Will

cyclonebri1

Ok, may or may not be the perfect place to post, but;

"Can a cousin that has no direct entitlement to any undirected inheritance sign a will?????"

The bottom line is my brother has no kids or family. We are helping with the will.
He and me will draft the will, the proceeds will be left to me, my spouse, or our descendants.

He/we have an older cousin living near by, we want to use him and his wife as witnesses.????? They do not directly benefit.

krlyr

Which? are offering online wills now at a reasonable price, it may be worth paying a little to get it done professionally and know it is all correct. Alternatively, although it is slightly late in the month now and it may not be possible to get an appointment, November is WillAid month so participating solicitors have been offering their services for a set donation to the WillAid scheme.

paddy's_mum

Hi, cyclonebri1.

Firstly, may I say how often I have laughed at some of the things you've said on the DIY board but also how often I have seen you give good advice.

My turn now.

This board has a Wills section. Perhaps a moderator will move your question so that you may get better answers.

In short, though, your other cousin and his wife are entirely suitable to witness the will. Beneficiaries may not do so for obvious reasons but as they do not stand to gain anything via the will, they are obvious candidates.

I don't mean to be rude in any way but if you are at the point of drawing up a draft will but seem not to know quite who-and-what-goes-where, might you be wiser to have a professional draw up a will?

I'm told that solicitors make more money out of sorting a defective will than they ever do drawing one up!

meritaten

do they need a will?
do they own a home? Have money in the bank? wish to leave a bequest to someone not in direct bloodline to inherit?
if you are his only living relative and he wants you to have everything then it would come to you anyway.
but if he wishes to 'make his will' then keep the language very simple and don't try to use 'legalese'. the standard will form from the post office will do too.
a straightforward 'I leave my entire estate to my sister Cyclone and her husband Anti Cyclone' will suffice.
If he wants to leave mementoes to other people it can worded
I leave my collection of stuffed gerbils to 'Little Boy' at No 12 Acacia ~Ave because he is fascinated by them.
all my monnogramed handkerchiefs I wish to leave to Cousin Albert Whatsit as we share the same initials
then
the rest of my estate including the property (Address) I leave to my Sister Cyclone....etc.
yes the cousins can sign as witnesses if they haven't been mentioned in the will.

mountainofdebt

At the end of the day I totally agree that a properly worded will is far better than someone who thinks they know what they are doing writing it.

I'm not sure though why you need your cousin & his wife to witness the will....anyone can do it (provided they don't benefit) - mine was witnessed by work colleagues (they did put down their home addresses just in case they had to be contacted by the executor)

cyclonebri1

Thank you all and especially Paddy's Mum, for the direct compliment.

I do have a pretty good knowledge of all things DIY and as it has saved me a fortune over the years I think this is an appropriate forum to try to help on.

Anyway back to the topic in hand, and I really don't want to go too deeply into this. If I said he has no work colleagues, has no close friends and only knows a couple of neighbours that should suffice.

It is a simple will and we will go the DIY route. Only the fact that we each own 1/2 of the house he lives in and he is likely to outlive me, necessitates him making a will. I simply don't want any issues for my wife.

Believe me, getting him even to consider a will has been an issue. To get him to pay for it, an impossibility.

Thanks again

Mojisola

Before writing the will, read the Which? book "Wills and Probate".

There are some very simple things that you can get wrong that can invalidate the will.

The witnesses don't have to be someone who knows the will writer. As long as the two people watch him sign the will and do their bit of signing and printing their names and addresses, that's all that's needed. It could be some of your friends or neighbours if that made life easier.

Mojisola

cyclonebri1 wrote: »

I simply don't want any issues for my wife.

Believe me, getting him even to consider a will has been an issue. To get him to pay for it, an impossibility.

You could make sure your wife isn't left helping to sort out a problem will by paying for his will to be written.

cyclonebri1

Mojisola wrote: »

You could make sure your wife isn't left helping to sort out a problem will by paying for his will to be written.

Sorry, MJ, but I just knew someone would come along and say that:rotfl::rotfl: Believe me we are helping him out in more ways than you would expect.
I have no issue doing the paperwork myself, I recently tackled probate for the 1st time with no issues.
I have already got hold of the lawpacks "will pack" and I'm clear on the wording, I simply didn't realise he had issues in finding someone to sign and had never considered the cousin that he only ever sees at funerals, but does live nearby.