Wills

 

A very large number of adults in the UK die without leaving a valid Will. This is very bad news for their nearest and dearest, as it means that the rules of intestacy will decide how that person’s assets are dealt with – and this is unlikely to be as they would have wanted.  For instance –

  • If you are legally married, and your estate (total assets less total liabilities) is worth less than £125,000 or you have no other surviving relative (children, grandchildren, parents, siblings, etc), then your husband or wife gets everything
  • If you leave a husband or wife and children and your estate is worth more than £125,000, your spouse would get £125,000 and a life interest (ie: the right to receive income, but not the capital itself) in half of anything else. Your children would get half the sum over £125,000 immediately and be entitled to the other half on the death of your spouse. Should any of your children die before you, then their children would be entitled to take their parent's share.
  • If you leave a husband or wife, no children, but other relatives, and your estate is worth more than £200,000, then your husband or wife would get £200,000, plus half the balance. The remaining half goes to the other relatives in this order of priority – first, parents; then, siblings; then half siblings; then grandparents; then aunts and uncles; finally, spouses of aunts and uncles.
  • If you are not married, but have had children, your estate will be shared between the children. If any children died before you, then their children would take their share.
  • If you are not married, have no children, but have other surviving relatives, those relatives would receive your estate in the same order of priority as above, except that if any prospective beneficiary died before you, leaving children of theirs living at your death, those children will take their parent's share.
  • If you are not lawfully married, and have no other relatives, your estate will go the government

These rules currently (January 2008) do not recognise "common law" partners, though this may change. "Children" means natural, adopted and illegitimate children, but not step-children.

If you do not want these rules to apply to your estate, you must make a Will. Making a Will also gives you the ability to –

  • minimise the inheritance tax payable on your estate – to maximise the value your beneficiaries receive
  • appoint guardians for young children
  • leave specific “keepsake” gifts
  • pass on family heirlooms
  • provide for the care of pets
  • specify funeral wishes
  • etc

Our service

We can prepare a Will for you to suit your individual circumstances, advising you on particular problems or suggesting simple ways of minimising the effect of Inheritance Tax on your estate. We do not profess to be a tax expert, however, and more complicated circumstances may require a suitable tax expert’s additional advice. We are happy to work with tax and financial advisers to create a Will that is exactly right for your circumstances

We provide some notes which may be helpful; we emphasise that these are only short summaries or reminders of particular points, and are designed to cover those points in a general way.  We can give further detailed advice, relevant to your particular circumstances, on request.

Suggested procedure

  1. We strongly recommend that the first step should be a “financial health check” by an independent financial adviser on your behalf.  This would normally be carried out without charge or obligation.  If you do not already have a suitable adviser, we are happy to recommend one – it is not the sort of work that we do ourselves, however

  2. Then, once you have considered the enclosed notes, please tell us what you would like your Will to say.  You can -
      3. telephone   • write or email   • arrange a meeting whichever suits you best
  3. We will then prepare a draft Will, and send it to you with a letter or email (as you prefer) of explanation, so that you can raise any questions or make any changes

  4. We then prepare a fair copy of the Will for you to sign; for this -

    • we can send the Will to you (you will need two independent witnesses) or

    • you can call at our office, when we can provide the witnesses – we prefer this, so that we can ensure all the required formalities are complied with

  5. The signed Will needs to be kept safe. There are several options -

    • We can keep it in the deeds cabinet here; we do not charge extra for this, and would let you have a copy for your reference any

    • You can keep it at home, in a safe place where it is likely to be found when needed

    • You can lodge it elsewhere (eg: at your bank), though you might be charged for this

  6. Once the Will is signed and put away, do not forget about it: you should review it every five years or so, or earlier if your circumstances change, to make sure it remains appropriate

    7. Following this procedure, and dealing with each step promptly, is the most efficient way to make the Will and minimises the costs involved

Fees and Expenses

It is difficult to predict how much an individual case will cost, but I charge at a reduced hourly rate of £185 (plus VAT).  As a result, I normally charge about £350 (including VAT) for an individual straightforward Will and about £450 (including VAT) for straightforward Wills for a married couple.  More complicated Wills (for instance, those involving the creation of trusts or tax-saving schemes) tend to cost more, but I will warn you if, in your case, these indications are likely to be exceeded.

In addition, I charge any out-of-pocket expenses, but these tend to be rare, and I will warn you in advance of them.  The main possibilities are Land Registry fees (if ownership of a property has to be checked or adjusted), Companies Registry fees (if shares in a private company are to be left by Will), and similar expenses.