Wills

Not yet got around to making your will? You are not alone as it has been estimated that seven out of ten people have yet to make a will. But is this really something you can ignore?

A will means that you can name guardians to look after any minor children and name executors and trustees, whom you trust, to deal with your affairs following your death. As long as you have the mental capacity to change your will, you are able to do so at any time and as many times as you like.

The absence of a will means that the law decides the persons who will receive your assets. These strict rules of intestacy may mean that your assets do not go to the people you want, for instance unmarried partners could be excluded entirely, or if married (or in a civil partnership) and you have children, then the rules of intestacy could lead to your children taking some of your estate at the expense of your spouse or civil partner, which could lead to a forced sale of a family home causing much distress.

This can be prevented by preparing a will. It is possible for anyone to prepare their own will but this can be risky as your language may be misinterpreted or it may not be correctly executed. In these scenarios there are often more problems caused than by having no will at all and they can be costly to resolve.

If you have young children it is possible to appoint guardians and place your estate into a trust for your children managed by trustees of your choice.  Here at Hatten Wyatt we have experience in acting as professional trustees to ensure that the trust is managed effectively and ensuring that your wishes are followed.

Our team of experts can help you prepare your will to ensure that your assets are dealt with by persons of your choice and that those assets pass to beneficiaries of your choice. In the absence of a suitable person, we ourselves can be appointed as executors and trustees of a wll.

We can now register your will for you and if it was written with us prior 1st December 2010 it’s FREE! After this date there may be a small registration charge.

If your will is deemed lost or indeed never written your loved ones and benefactors are exposed to potential financial loss and obviously additional stress.

We hold your will safely, but we digitally record its location on the Wills register so that benefactors can always locate it when the time comes.

It is a fact that the majority of people (67% in a recent survey) would not know where to locate parents’ wills. The passage of time, house moves, and new relationships are all contributing factors to this statistic.

Simply contact us to request that we register your will today and wills made with us prior to 1st December 2010 are free.  Of course, this may also be an ideal time to review your will against your current circumstances and needs.

No one likes to consider what will happen after his or her death.  Nonetheless, it is very important to provide for the people who matter most to you, to save your family and friends considerable distress, time and expense at what will already be a very difficult and emotional time.  From our experience, even the happiest of families can be reduced to arguments when a loved one dies without leaving a will.

Making a will gives you the opportunity to decide what happens to your estate, when you die.

Importantly, if you fail to make a will, you are said to have died intestate.  When someone dies without leaving a will, what happens to their estate is controlled by the laws known as the intestacy laws.  This means that you take the risk that your estate shall not pass to the people who you would have wished to benefit had you made a will.

There are many reasons for making a will and some of the important ones are listed below:-

• To make your wishes known and to ensure that they are carried out;
• To provide piece of mind and reduce the likelihood of family disputes later.  Making a will is usually simple and inexpensive;
• To provide for a husband or wife.  When you die, your spouse may not receive everything.  If your estate is over a certain amount, your estate may only receive part of it outright and a trust may have to be set up for the remainder.  This applies even if you have no children.  Only if you have no other living relatives, shall your spouse automatically get everything;
• To appoint legal guardians to care for your children, if you and their other parent should die before they are eighteen;
• To identify who you would wish to act as executors, the people who would deal with your estate.  If no will is made, the intestacy rules specify who may apply to act as an executor and this may not accord with your preferred wishes;
• To limit Inheritance Tax, or save it all together;
• To decide to leave something to your favourite charity or charities and to know that no Inheritance Tax will be paid on those gifts;
• At the same time, to consider making a Lasting Power of Attorney, so that your affairs can be looked after by someone you know and trust if you become incapable during your lifetime.

If you would like us to prepare a will on your behalf, please do not hesitate to contact us to discuss your matter in more detail.