Making a Will is not something many people want to do, it’s a bit like clearing out the garage or going on a diet, you know you need to do it but something more interesting always gets in the way. Eventually, the thought of Will writing gets filed away and forgotten about.
Does that sound like you?
If so, read on……
I’m here to tell you that while diets and garage clearance are important, they are nowhere near as vital as writing your Will.
I’d like to share seven of my reasons why:
- When you die without a valid Will in place, you die intestate and the intestacy rules can be complex. In short, what it means is the Government rules come into play and they decide who should benefit from your estate. You may have lived with your partner for years but unless you are married or in a civil partnership there is no automatic right to inherit from you, they would be left out of the Will with your estate going to the closest surviving relatives. Sometimes these can be people you haven’t seen or heard of for years or people you fell out with and whom you would never wish to leave anything to. The law doesn’t take any of that into account, it doesn’t care! The rules of intestacy would apply.
- You could die leaving a straightforward estate as far as dividing your assets is concerned, but without tax planning, it could cost your beneficiaries thousands in inheritance tax.
- If you have re-married a Will is a clear way to make sure that your children from previous relationships receive the inheritance you may have told them about or that they would expect. Unless your wishes are clearly stated in a valid Will you could find that your new spouse denies any knowledge of promises made (I have seen this happen so many times). This is particularly important if your first children are under 18 and you plan to leave provision for them.
- When you die and leave children under the age of 18 you could be leaving them alone in the world. If there is no appointed guardian it would be down to the courts to decide where and with whom they should reside. Some children end up in care while decisions are made, leaving them not only bereaved but left with strangers, which can be traumatic at best. When you write your Will, you can stipulate who should care for your children if they are left without parents thus ensuring that adequate provision is left for them and also for the people who will care for them.
- Once a child turns 18 years of age they can legally claim an inheritance left to them but many are not mature enough to deal with large sums of money and end up losing it all. By making a Will you can defer an inheritance until the child is older, 25 is a popular choice, by which time they are more likely to make a mature decision about how to use their inheritance.
- Trust Planning within a Will means you can protect your assets from being used to pay for long-term care should you die before your spouse/partner. With good planning, if they also end up needing care at a later stage, your house cannot be sold to pay for care.
- If you have a business and you die without a Will your business could be sold, leaving your family with nothing. If you have a business that you have worked hard to build or even if it’s a new one, leaving clear instructions as to whom you wish to take over when you die is vitally important if you want it to continue.
These are just a few of the reasons why writing a Will is so important.
Everyone’s circumstances are, of course, different and at Bees and Co. we ensure that every Will we write is tailored to the clients’ exact needs. Our years of experience guarantee you the very best advice and service.
If you are one of those people who has been procrastinating about writing your Will get in touch for a free no-obligation consultation.
