Wills 1

Wills

Helping to secure a legacy and better future
for you and your family

Nobody knows for sure what the future holds. Writing a Will, and keeping it up to date, is the best way to address this uncertainty and make sure that you have provided for your loved ones, whatever happens. Making a Will is the only way to ensure that your estate is distributed exactly as you would have chosen.

If you don’t make a Will, or if the Will you leave behind isn’t valid, your estate will need to be distributed as per the intestacy laws. Intestacy laws only benefit close blood relations and married or civil partners. If your Will was to be distributed along these lines, any unmarried partners or step-children would not benefit, while a spouse you were separated from would.

Even if you think your situation is straightforward, it is far better to make sure you have properly recorded your wishes in a Will. This could save your loved ones from a great deal of uncertainty after your death.

How can we help you with will?

We understand just how important it is to get the help and support you need quickly.

Making a will

Writing a Will is an important task that everyone should make the time for. No matter where you are in life, ensuring you have a valid and up-to-date Will in place will mean that you and your family are prepared, whatever happens.

A Will is a legal document that allows you to set out how you would like your estate to be managed in the event of your death.

This will include:

  • Who you would wish to become responsible for your children.
  • Who you would wish to appoint as your executor.
  • Who you would like to inherit your property, personal possessions and money.
  • How you would wish to address the issues of planning for inheritance tax and care home fees.

A Will can also include any wishes you have for your funeral, though your loved ones will not be legally obliged to comply with these.

In order to be considered valid, a Will must be signed in the presence of two witnesses.

Have you ever considered what would happen if you died without a valid Will in place? In situations like these, your estate would have to be administered according to intestacy laws, which may mean that your assets wouldn’t pass to the loved ones you would’ve chosen. Find out what the intestacy laws would mean for you in our guide, Dying Without a Will.

Living Wills

The term ‘living Will’ is sometimes used to refer to legal documents called advance decisions and advance statements. These legal documents allow you to set out your preferences for medical or life-sustaining treatment in the future. These documents are particularly helpful if you want to be confident that your wishes would be known in the event that you were unable to communicate them to medical professionals.

Circumstances where a living will might be necessary include:

● If you were diagnosed with a condition such as dementia.
● If you were unconscious following an accident or medical emergency.

If you’re concerned about how to make sure your medical wishes are known in the future, we can advise you on how best to do this.

Review Your Will

As we journey through life, our circumstances and feelings often change. If you have a Will, it makes sense to review it at regular intervals to ensure it still properly reflects your wishes. Experts usually recommend that you do this every two to five years.

It may be particularly important to review your Will if:

● Your marital status has changed.
● You have welcomed new children or step-children into your family.
● Your financial circumstances have changed.
● Your relationship with any of your executors or beneficiaries has changed.
● The circumstances of any of your executors or beneficiaries have changed.
● You want to make sure your Will is written with inheritance tax or care home fees in mind.

Our Will reviews are very comprehensive.

● Send a copy of your Will to us (we’ll usually request this via email).
● We will review your Will.
● We’ll make comments and suggestions.

We will confirm a fixed fee for your Will review once we have seen a copy of it. If we find that changes are necessary, we’ll let you know along with our recommendations.

You don’t have to have made the Will with us originally in order for us to review it for you. However, we’re only able to review professional drafted wills. This means we cannot accept homemade wills or wills made using a Will pack from a stationer

Wills 2

Get the legal advice you need

Dealing with legal issues can be confusing and stressful. If you’re not sure exactly how we can help you, or if you want to get specialist advice right away, please don’t hesitate to pick up the phone and get in touch.

Scroll to Top