Free and Cheap Wills discussion area

Mojisola

heygringo wrote: »

Slightly off thread, but I've quite often questioned why is there no central register for wills, as is for "hatched, matched & despatched?

I've asked this of more than one solicitor, but even they can't give a reason.

It's a bit worrying that solicitors don't know about the Probate Service -
http://hmctsformfinder.justice.gov.uk/HMCTS/GetLeaflet.do?court_leaflets_id=1033

(There are sites that look and sound like the official sites so don't get misled by one of those.)

Savvy_Sue

Mojisola wrote: »

It's a bit worrying that solicitors don't know about the Probate Service -
http://hmctsformfinder.justice.gov.uk/HMCTS/GetLeaflet.do?court_leaflets_id=1033

(There are sites that look and sound like the official sites so don't get misled by one of those.)

I agree. Having just made ours, I asked our solicitor about registering them, and was pointed towards Certainty. I told her that wasn't what I was thinking of, and gave her the details of the probate registry!!!

heygringo

Mojisola wrote: »

It's a bit worrying that solicitors don't know about the Probate Service -
http://hmctsformfinder.justice.gov.uk/HMCTS/GetLeaflet.do?court_leaflets_id=1033

(There are sites that look and sound like the official sites so don't get misled by one of those.)

Hmmm! thanks for the info. Although I had obviously heard of the Probate Service, I didn't realise that a will storage service was available. I'll soon put this info to good use.

"Certainty is not always free. The Probate Registry allows you to lodge Wills with them for a small fee, but not many people do"

I wasn't charged for the Certainty registration!

PS. Does anyone get notifiers on this forum. I've checked the "instant notifier" box, but I don't get any, er! notifiers??

greensea27

Does a will have to specify named beneficiaries, or is it sufficient for the relevant bit to say 'I give all of my estate to my executors and trustees to hold on trust and pay my debts, taxes and testamentary expenses and pay the residue of my estate or the part of it affected, in equal shares, to my three grandchildren'?

Grateful for your thoughts.

Mojisola

greensea27 wrote: »

Does a will have to specify named beneficiaries, or is it sufficient for the relevant bit to say 'I give all of my estate to my executors and trustees to hold on trust and pay my debts, taxes and testamentary expenses and pay the residue of my estate or the part of it affected, in equal shares, to my three grandchildren'?

Why don't you want to name them? A will that is as precise as possible is better than a vague one.

Is there any chance of more grandchildren being born? Do you want to allow for that possibility?

Do you want to specify what should happen to each grandchild's share if they die before you?

g6jns_2

greensea27 wrote: »

Does a will have to specify named beneficiaries, or is it sufficient for the relevant bit to say 'I give all of my estate to my executors and trustees to hold on trust and pay my debts, taxes and testamentary expenses and pay the residue of my estate or the part of it affected, in equal shares, to my three grandchildren'?

Grateful for your thoughts.

Don't'the use legalese. Get the job done professionally by a solicitor. That way you will get advice on covering different possibilities.

Savvy_Sue

Mojisola wrote: »

Why don't you want to name them? A will that is as precise as possible is better than a vague one.

Is there any chance of more grandchildren being born? Do you want to allow for that possibility?

Do you want to specify what should happen to each grandchild's share if they die before you?

Agree, you may have 3 grandchildren atm, but what if when you die there are 5, or 7, or more?

And given advances in reproductive technology, even if your female children appear to be past childbearing age, these things still happen!

You leave too many 'what ifs?' if you're not precise.

Wombat21

If you have little money to leave, no house, wife, children etc. Would it not be OK to write your own will from a template?

Crabapple

Wombat21 wrote: »

If you have little money to leave, no house, wife, children etc. Would it not be OK to write your own will from a template?

You are always taking the risk that you do not do things correctly, or leave ambiguities etc. It's up to you at the end of the day.

Often people think their situation is straightforward but a legal expert would pick up issues they hadn't considered.

John_Pierpoint

Wombat21 wrote: »

If you have little money to leave, no house, wife, children etc. Would it not be OK to write your own will from a template?

"Which?" used to publish a book telling how to make a DIY will, BUT now tries to point readers towards a cheap supplier. I rewrote my mum's will, using the "Which?" book and it worked as intended.

Now her brother went to a high street solicitor and got a partially intestate will as a result - it was precise and accurate when written but failed to say what happened if a beneficiary died. It has a clearly discernible structure of leaving (say) half to his siblings, a third to his nieces and nephews and the final sixth to the children of those nieces and nephews BUT it named them all. However by the time he died 10 years later his siblings had all died and a niece had adopted an extra child.

At least if you write your own will, you can re-write it for free; and if you don't, make sure you check it every year and pay to have it updated if needed.

Also be aware that the government can change the rules at any time - they don't want the rest of us to end up being taxed to pay for an army of old people in care homes, if the family has the resources. This means you have to keep your ear to the ground for changes to the law.