You arrived at this page by selecting:Will Writing - Leave Nothing to Chance (YEP 06/03/08 and T & A 07/03/08)
You may or may not know just how important it is to have a properly written will. It is not as easy as getting a pen and paper and jotting a few lines down. When money is involved it is amazing how many people appear out of the woodwork and start interpreting your wishes in weird and wonderful ways and almost always financially in favour of themselves, strangely enough. Isn't that a coincidence?
But if you don't bother to even write a will and leave it to the Crown to sort out you might be surprised just exactly where your estate will go. Even the Crown itself has an option to benefit depending on the circumstances.
One great misconception is the fact that if you are married your spouse will automatically get everything. This is not the case. Different rules apply depending on whether you have children or not. What's more if you don't have children or a spouse/civil partner, the way it passes down to your family might not necessarily be how you would think it would be. Brothers and sisters are treated differently if they are full or half blood with half brothers and sisters fully losing out if you do have full brothers and sisters. Nieces and nephews are also not largely covered under intestacy rules. Your parents could even benefit if they are still alive which might increase their estate value giving them tax implications and/or being forced to use it all up on paying for their own care home fees. This could leave absolutely nothing left for the rest of the family.
On another issue, if you want to leave everything to your known children, please make sure you name them. I say known children for a reason. You could have someone claiming that they are your long lost child you knew nothing about. It is better to be safe than sorry just in case.
There are many unfortunate pitfalls that people have fallen into over the years from not having a will or getting the right advice. So please remember that a will and its wording is absolutely critical to ensure that your wishes are carried out to the letter and are not open to interpretation.
Not leaving a will or poorly drafted wills can cause so much unintended distress. The Law can be complex and it is up to the legal profession to simplify it, advise in the best interests of people and get it right. The consequences otherwise can be catastrophic. The right advice is so very important and in the long run can save people a lot of heartache and a lot of money going in the wrong direction. Solicitors unfortunately make more money sorting out the aftermath of home-made wills than it would have actually cost to draft properly in the first place. The costs for a straightforward will is relatively low considering the importance of them and the possible implications of not getting it right.
My advice, of course, is to make sure everyone you care about has a will. It is too important not to.
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