Coronavirus/Solicitor Problems - Should Sister DIY Will For Now?

woodbine66

My 83 year old sister had a fall in December which she has recovered well from. However it prompted her to think about making a will as she has none. She left it a bit late and now the coronavirus is making things really difficult, as solicitors offices are closed. They are operating by phone, but all she has contacted are booked for weeks. The fall has worried her about having no will, but the Coronavirus is really scaring her as she is high risk because of a diabetes and age/health. She wants to make a will now.

Basically she has been married for 60 years but they detest each other even though living under the same roof. They have two sons. She has substantial savings and owns the marital home on a joint tenants basis with her husband. She is happy for her half of the house to go to her husband if she dies first, but wants all her savings to go to her two sons. The husband's assets include a large property in his sole name, pensions and large savings. So if my sister left all her savings to sons, he can hardly claim he wasn't provided for.

Will it be ok if I help my sister to make up a will until the coronavirus situation settles down? I have followed all the guides and it seems quite easy to do a will for a relatively straightforward estate. Are there any aspects that would be difficult to acieve with a DIY will? Can we hand write a will, or does it need to be typed/printed?

I realise this isn't ideal, but we can make up a quick will and get neighbours to witness. Surely it's better to have some kind of will rather than nothing, especially with this vicious virus so rife?

Flugelhorn

just worth noted that if they do own the property as joint tenants then it automatically passes to the survivor if one of them dies, so in fact all she has to leave are her savings 

Dox

woodbine66 said:

My 83 year old sister had a fall in December which she has recovered well from. However it prompted her to think about making a will as she has none. She left it a bit late and now the coronavirus is making things really difficult, as solicitors offices are closed. They are operating by phone, but all she has contacted are booked for weeks. The fall has worried her about having no will, but the Coronavirus is really scaring her as she is high risk because of a diabetes and age/health. She wants to make a will now.

Basically she has been married for 60 years but they detest each other even though living under the same roof. They have two sons. She has substantial savings and owns the marital home on a joint tenants basis with her husband. She is happy for her half of the house to go to her husband if she dies first, but wants all her savings to go to her two sons. The husband's assets include a large property in his sole name, pensions and large savings. So if my sister left all her savings to sons, he can hardly claim he wasn't provided for.

Will it be ok if I help my sister to make up a will until the coronavirus situation settles down? I have followed all the guides and it seems quite easy to do a will for a relatively straightforward estate. Are there any aspects that would be difficult to acieve with a DIY will? Can we hand write a will, or does it need to be typed/printed?

I realise this isn't ideal, but we can make up a quick will and get neighbours to witness. Surely it's better to have some kind of will rather than nothing, especially with this vicious virus so rife?

Yes; do the DIY route if you really have no alternative, which seems to be the case. As someone has already pointed out, if the house is owned as joint tenants (rather than being owned as tenants in common), her husband automatically inherits if she dies before he does. Forget any legalese and keep the wording simple. Just set out her wishes: that she leaves all her assets to her two sons in equal shares, providing they both survive her; and if only one son survives her, he inherits all her assets. ?What happens if they both die before her? Also include a sentence to the effect that as her husband has adequate assets of her own, she has chosen not to leave anything to him. It wouldn't stop him making a claim on her estate (nothing could), but it will cut the chances of success. Make sure it is correctly witnessed - 2 witnesses need to sign in her presence and neither be a beneficiary, or be related to either beneficiary. 

Typing is preferred simply because it tends to be more legible, but many a soldier has drawn up a valid will on the back of a fag pack!

She should try to get a solicitor to draw up a will as soon as possible, because home made wills have a nasty habit of being defective (you don't actually need to spell that out), but having something should at least make her feel better at what must be a worrying time.

woodbine66

Flugelhorn said:

just worth noted that if they do own the property as joint tenants then it automatically passes to the survivor if one of them dies, so in fact all she has to leave are her savings 

Thanks Flugelhorn. Yes she understands that the property/principal residence automatically passes to her husband as joint tenant. She doesn't want the aggro of severing the tenancy. It's her savings that she is anxious to pass on.

She doesn't think he will challenge her will, as they are at loggerheads and he won't have left any of his assets to her - so won't be expecting any of hers.

woodbine66

Dox said:

Yes; do the DIY route if you really have no alternative, which seems to be the case. As someone has already pointed out, if the house is owned as joint tenants (rather than being owned as tenants in common), her husband automatically inherits if she dies before he does. Forget any legalese and keep the wording simple. Just set out her wishes: that she leaves all her assets to her two sons in equal shares, providing they both survive her; and if only one son survives her, he inherits all her assets. ?What happens if they both die before her? Also include a sentence to the effect that as her husband has adequate assets of her own, she has chosen not to leave anything to him. It wouldn't stop him making a claim on her estate (nothing could), but it will cut the chances of success. Make sure it is correctly witnessed - 2 witnesses need to sign in her presence and neither be a beneficiary, or be related to either beneficiary. 

Typing is preferred simply because it tends to be more legible, but many a soldier has drawn up a valid will on the back of a fag pack!

She should try to get a solicitor to draw up a will as soon as possible, because home made wills have a nasty habit of being defective (you don't actually need to spell that out), but having something should at least make her feel better at what must be a worrying time.

Thanks for your reply and advice.

The DIY route doesn't seem too difficult. Unfortunately I don't have a printer as I don't print much. Any printing I do is at the library that is closed due to virus. Maybe I can type it. If handwritten, does it have to be written by my sister? My handwriting is a lot neater than hers so I could write it out for her.

Linton

woodbine66 said:

The DIY route doesn't seem too difficult. Unfortunately I don't have a printer as I don't print much. Any printing I do is at the library that is closed due to virus. Maybe I can type it. If handwritten, does it have to be written by my sister? My handwriting is a lot neater than hers so I could write it out for her.

You can write it.  What is essential is that your sister signs and dates it in the presence of 2 witnesses  and those witnesses sign it immediately after your sister has done so.  Check on the net for exactly how the signature should be written and who can/cannot be a witness.

xylophone

https://www.lawdepot.co.uk/contracts/last-will-and-testament-uk/#.Xn9DONOwmSM
might help.
And see re sign and witness here
https://www.irwinmitchell.com/personal/wills-trusts-estates/wills/guide/witnessing-a-will#beneficiary
https://www.thegazette.co.uk/wills-and-probate/content/100522

woodbine66

Many thanks for your replies, Linton and Xylophone.

I have one other basic question. We will probably print the will on A4 sized paper. If the will runs to more than one sheet of A4, is this allowable? Is it ok to staple several sheets of A4 together if needed? If the will is more than one sheet A4, do we need to write anything specific on them to link them so that all sheets are allowable?

Or is it a bad idea to have more than one sheet in a will?

Linton

You can have more than one sheet securely stapled together in a will.  You could label the pages 1 of 5, 2 of 5 etc.  Note that if you ever cause any damage by unstapling the pages the will could be invalid since there is no evidence that it was not altered after signature.

woodbine66

Thanks Linton and all. One last question. When we have put the will together, my sister will want two copies of it so there is a spare kept seperately in case one is lost. Should we;

A) Make two copies of the unsigned and unwitnessed will, and get my sister and the witnesses to sign both copies (ie. signing everything twice)?

or

B ) Get one copy signed by sister and witnesses and photocopy it?

Apologies for basic questions, but want to get this right.

Savvy_Sue

Only the original can be used. Can be stored at the probate registry with a copy at home and a note of where the original is stored - I or someone helpful will add a link later.