To ensure that you leave your affairs in the best order to assist your loved ones it is strongly recommended that everyone over the age of 18 should make a Will. We are aware that people delay making a Will for a number of reasons. We can help you consider difficult issues and work with you to find out what you wish to achieve. We will aim to provide clear and pragmatic solutions for you and your family.
Choosing executors
Any number of executors can be chosen, but only four can apply for the Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration. You can choose an individual (such as a family member or a friend) or a professional (such as an accountant or a solicitor) or a combination of the two. In any event, it should be somebody who is trustworthy and that you are confident will carry out your wishes.
Choosing guardians
A parent may appoint one or more persons to be the guardian of their minor child or children to take effect on death. The role of a guardian is to oversee your child’s upbringing. You can make provision in your Will to allow your guardian(s) to receive payment from your estate to make sure they don’t suffer any financial hardship by taking on the responsibility.
Funeral wishes
You can include whether you wish to be buried or cremated. Although nobody likes to think about their own death, a lack of instructions concerning funeral wishes can cause distress to your family and loved ones as they will want to try and do what you would have wanted. If you do not have a preference you can leave a note to confirm this.
Making gifts
When making a Will you need to consider who is to benefit from your estate and how they should benefit. You may wish to leave a specific gift (such as an item of jewellery) or a pecuniary gift (such as cash) to specific named individuals. You should also decide who should benefit from the rest of your estate or a share of it and for example, at what age.
Gifts to minor children
Unless the Will specifies otherwise, a minor child will receive their inheritance once they reach the age of 18. If you consider this to be too young, particularly taking into account large sums of money that may pass under the Will, it can be changed to 21 or 25 or later.
Trusts
A professionally drafted Will containing one or more trusts can help to preserve your estate for the next generation, can increase tax efficiency, and can also provide flexibility for changing circumstances. We will discuss your aims and wishes with you in detail and will then advise if we consider that the inclusion of trusts in your Will might be of benefit to you in meeting these aims and enabling your executors to fulfil your wishes.
Future proofing your Will
When we take instructions to prepare your Will, we ask a number of questions to get to know you and your personal circumstances and we ask you to consider a number of additional factors including the following so that we can help you put the best Will in place for you:
- Is marriage or civil partnership likely to happen in the near future – if so, you can include this anticipated event in your Will so that your Will is not revoked by such an event.
- Are you intending to have children in the future – if so, you can include them as potential beneficiaries in the event you do have them thus preventing the need to update your Will at what is usually a busy time! You can also add potential guardians for your children.
- Are you likely to have more children or looking further forward, grandchildren – if so, similar to the above but we can include reference to all of your children and/or grandchildren rather than naming them specifically to ensure any additions to the family are covered.
- Are you likely to have an interest in a business in the future or do you already own or part own a business – if so, we can work with you to make sure any provisions in your corporate documentation are mirrored in your Will.
For more information, please contact us on 0330 016 9200 or email us at PWnewenquiries@rothleylaw.com