What is a Will?

A Will is a legal document that outlines who will inherit your assets when you pass away. It also names the people you trust to handle your affairs (your Executors) and provides clear instructions on what you want them to do.

Your Will can include your funeral wishes and, if necessary, appoint a guardian to care for any children under the age of 18 at the time of your death. You may also choose to leave specific gifts, such as sums of money or personal belongings like jewellery, to individuals or charities.

What to consider when writing a Will?

• Who should inherit what? Are you leaving specific items and if so, have they been adequately described?
• Can you leave your assets freely? If you own an asset jointly with others, such as property or a bank account, you may not be able to control who will benefit from that asset when you die.
• Should you have replacement beneficiaries? If one of your beneficiaries has died before you, what happens to the gifts you made to them?
• Is there anyone you do not want to inherit? Do you understand who may have a claim on your estate?

For more information, watch our latest YouTube videos for expert guidance and practical tips on all things related to Wills and Probate.

Why Use a Solicitor to Write a Will?

Anyone can write your Will for you – You can do it yourself using a relatively low-cost solution form a good stationers. As Solicitors, we have experience of considering individual circumstances and thinking through different situations that can arise in the future.

We also understand the effect of the words used in the Will and how different words could result in different outcomes. For example, you want to make a gift of your watch to someone.

What is the difference between ‘My watch’ and ‘A watch’?

A watch would mean your executors would have to go and buy a watch to give to the person you are making the gift to if you don’t own one when you die (maybe you sold it or gave it away while you were still alive).

My watch would mean that only a watch in your belongings would need to be given as a gift. What if you have more than one?  If it is not clear from the description you have given which watch you mean, the gift could fail because it is uncertain.

Should I do it myself?

In a simple situation, it is always possible to write your own Will.

Please consider the following if you decide to go down this route:

• Do you understand the legal requirements for how to sign the Will and who can witness it? You do not want to go to the effort of writing it for it to be invalid because of how it was signed or for a beneficiary to lose out because of who witnessed it.
• Have you thought about what would happen to a gift in your Will if one of the beneficiaries (people inheriting from you) died before you? We often do not think about unexpected situations.  Does your Will cover this?
• There has been a reported rise in cases going to court because of disputes over DIY Wills. Find out more about this here.

What about a Will Writer?

Will Writers do not have to be regulated and do not have to hold insurance. If something were to go wrong, there is little protection for you or your family. Solicitors are regulated and required to hold insurance.