Making a will.

Yorkshireborn

Linton wrote: »

Charities is the obvious option for what is left. But to avoid leaving too much my and the Mrs thought is to trade up our house with a maximum lifetime mortgage/equity release and any savings we wont need. So we get the benefit of living in a much better house in a much more desirable location for perhaps the final 1/4 of our lives and the hassle of dealing with the house after our departure is left to the mortgage company.

Clever thinking. Wishing you a happy and comfortable living in your golden years :-)

Yorkshireborn

Malcnascar wrote: »

Firstly, to die without leaving a will your estate is referred to as intestate. In these circumstances your estate is dealt with in accordance with the laws of intestacy, effectively there is a set pecking order on who may inherit. This means that your views are totally ignored which is not a problem so long as your views are entirely in accord with the intestacy rules.

For everone else the only was your wishes can be covered is to make a valid will. This can be made in several ways. Indeed it is possible, but not a view I share, to "do it yourself"

Charities derive a tranche of their income from wills. Many offer a "Will writing" service. The best would put you in touch with a local solicitor who would draw up the will entirely in accordance with your wishes. The charity offer the service for free, the solicitors fees are covered by the "deal" they have with the charity. Others give guidance and leave it to you to employ a solicitor for your will.

Explain to the solicitor your fears that the will might be challenged and I am sure they will ask appropriate questions so that you can be re assured on this point.

Expect to pay £75 to £150 plus VAT to have the will drawn up and executed.

Thanks for the advice. Will do my research regarding this.


Small price to pay for a will which gives such peace of mind :-)

Yorkshireborn

SailorSam wrote: »

I'm in a similar position as you Op but a few years older. Family has always been very important to me, i've always given them much during my life and took for granted my Sisters would get everything after i died. But we've all had a major fallout. I've still got 2 young nieces, it's not their fault their Mum is a !!!!, but i've been thinking more and more of a Charity. But i don't want to leave things to one of the big Charities where much of anything given would go to the charity collector as a bonus.

Yes, you have to look how your family treat you in life when decided whether they deserve to be left any of your hard earned assets. So that choice was easy for me.

Yorkshireborn

PennyForThem wrote: »

Cancer Research UK:
http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/support-us/donate/donate-money-in-your-will/will-writing-explained

British Heart Foundation:
https://www.bhf.org.uk/get-involved/donate/leave-a-gift-in-your-will

Seems they can help with the writing of the will

I am pretty sure that one charity runs adverts showing elderly couple who have donated house - I thought it was BHF above. The charity pays all the council tax, maintenance etc and the house goes to them when the survivor dies.

Thanks for the links, it gives me plenty to ponder over :-)


Really appreciate everyones suggestions :-)

TBagpuss

SailorSam wrote: »

I'm in a similar position as you Op but a few years older. Family has always been very important to me, i've always given them much during my life and took for granted my Sisters would get everything after i died. But we've all had a major fallout. I've still got 2 young nieces, it's not their fault their Mum is a !!!!, but i've been thinking more and more of a Charity. But i don't want to leave things to one of the big Charities where much of anything given would go to the charity collector as a bonus.

You could leave out your sisters and leave stuff directly to your nieces if you wanted.

OP - talk to an experienced solicitor. You could chose to appoint a solicitor as executor or to appoint the officers of your chosen charity.

In terms of leaving personal items, discuss this with your solicitor - you may want to include time limits for items to be chosen, or to specify particular items.

Both of the charities which you are considering are fairly big ones which will have officers used to acting as executors.

in terms of enjoying your assets yourself, talk to a financial advisor. Despite the changes to pensions, you may be someone for whom an annuity might make sense.

Yorkshireborn

TBagpuss wrote: »

You could leave out your sisters and leave stuff directly to your nieces if you wanted.

OP - talk to an experienced solicitor. You could chose to appoint a solicitor as executor or to appoint the officers of your chosen charity.

In terms of leaving personal items, discuss this with your solicitor - you may want to include time limits for items to be chosen, or to specify particular items.

Both of the charities which you are considering are fairly big ones which will have officers used to acting as executors.

in terms of enjoying your assets yourself, talk to a financial advisor. Despite the changes to pensions, you may be someone for whom an annuity might make sense.

Indeed, an annuity seems like the best option for me. I understand that the insurance company will keep any excess value after my death and any relatives get nothing. Is this correct?


Is it at all possible to get my home tied in with the annuity purchase via the same Insurance company? (Equity release)


Main thing for me right now of course is to get my will drawn up asap with a reputable solicitor. Hoping I can can get that done this month

theoretica

Charities have a duty to maximise their income, so if you are making one an executor it might be worth thinking about stating in the will what you want to happen for a funeral. For instance if you want a meal for your friends or to be buried under a tree - as I would expect a charity organising it to otherwise need to opt for a fairly cheap option.

Savvy_Sue

SailorSam wrote: »

But i don't want to leave things to one of the big Charities where much of anything given would go to the charity collector as a bonus.

I'm not entirely sure what you mean by this. I'd expect ANY charity which you appointed as executor to employ a professional to deal with the estate, unless they receive a lot of bequests and are able to employ someone directly to deal with bequests. Either way that's obviously going to reduce the amount by which they benefit. But where does a charity collector come into it?

And what's the alternative? Appoint a lay executor, and expect them to do all the work for free on behalf of the charity? I'm not sure I'd be prepared to act on those terms. Or expect a volunteer from the charity to do the work?

AngelOfTheNorth

Yorkshireborn wrote: »

Thanks for the link.


When you say professional advice, do you mean a solicitor? It's important to me that my will cannot be contested after my death.


Really appreciate any other suggestions/ideas bearing in my wishes.


Has anybody any experience with equity release?

You can't stop your will from being contested. What you can do is pay for a great solicitor who will give you the best chance of ensuring anyone who does contest it fails. It seems that's what you're aiming to do, so that's sensible.

billie25

Yorkshireborn wrote: »

Hello everyone.


I'm looking for a few suggesting on making my will.


I'm now approaching 51 years old, shockingly, I've seen rather a lot of my friends and work colleagues of a similar age pass away recently and it's made me start to think about creating a will.


I'm not a wealthy man but I do have some assets including a mortgage-free home, pensions and investments.


All straight forward up to now, but the unusual part of my request for help is that I've never been married and don't have any children. So basically there is no family I wish to leave my money to.


No one can "take it with them" so what are my options? I'm aware of equity release, it sounds a terrible deal to be honest but what other choice would I have?


Ideally, I'd like to retire at 60 and using as much of my assets as I possibly can to support myself, pay my funeral expenses and leaving anything left over to charity.


Thanks in advance for any advice.

Hi there, I was just wondering if you have progressed at all with this. I am in a similar position to you. I don't have anyone I can ask to be executor - did you manage to establish any charities who would be happy to carry out this duty in return for a good donation? I realise that they would nominate a professional to do the work but wouldn't that be better than just leaving it in the hands of the bank or solicitor?

Any update on this would be great. Thanks