Reply to: DIY Wills

[geoffreywhereveryoumaybe]

Di's Will

2nd in line to the throne

[CloudWalker]

"Would You like to Know More"

https://www.gov.uk/make-will/overview

[Troll]

Only if you have an officially recognised will in the first place, naming who the parties ARE!

Registering it is still key. Her last will was from 2013 and more recently she had talked about perhaps leaving/giving money to her brother. If she'd written a newer will and not told anyone, or told him but not given him a copy, it could get awkward.

I'm not aware of any legal requirement to register a will - nor any kind of governmental repository - only as a service provided (at £30 costish) by private companies
All my kids & wife know where the wills are located, where the investments are & neither of us intend to leave anything to anyone beyond the immediate family so a fairly simple arrangement

Each will have to decide their own circumstances and decide which route to take

[d000hg]

As long as all parties agree you can change the contents of a will - presumably to include negating it's existence

Only if you have an officially recognised will in the first place, naming who the parties ARE!

Registering it is still key. Her last will was from 2013 and more recently she had talked about perhaps leaving/giving money to her brother. If she'd written a newer will and not told anyone, or told him but not given him a copy, it could get awkward.

[castoff101]

My mother died fairly recently and she had drafted a diy will using a kit from WH Smiths. As others have said if all is simple then diy is fine, just make sure it's all witnessed.

I have used the services of a solicitor but a charity paid for the cost, maybe an option if you are over 50, just have to leave something to the charity!

[Troll]

We were advised (possibly tongue in cheek since we found the master copy shortly after) that since it just gave everything to her children, it would be easiest to say "there is no will"!

As long as all parties agree you can change the contents of a will - presumably to include negating it's existence

[d000hg]

The biggest thing you can do to keep things simple is make sure everyone can actually find the authoritative original copy of the will, so there can be no dispute which one is valid.

Mum's was simple but while several of us had copies, we couldn't initially find the original and she hadn't gotten it registered. We were advised (possibly tongue in cheek since we found the master copy shortly after) that since it just gave everything to her children, it would be easiest to say "there is no will"!

[NotAllThere]

I got simular question, my baby due next month I live with the mother in a house that is soley in my name no morg and we are not married / engaged. I do have a will but it just splits my estate equally for members of my family, I want to change it to make sure my kid and the mother are never homeless is there anyway I can do this (apart from getting married) so they don't have to incur IHT which would be massive ?

Yeah. Talk to lawyer - trust funds etc. This is exactly the kind of example where DIY is not advised.

[mudskipper]

Pay a few hundred quid to get a solicitor to sort it out properly, that way it will be less worry.

Having been sorting out my mother's, who did hers through a will writing company, there are several 'odd' clauses, that obviously weren't explained to her properly and I'm sure she wouldn't have had if she'd understood them.

So I'd say pay the extra and get someone who knows what they're doing.

[ELBBUBKUNPS]

I got simular question, my baby due next month I live with the mother in a house that is soley in my name no morg and we are not married / engaged. I do have a will but it just splits my estate equally for members of my family, I want to change it to make sure my kid and the mother are never homeless is there anyway I can do this (apart from getting married) so they don't have to incur IHT which would be massive ?

Cheers

[NotAllThere]

Had a lawyer one once. A few years later needed to do some rewriting, so used tenminutewill. What they produced was essentially the same as what the lawyer had, for considerably less money.

If your affairs are simple, there is no point in having a lawyer do it. And if it does all go horribly wrong, why worry? You'll be dead.

[d000hg]

You can get a will by a decent solicitor for a lot less than that. I paid £120 though they were doing a special offer admittedly.

I think £100-200 is about what we paid for ours as a joint deal (mirror wills pretty much so hardly double the work), and that included having them registered somewhere or other.

[xoggoth]

I was quoted £400 each for my wife & I

You can get a will by a decent solicitor for a lot less than that. I paid £120 though they were doing a special offer admittedly.

[vetran]

When I did it, the solicitor said, you can either leave it to your children, or you can explicitly name them.


I looked at the solicitor, then at my wife, had a think and then said 'Better name them'.


'WTF?' went the wife.


Better safe than sorry.

yeah you don't want FLC's kids getting rich!

[d000hg]

If you don't want to do anything unusual or complicated, and your wishes are not going to inspire interested parties to challenge it, then it's fine. If you imagine any dispute or confusion after your death, get something more iron clad.

My mother and father both had wills about 1/2 a piece of A4. They were witnessed by a local will advisor who had no issues with them.