You are never too young to make your Will. If there are people in your life who you care for, making a Will is the only way to ensure they are taken care of in the way you would want them to be. A Will saves everyone a lot of worry and at such a difficult time, it makes life easier for those who are left managing your affairs.
There are many reasons why you should make or review a Will:
- If you’re living with someone (co-habiting), you need to name them for them to inherit.
- If you have children or step-children under 18 and you are the sole parent with legal Parental Responsibility, you can appoint someone of your choice to be their guardian, not the Court
- You can make more precise and better financial provision if you have a disabled or vulnerable person in your care
- You can choose who you want to administer your estate and carry out your wishes by appointing your own Executors
- The practicalities of administrating an estate after you’ve died and getting a grant of Probate with a Will are quicker and cheaper than without
- You can leave something to friends or charities if it is specified it in a Will.
- A carefully drafted Will may help reduce the amount of inheritance tax that may need to be paid or protect your finances against long-term care costs
- A change in circumstances such as buying a house, the birth of children or grandchildren, marriage, divorce, Civil Partnerships, addition of step-children, etc.
- Being able to express a preference as to whether you wish to be buried or cremated
If you die without a valid Will, you die “intestate” and the laws of intestacy apply which mean your own wishes and own personal circumstances are simply ignored. These rules are very strict:
- Married/Civil Partner and no children – everything will pass to your wife/husband/Civil Partner
- Married/Civil Partner with children – your personal ‘chattels’ and the first £270,000 of your estate pass to your wife/husband/Civil Partner. The rest of the estate (‘the residue’) is split – half to your wife/husband/Civil Partner and the other half to your own children
- Single with no children – everything passes first to any living parents, then sisters/brothers (or their children), then half-brothers/sisters (or their children), then any living grandparents, then aunts/uncles (or their children), then aunts/uncles of half-blood (or their children), then to the Crown
- Single with children and you are the sole parent with legal ‘Parental Responsibility’ – everything will pass to the children
- Living/co-habiting with someone – your partner receives nothing
Any unfairness, heartache and delay can be avoided by simply making a valid Will. VALLEY WILLWRITING can ensure you do this by giving you the best advice, by drafting a Will which records your wishes in a way that provides for the future welfare and financial security of your family and finally, by ensuring that the Will is a valid and legal document properly structured and signed.
To find out more, click here