Couple of DIY will writing questions

Panda78

Morning All,

Wondering if anyone could advise on these questions please, as i'm writing my own will.

1) Can GP surgeries witness wills, like doctors used to sign passports? I've just moved to a new area so don't have neighbours i can ask. I can't get 2 friends together to sign at the same time, as required and i'm in a new job so dont feel comfortable asking 2 new colleagues.

2) If i want to leave everything ie house, savings, car, jewelery etc, to my mum and siblings, can i just state "I leave all my property and possessions to..." under 'residuary gift' or do i need to mention specific items?

Thank you.

Flugelhorn

GP surgeries probably won;t be keen on doing such - most GPs have stopped signing external things eg passports, visa forms etc etc as most can be signed by any witness who will probably not charge anyway!

I would ask colleagues - most won't mind at all and may be flattered that you trust them enough to ask . We asked our neighbours and they were fine about it .

hardpressed

The witnesses don't have to see what you have written in you will just witness that they have seen you sign it.

Panda78

Thank you both.

Please could anyone advise on this?

2) If i want to leave everything ie house, savings, car, jewelery etc, to my mum and siblings, can i just state "I leave all my property and possessions to..." under 'residuary gift' or do i need to mention specific items?

Mojisola

Panda78 wrote: »

2) If i want to leave everything ie house, savings, car, jewelery etc, to my mum and siblings, can i just state "I leave all my property and possessions to..." under 'residuary gift' or do i need to mention specific items?

As you won't know exactly what possessions you will have when you die, just say all my property and possessions.

If you are going to leave "everything" to "several people", do you want to say how they should distribute the possessions? If more than one of them wanted a particular piece of jewellery or your car, how should they chose who gets it? Leaving things open can lead to massive family arguments following a death.

Do you intend them to divide the goods so that they each have a equal amount in monetary terms?

Simple wills often lead to big problems.:(

Panda78

Mojisola wrote: »

As you won't know exactly what possessions you will have when you die, just say all my property and possessions.

If you are going to leave "everything" to "several people", do you want to say how they should distribute the possessions? If more than one of them wanted a particular piece of jewellery or your car, how should they chose who gets it? Leaving things open can lead to massive family arguments following a death.

Do you intend them to divide the goods so that they each have a equal amount in monetary terms?

Simple wills often lead to big problems.:(

Thank you Mojisola. Under specific gifts, i want to leave my house & it's contents to my siblings in equal share. My car to my brother and then under residuary estate, i wanted to leave that to my mum, step dad and nephew in equal share. If natural order takes place then in reality, that will be left to my nephew.

Does this sound ok?

Bantex_2

Pay someone £100 to do it properly.

Mojisola

Panda78 wrote: »

2) If i want to leave everything ie house, savings, car, jewelery etc, to my mum and siblings, can i just state "I leave all my property and possessions to..." under 'residuary gift' or do i need to mention specific items?

Panda78 wrote: »

Under specific gifts, i want to leave my house & it's contents to my siblings in equal share. My car to my brother and then under residuary estate, i wanted to leave that to my mum, step dad and nephew in equal share. If natural order takes place then in reality, that will be left to my nephew.

So it's all going to be specific gifts to specific people rather than a general "I leave all my property and possessions to..."

If you say "all possessions" then leaving the car and the contents of bank accounts to other people could cause problems.

Are you going to specify that the executor(s) sell the house and divide the capital between your siblings or just leave them the house? Problems can arise with the second version when the new owners disagree about what price the house should be sold at, whether it should be kept and rented out, etc.

Have you read the Which? book "Wills and Probate"? It's worth having a look at.

Mojisola

Mojisola wrote: »

Simple wills often lead to big problems.:(

Bantex wrote: »

Pay someone £100 to do it properly.

This is good advice.

With a home-made will, it's the "unknown unknowns" that cause problems and those are what a solicitor will know and guide you through.

Panda78

Mojisola wrote: »

So it's all going to be specific gifts to specific people rather than a general "I leave all my property and possessions to..."

If you say "all possessions" then leaving the car and the contents of bank accounts to other people could cause problems.

Are you going to specify that the executor(s) sell the house and divide the capital between your siblings or just leave them the house? Problems can arise with the second version when the new owners disagree about what price the house should be sold at, whether it should be kept and rented out, etc.

Have you read the Which? book "Wills and Probate"? It's worth having a look at.

Thank you. I thought i had a simple case, that's why i got a DIY pack! Maybe there is no simple case... I want my house to be sold and the capital divided between my siblings.

getmore4less

The distribution is often the easy bit once you know what you are doing.

eg. "natural order" is not always what you might think you need to read up on the rules around what happens when a beneficiary dies.

finding an executor to do it is often the hard part