Why make a Will?

It’s often something that gets put on the back-burner but once arranged gives a great deal of peace of mind. Without your final wishes being properly adhered to it can cause all sorts of anxiety to those left behind at a time when emotions have enough to bear.

Once you do decide to prepare a Will, think about whether you require a simple mirror Will (husband to wife, civil partners and vice versa in the event of one death) and the beneficiaries if both were to die at the same time, who would benefit after one or more beneficiary’s death. Where children are concerned you might need to think how you’d want assets divided up in different eventualities. You may have charities you would like to support or investment projects. You also need to think about what sort of burial you would prefer and any funeral choices. If you are abroad often think about the circumstances if you were to die overseas.

In any event, two witnesses are required to be present when a signature is added to the Will for it to be valid. Either witness can not be a benefactor to the Will.
Wills are either stored with your solicitor or Will-writer and often these days  registered at the National Will Register which is very useful if benefactors do not know where the Will was made out or the solicitor involved, if a will has gone missing or lost, or in the case of losing contact details of the Will owner pre-death.

Changing you Will when circumstances alter requires a ‘codicil’ which is an additional statement to the original Will or a new Will can be made out entirely, altering the original Will is not valid, due to the chances of fraud. Again these changes need to be verified by a witness and two witnesses if beginning all over with a statement approving that a previous Will has become null and void.

Of course this is just a simple overview to standard Will-making procedures but in many cases more bespoke requirements are needed, for example if one become terminally ill, or have lost the mental capacity to make decisions.

Whatever your situation, contact Kiteleys for a comprehensive but easy-to-understand guide to Will making, your choices and how it effects your loved ones.