DIY Will

FaceHead

In a nutshell, DIY Wills: Yea or Nay?

I've gotten to the point in life when it's time to have my first will. 

It'll be quite simple dividing things between siblings and an unmarried partner. It seems like a waste to spend £100+ on document I could easily draw up myself - the compact law templates took quite straightforward to me. 

Why doesn't everyone do it - I understand the majority of people would get a high street solicitor to draw up a will?

TIA

couriervanman

If your in a work union they quite often do them for free

Keep_pedalling

DIY wills are OK for very simple low value estate estates but many people's estates are not that simple, and getting it wrong can be very expensive for those left behind.

tacpot12

The problem with drafting a will is that it is easy to write an English sentence that can be interpreted in more than one way.

Many people pay solicitors to write their wills in the hope that a solicitor will be able to avoid this problem, and it is the case that certain conventions that have developed over time about how certain wishes are documented in wills written by solicitors. This will help a solicitor who is charged with acting as executor, but can be confusing for laypeople who are acting as executors!

Some people have complicated requirements for their wills. This can be the case if a trust is to be created, or if there are business assets. Even relatively simple situations, such as where a parent need to leave assets in trust for a child (in case the other parent has either already died, or dies in the same accident that befell the first parent), need special legal language to create the bare trust. If you don't understand the legal language, you might create a will that cannot be executed. A good template can create a valid will for simple situations and should give you enough information so that you can see when it should not be used.

Another problem you might create are if you try to give away your share of your home, but you actually don't have a share to give away because you own the property as joint tenants. Your will could still be executed, but your desire to pass the share to someone other than your joint owner would not occur. 

If you are about to get married, or about to get divorced, this is another situation when getting a solicitor to write your will would be justified as the template may not be able to codify what you want to happen under certain situations. 

One way to simplify your will is to ensure that life insurance policies are written in trust and death-in-service schemes and pensions have beneficiaries named so that money doesn't come into your estate and have to be distributed via your will. Owning your home as joint owners and having joint bank accounts also avoids the will needing to say anything about the home or the contents of the joint bank accounts as ownership passes automatically.  

Mojisola

FaceHead said:

It'll be quite simple dividing things between siblings and an unmarried partner. It seems like a waste to spend £100+ on document I could easily draw up myself - the compact law templates took quite straightforward to me.

What do you want to happen if any of these people die before you?  Do you know how to word this properly?

If you intend money to be passed on to the following generations, you have to be careful with the wording in case any more children are born after you write the will or they could be left without a share.  If any of them are still minors when they inherit, who is going to be responsible for their inheritance?

We found the solicitor's advice (as a result of training and experience) worth paying for.  

Browntoa

Unless it's a "I leave everything to my spouse" will it's out of DIY realms

Mickey666

Mojisola said:

FaceHead said:

It'll be quite simple dividing things between siblings and an unmarried partner. It seems like a waste to spend £100+ on document I could easily draw up myself - the compact law templates took quite straightforward to me.

What do you want to happen if any of these people die before you?  Do you know how to word this properly?

If you intend money to be passed on to the following generations, you have to be careful with the wording in case any more children are born after you write the will or they could be left without a share.  If any of them are still minors when they inherit, who is going to be responsible for their inheritance?

We found the solicitor's advice (as a result of training and experience) worth paying for.  

All good points.
However, since a DIY will costs nothing then it would also cost nothing to simply write a new one should, for example, an existing beneficiary die before the person writing the will.

I do take the previous points about complexity though.  Unless it a very simple will then a solicitor's advice is likely to be a good idea, for the sake of a few £100.

Mojisola

Mickey666 said:

However, since a DIY will costs nothing then it would also cost nothing to simply write a new one should, for example, an existing beneficiary die before the person writing the will.

It's a good intention but will often fail under the "I keep meaning to get that new will written" intention - and that's providing that the testator still has full capability and is able to make a new will.

Keep_pedalling

Mickey666 said:

Mojisola said:

FaceHead said:

It'll be quite simple dividing things between siblings and an unmarried partner. It seems like a waste to spend £100+ on document I could easily draw up myself - the compact law templates took quite straightforward to me.

What do you want to happen if any of these people die before you?  Do you know how to word this properly?

If you intend money to be passed on to the following generations, you have to be careful with the wording in case any more children are born after you write the will or they could be left without a share.  If any of them are still minors when they inherit, who is going to be responsible for their inheritance?

We found the solicitor's advice (as a result of training and experience) worth paying for.  

All good points.
However, since a DIY will costs nothing then it would also cost nothing to simply write a new one should, for example, an existing beneficiary die before the person writing the will.

I do take the previous points about complexity though.  Unless it a very simple will then a solicitor's advice is likely to be a good idea, for the sake of a few £100.

But people often tend to put those sort of thing of, they may also no longer have the mental capacity to make changes later on, so that is a dangerous strategy.

FaceHead

Thanks all for you comments, including highlighting the question of what would happen if one or more of my intended beneficiaries died before me. One option would be that I could update the will at that point, and if not paying £00's for it, would be much less likely to put it off. 

Whilst my will will be super simple, I remain undecided, as there are lots of eventualities one needs to cover. 

The discussion also points out that updating the expression of wish on my death in service benefit is the most pressing, and as it would represent the majority of my legacy, I can use that to more-or-less make my wishes happen. 

Savvy_Sue

FaceHead said:

Thanks all for you comments, including highlighting the question of what would happen if one or more of my intended beneficiaries died before me. One option would be that I could update the will at that point, and if not paying £00's for it, would be much less likely to put it off. 

Whilst my will will be super simple, I remain undecided, as there are lots of eventualities one needs to cover. 

The discussion also points out that updating the expression of wish on my death in service benefit is the most pressing, and as it would represent the majority of my legacy, I can use that to more-or-less make my wishes happen. 

A GOOD will, written by a solicitor, will take account of the 'What If' questions. It's mentioned because when you are DIY, you may not think of all the sensible 'What If' questions. It will also be reasonably future-proof, such that you won't have to change it if one of your beneficiaries dies, and you won't have to change it if you have (more) children or grandchildren. 

Obviously it's sensible to review it periodically - we changed ours and set up Power of Attorney once all our children reached the age of 18. One reason for that is that we were no longer in touch with one of our previous executors, and the other has died, so that's saved a lot of hassle when the time comes. Another is that our 'nuclear' clause (ie if we all died together) was no longer appropriate - and now all the boys have left home, the likelihood of needing one is much reduced. 

I don't anticipate a review being essential unless I outlive DH, so that's two, at most three wills covering my needs for a lifetime. But then, I do have a very boring and uncomplicated relationship!