Going to make a will

redmalc

Hi any advice would be appreciated,we are going to the solicitors on Monday to make our wills,we are married and have one son.
The house is paid for EG 300K and various isa,s savings shares etc say 250K,any advice on what type of will we should be making,
Thanks

margaretclare

How do you mean, what type? When you make your will(s), you each state what your wishes are regarding the disposal of your assets after your demise. You tell the solicitor that, and he/she writes it in a legal document. That's it. Depends entirely on what you want.

CLAPTON

many people make 'reciprocol wills that leaves everrything to their spouse if the first death and everything to their children if the second death.

but of course you may want to do something different

margaretclare

....but be careful how it is worded (solicitor should advise on this). This poor man had good intentions but got it wrong: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2136714/Nature-lover-leaves-wildlife-haven-RSPCA--sell-bulldozed-built-on.html

polly2002

i have been told a will is not worth the paper it is written on? is this true, I have also been told about a living trust, does anyone know anything about this?

sleepless_saver

polly2002 wrote: »

i have been told a will is not worth the paper it is written on? is this true, I have also been told about a living trust, does anyone know anything about this?

There is not much point in a will if you don't care what happens to your possessions, money and property after you die.

Do you care, or are you happy to see whatever you leave behind handed out according to the intestacy rules?

kidmugsy

You may want to consider owning the house as "tenants in common" rather than as "joint tenants": it probably gives you more choice over what to do with it. You may want to consider the use of trusts, perhaps discretionary trusts, in your wills. You may want to specify who will be guardian of your child if you should both die.

Mojisola

CLAPTON wrote: »

many people make 'reciprocol wills that leaves everrything to their spouse if the first death and everything to their children if the second death.

A good solicitor will also suggest you include some "what if" clauses. What if both of you and your children die at the same time - where will your money go? What happens if your children die before you? Future-proof the will to some extent by including grandchildren, actual or future. Do you want them only to inherit if their parent has predeceased you or do you want to leave some money directly to them?

What should happen if one of you dies and the other remarries? Do you want to protect some of your estate from going to the new spouse and leaving your children with nothing?

Reassess the will at regular intervals to make sure it fits in with changing situations.

Nine_Lives

polly2002 wrote: »

i have been told a will is not worth the paper it is written on? is this true, I have also been told about a living trust, does anyone know anything about this?

Many people throw the "not worth the paper....." line around, probably because it's what other people say, so it sounds good for them to say it too.

I was told by co-workers that my contract at work is "not worth the paper........" ahh there's that classic line again.

Yet when i come to challenge anything & i'm in touch with my union, the first thing i'm always asked is - what does your contract say. Ahh there it is, stop challenging it as your contract states that this can happen.

Seems like it IS worth MORE than the paper it's written on after all.

People like to talk...

Loughton_Monkey

Your best advice comes from 'margaretclare'.

The only other advice I would give is to try and avoid appointing the Solicitor as the executor. Almost any reasonable person likely to survive you is far more preferable. Solicitors will take a long time, and make huge charges against the estate.

Most wills are pretty easy to 'execute' [as opposed to the alternative of dealing with an intestate death] and they can always get legal advice where/when required.

In many cases (like my own), the main part is a so-called 'mirror will'. When either my wife or I dies, it all goes to the other. Simple. The main 'works' is what happens upon the second death.

Mojisola

Loughton_Monkey wrote: »

The only other advice I would give is to try and avoid appointing the Solicitor as the executor. Almost any reasonable person likely to survive you is far more preferable. Solicitors will take a long time, and make huge charges against the estate.

Most wills are pretty easy to 'execute' [as opposed to the alternative of dealing with an intestate death] and they can always get legal advice where/when required.

None of our family have appointed solicitors but the executors know that, if things are too much for them at the time, they can appoint a solicitor to do some or all of the work as their agents. The solicitor's cost will come out of the estate so it wouldn't cost the executor personally - apart from having less to inherit.