Simple DIY will?

Hercules_Grytpype-Thynne

Now I have retired and am 71 (my wife is 70), my daughter is concerned that we do not have wills (I think we do from about 40 years ago and now irrelevant) as her partner’s father had bad experience when his siblings cleared the house when the surviving parent died and he was left with nothing.
So, have done some research and it seems if you have a simple case of a married couple with no history, of which my wife and I are, and have two children of your own who get on with each other, which is the case, then a DIY will is perfectly adequate as the family situation is quite simple(?)
My query:-
The free download wills I have seen state that you need three executors – one being THE executor and two ‘spares’ in case “your first executor is unable or unwilling to act”; but that’s not what we want. We want our daughter and son, who are the lone benefactors, to be joint executors. (I could appoint my wife’s younger brother as a third if necessary)
In my eyes our situation is quite simple as it involves only four people (me, my wife, my daughter and my son) and that my wife and I make identical wills leaving everything to each other and on the death of the surviving spouse, the house we own, our investment bonds and our antiques and collectables are divided equally between our daughter and son – what could be simpler…………………………………………….
Am I right?

Yorkshireman99

Hercules_Grytpype-Thynne wrote: »

Now I have retired and am 71 (my wife is 70), my daughter is concerned that we do not have wills (I think we do from about 40 years ago and now irrelevant) as her partner’s father had bad experience when his siblings cleared the house when the surviving parent died and he was left with nothing.
So, have done some research and it seems if you have a simple case of a married couple with no history, of which my wife and I are, and have two children of your own who get on with each other, which is the case, then a DIY will is perfectly adequate as the family situation is quite simple(?)
My query:-
The free download wills I have seen state that you need three executors – one being THE executor and two ‘spares’ in case “your first executor is unable or unwilling to act”; but that’s not what we want. We want our daughter and son, who are the lone benefactors, to be joint executors. (I could appoint my wife’s younger brother as a third if necessary)
In my eyes our situation is quite simple as it involves only four people (me, my wife, my daughter and my son) and that my wife and I make identical wills leaving everything to each other and on the death of the surviving spouse, the house we own, our investment bonds and our antiques and collectables are divided equally between our daughter and son – what could be simpler…………………………………………….
Am I right?

Pay a couple of hundred quid and get it done properly by a solicitor, not a will writer. They will explain things and arrange for the wills to cover the eventuality of your children predeceasing you.

Keep_pedalling

Yorkshireman99 wrote: »

Pay a couple of hundred quid and get it done properly by a solicitor, not a will writer. They will explain things and arrange for the wills to cover the eventuality of your children predeceasing you.

Totally agree with the above, get all the what ifs covered with a professional

We are in a similar situation, two children who get on fine and will inherit the bulk of our estate. We have ourselves and our children as executors which should cover most situations.

Mojisola

Hercules_Grytpype-Thynne wrote: »

So, have done some research and it seems if you have a simple case of a married couple with no history, of which my wife and I are, and have two children of your own who get on with each other, which is the case, then a DIY will is perfectly adequate as the family situation is quite simple(?)

my wife and I make identical wills leaving everything to each other and on the death of the surviving spouse, the house we own, our investment bonds and our antiques and collectables are divided equally between our daughter and son – what could be simpler

The money you pay a solicitor for a properly written will isn't just for the bit of paper you sign - it's for all the knowledge about what to you are 'unknown unknowns'.

Do you want your two children to be executors able to act only jointly or jointly and severally?

What do you want to happen if one of your children dies before you?

If you leave specific items of antiques to your children and some of them get sold before you die, one child may receive a much smaller inheritance. Do you want to protect the value each one receives?

Do you want to protect your children's inheritance in case one of you dies and the survivor then remarries, dies and everything is inherited by the new spouse?

And so on................

FreeBear

I would agree with other posters - Get the wills drawn up by a qualified and experienced solicitor. It will save considerable expense after you have passed away trying to sort out any errors.

In addition, I would also recommend getting a statement of testamentary capacity from your GP around the same time. This will avoid any chance of the will being challenged on the grounds of mental capacity.

konark

DIY wills are best left to those with no assets and no family and friends.

SevenOfNine

You're already tripping over the DiY thing! There's nothing worse than an incorrectly prepared Will - the advice given is sound, "get it done professionally".

Check with your local AgeUK for when the next national free Wills week/month is if you really can't afford a solicitor. I think in the annual 'free' campaign there may be an expectation of a small donation (£50???) but you DO NOT have to leave a charitable organisation involved in the campaign (like AgeUK) anything in the Will.

securityguy

My parents at one point threatened DIY wills. My brother and I made it clear that under those circumstances we were not willing to act as executors so, in the event that they didn't die simultaneously, we would leave the other to deal with the consequences of their stupidity (their affairs are not overly complex, but are not simple). We were not that bothered about the money (their assets are substantial, but neither my brother nor I are poor) but we both have extremely demanding jobs and do not wish to get involved in !!!!ing about with improperly drawn up wills.

Fortunately, an implosion elsewhere in the family caused by DIY legal documents jerked them into sense, and they had their wills (and powers of attorney, which had caused the problems for my great aunt) done properly.

nom_de_plume

Hercules_Grytpype-Thynne wrote: »

...married couple .... have two children...who get on with each other,daughter and son...... who are the lone benefactors ....then a DIY will is perfectly adequate ....
My query:-
.....what could be simpler…………………………………………….

No will!

Let the flaming begin....

Hercules_Grytpype-Thynne

No doubts there then with regards to DIY wills, so thank you, thank you everyone who posted - your comments and advice has been extremely welcome and most enlightening.


I'm off to my original solicitor then who has the old wills that were drawn up before my children were born, and we WILL (phnarr) go from there.


Once again many thanks.

poppystar

Poste haste too - if those old wills were made after you married, they may be 'irrelevant' to you but may still be legally valid and being pre children may mean the children are not currently your beneficiaries and would not inherit.