you can create ‘life interest trusts’ that ring fence some of your assets from future care fees.

Maximising tax efficiency

A properly structured Will which maximises all of the allowances and relief available to you can help to reduce the inheritance tax burden on your loved ones after you die.

Can you write your own Will?

There is no legal requirement that states a Will must be drawn up or witnessed by a solicitor to make it valid, but it is strongly recommended that you seek the support of a solicitor that specialises in Will writing. It’s very easy to make mistakes when writing your own will, and these errors can lead to misunderstandings, disagreements and high legal fees for your loved ones to deal with upon your death.

Some of the most common mistakes people make when people choose to write their own will include:

Creating a Will that is not legally valid because the formal requirements needed to do so have been missed.
Underestimating or overestimating the value of assets and properties that you own.
Not disposing of all of your assets in the Will, which can have the effect that part of the estate is still distributed under the intestacy rules
Not making it clear what should happen if a beneficiary of the Will dies before the person making the Will.
Making changes to the Will without making sure the changes are signed and witnessed.
Failing to understand the rules that allow dependents to claim from the estate if they don’t believe they’ve been suitably provided for, meaning the provisions of a Will could be overturned.

With this in mind, if you’re thinking about writing your own Will, you should only do so if you consider the Will to be very straightforward, for example if you simply want to leave all of your assets to a spouse and you have no children.

However, if any of the following situations apply to you, we strongly advise that you work with a solicitor to create your Will:

You share property with someone who you’re not married to or who isn’t your civil partner.
You have a dependent who is vulnerable and not necessarily capable of taking care of themselves.
You have a number of family members who might make a claim on the estate, for example a former spouse or children from your first marriage.
You don’t live permanently in the UK, or you have property overseas.
You own or part-own a business.

How experienced Wills and probate solicitors can help

Unless your estate planning is going to be particularly straightforward, such as in the example given above, you should employ the services of experienced Wills and probate solicitors to help ensure your assets are protected and that your loved ones are taken care of upon your death.

Here at Hepburn Delaney we’ve been helping people just like you to prepare their Wills and supporting them with estate planning since 2013. We can provide advice on the most appropriate structure for your Will, while they are all prepared completely bespoke to you and your specific circumstances. Contact us today, to see how we can help you.