Do I _really_ need a lawyer to write a will?

Keep_pedalling

Martin_the_Unjust said:

Having seen what I’ve seen I would refuse to be an executor of anyone’s will that left a percentage to charity.


Those that do write a will in those terms are leaving potential problems for their inheritors

Providing an executor does their job properly they should not have any issue with a charity. The main danger for any executor is family, especially squabbling siblings. Assets should never be sold below market value just to speed up the winding up of an estate, as any beneficiary can hold an executor responsible for losses caused by such action. Charities have a legal obligation to recover such losses.

blue.peter

Grumpy_chap said:

I confess to being generally ignorant on the matter of wills, but why would the amount left to any beneficiary (whether a charity or otherwise) be a set amount rather than a percentage?

I'm sure that there are plenty of reasons. A few are:

1. The testator might want to leave a specific amount as a "sweetener" to the executor, in recognition of the work that the executor will do in proving the will and giving effect to it. An older cousin and her husband asked me to do this for them some years ago, and put just such a legacy in their wills. (Their children were very young at the time, and therefore couldn't do the job.)
2. The testator might have lent someone some money, and decide to leave enough to them to write the debt off, before the executor distributes the residue.
3. The testator might want a particular person to have certain specific possessions, rather than have them sold or junked. (My own will leaves some rather nice books to a family member who'll particularly appreciate them, for example. Another example might be leaving the family home to a spouse before distributing the residue proportionately to beneficiaries.)
   

lisyloo

I did probate recently and the hand written will was not accepted and it slowed down probate.
They didn't like the signatures in CAPS and the witneesses were dead.

I would advise paying for a proper will unless you have few assets.
There are plenty of charities doing it for donations.