DIY Will

xylophone

There was the case of the man who left "all to mother" as the instruction in his will - the trouble was that both his wife and his mother were still alive at the time of his demise and both were known as mother......:)

As to DIY wills, I have known two cases where these proved perfectly satisfactory - a man who owned no real estate but just cash and personal possessions left a "pro forma" type will which stated that all was to go to his wife - the will was signed, dated and witnessed in the correct way and there was no problem with probate.

The wife remained in their rented property until death and left a "pro forma" type will, again properly signed, witnessed and dated which stated that all her cash and personal possessions were to be shared equally between her two daughters - again, there was no problem with obtaining probate and settling the estate.

However, in the case of LeadFarmer's mother, there is a mention of having set up trusts for children - it seems to me that this is an area where professional advice should have been sought - it is all too easy to get into a pickle where trusts are concerned and untangling a mess is time consuming and stressful.

Mojisola

xylophone wrote: »

As to DIY wills, I have known two cases where these proved perfectly satisfactory

A DIY will can be fine - the problem is no-one will know for sure until the person has died when it's too late to do anything about it.

Malthusian

bigadaj wrote: »

Wouldn't disagree but it's a bit like a mechanic telling you no to work on your car, there is an element of self interest there.

There's also an element of self interest in a dentist telling you not to try to extract your own teeth, it doesn't mean his professional opinion isn't worth listening to.

bigadaj

Malthusian wrote: »

There's also an element of self interest in a dentist telling you not to try to extract your own teeth, it doesn't mean his professional opinion isn't worth listening to.

...or an ifa recommending paying for financial advice....

LeadFarmer

Im sure there is probably nothing wrong with a DIY will, as long as your circumstances are simple, and remain that way.

But if you have say a £400K estate, why would you not want to pay say £200 for a solicitor to write an official will? After all, if your wanting your estate to specifically go to your children then isn't £200 a price worth paying for that peace of mind for everyone?

xylophone

But if you have say a £400K estate, why would you not want to pay say £200 for a solicitor to write an official will? After all, if your wanting your estate to specifically go to your children then isn't £200 a price worth paying for that peace of mind for everyone?

It would be perfectly possible for a simple pro forma will to cover bequests of any amount of cash and possessions to her adult children.

However, you do mention that your mother's will creates trusts, possibly for minors, and this can be a complex area in terms of the type of trust and taxation thereof.

You might ask your mother if she would be willing to allow you sight of her will so that you could check that the basic legalities have been covered and look at the matter of the trusts.

https://www.gov.uk/trusts-taxes/types-of-trust

You might explain that trusts require special consideration and ask her to consider having her will drawn up by a STEP solicitor.

http://www.step.org/member-directory

Kynthia

My parents in law have diy wills and it will probably be fine. They own no property and have a very small amount of savings. Tgey are leaving everything to each other, or their two children if their spouse is no longer around. Even if anything did go wrong there's so little to inherit tgat I can't see it being a problem.

However anything more complex should get a professional involved. I don't know if it's true but I heard someone left everything to their grandchildren and didn't name them so that any new grandchildren wouldn't be left out. However they had adopted one grandchild years before for some reason. This meant that legally they were their child and not grandchild, so didn't inherit.

chucknorris

I know that my wife and I should have some wills done, but we have been a bit lax, mainly because we don't have any children. But I suppose we should still care where all the money goes if we both died.

Mistermeaner

chucknorris wrote: »

I know that my wife and I should have some wills done, but we have been a bit lax, mainly because we don't have any children. But I suppose we should still care where all the money goes if we both died.

Offer still stands chuck