DIY Wills?

royP_2

Is it safe to prepare a married couples DIY will?
It is straight forward with no complications, all assets go to each one of if one dies, upon death of the remaining partner the assets are shared between the 2 sons and the grandchildren.
There is no inheritance liability.

xylophone

https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/articles/diy-wills-what-you-need-to-know

But in your place I'd make an appointment with a local solicitor (ring around first to get information on fees).

AlanP_2

A low cost alternative (not used it)

https://www.pocketpound.co.uk/will-adv/

msallen

I did this for my parents about 20 years ago (finding a short - about 6 or 7 lines - simple temple on the then relatively young internet) and used one of them to get probate for my dad without any problems a few months ago. This couldn't have been any smoother if I'd paid a solicitor to write it.

p00hsticks

Have you also thought about putting Power of Attorney docs in place if you;ve not done so already ?

Malthusian

royP wrote: »

Is it safe to prepare a married couples DIY will?
It is straight forward with no complications, all assets go to each one of if one dies, upon death of the remaining partner the assets are shared between the 2 sons and the grandchildren.

Shared how? All of them equally? Or split between the sons with the grandchildren to inherit in their place if they predecease you? What about grandchildren yet to be born or adopted?

DIY Wills are safe provided you know exactly what you are doing. Plenty of families have fallen apart over Wills written by people who thought they knew what they were doing but worded their Will ambiguously, or made it invalid and thus died intestate, or cocked it up some other way (e.g. asking one of the beneficiaries to witness it).

It will cost a few hundred quid at most to get a solicitor to do the job properly and it is easily worth it.

Avoid will writers like the plague (including those recommended in this thread). Get a proper solicitor.

pafpcg

Malthusian wrote: »

Get a proper solicitor.

Sadly, you can't even trust a qualified solicitor!

About twenty years ago, my late mother-in-law approached a local solicitor to draft her will, giving him a written list of how she wanted her estate to be divided-up between her two daughters. He made a right mess of it, getting names wrong, bequests wrong, sprinkling it with legalese and even inserting himself as one of the executors. The ambiguities in his draft would have made the will impossible to execute. Fortunately, she wasn't happy with a document she couldn't fully understand so she showed it to her daughter (my partner) and we typed up the text of her will with all her desired requirements and she signed it with her best friends as witnesses. After she died a few years ago, the will was accepted without comment by the Probate Office and we had no difficulty in dividing-up the estate between the two daughters.

My late father also wrote his own will (using a will pack from Which?). As the executor, my only problem was reading his handwriting!

So, doing-it-yourself is entirely possible for a straightforward estate, but if you feel more comfortable with a professionally-drafted will then do so. But whichever way you decide, it's essential you thoroughly check the draft and challenge everything you feel you don't fully understand. There's a strong argument for having someone else (one of the executors perhaps) also check the will looking for problems.

Stubod

My solicitor recommended doing a DIY will, and then running it passed him for a check.

Price for full will was £250, price for checking a DIY will about £25....(assuming no real problems)...so cake and it it really...

Fermion

I would strongly advise against a DIY will; my father did one many years ago but when he died the OPG said it was incorrect and we had a huge number of problems trying to get the original witnesses to sign an affidavit. Thankfully one of them was still alive.

royP_2

Thanks for all your replies, seems as if it is half and half, perhaps I had better find a solicitor.

Neasy

If you can wait until October it's free wills month. Also, the MSE guide is herehttp://www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/free-cheap-wills