Writing a Codicil to a Will

Linda32

Hello all,

I wonder if anyone could point me in the right direction, please.

Myself and my Partner have a pair of Mirror Wills, leaving assets to each other. 

We have no dependents.

We have joint bank account with no accounts under one or the others name.

We are in the process of drawing up Lasting Power of Attorneys for Finance and Health and Wellbeing.

I am concerned as to what happens in the event of the second death. Assuming we have a level of savings at that time. We own our own Home.

I have searched last weeks email which gives direction on Will Writing in the first instance, but not for a codicil. We are aware of the potential risks of writing a codicil ourselves, should it not be correct. We have used the Gov. website to drawer up the LPA and found this quite easy with our finances being very simple.

I was wondering whether anyone has used a service of writing a codicil themselves. 
The obvious answer would be to use the solicitor who drew up the original pair of wills, but whilst not sounding too silly, they have moved to rather plush offices in the middle of town and I honestly find that prospect rather intimidating to approach them.

user1977

Linda32 said:

Myself and my Partner have a pair of Mirror Wills, leaving assets to each other. 

I am concerned as to what happens in the event of the second death.

What do the current Wills say? Presumably they don't just stop at leaving the assets to each other?

getmore4less

If the will is in digital form no need for codicil just change and reprint get witness

If not digital good time to make it digital.

If your current wills don't cover second death good time for a rethink.

Linda32

user1977 said:

Linda32 said:

Myself and my Partner have a pair of Mirror Wills, leaving assets to each other. 

I am concerned as to what happens in the event of the second death.

What do the current Wills say? Presumably they don't just stop at leaving the assets to each other?

Yes, they do. Whichever of us dies first can use their Will to gain access to the bank accounts and whichever authorities in their own rights.

Linda32

getmore4less said:

If the will is in digital form no need for codicil just change and reprint get witness

If not digital good time to make it digital.

If your current wills don't cover second death good time for a rethink.

The Wills are on paper, we hold a copy and the Solicitor holds a copy. I've no idea how to make them digital.

This is the problem, they do not cover the second death.

user1977

Linda32 said:

user1977 said:

Linda32 said:

Myself and my Partner have a pair of Mirror Wills, leaving assets to each other. 

I am concerned as to what happens in the event of the second death.

What do the current Wills say? Presumably they don't just stop at leaving the assets to each other?

Yes, they do. Whichever of us dies first can use their Will to gain access to the bank accounts and whichever authorities in their own rights.

Didn't your solicitor ask you what you would want to happen to your estates on the second death (or if you both went together)? I know you might not cover every possibility, but that's a fairly basic one and it seems odd just to ignore it and leave the estate to be dealt with under intestacy rules (unless that's what you actually wanted at the time). If the solicitors were that useless then you're probably best not to use them again!

Savvy_Sue

Linda32 said:

user1977 said:

Linda32 said:

Myself and my Partner have a pair of Mirror Wills, leaving assets to each other. 

I am concerned as to what happens in the event of the second death.

What do the current Wills say? Presumably they don't just stop at leaving the assets to each other?

Yes, they do. Whichever of us dies first can use their Will to gain access to the bank accounts and whichever authorities in their own rights.

So is each of you the sole executor for the other? Unless they advised you to appoint at least one more executor and for some reason you decided against that, that's pretty poor ... 

Or are the solicitors appointed as secondary executor?

Linda32 said:

getmore4less said:

If the will is in digital form no need for codicil just change and reprint get witness

If not digital good time to make it digital.

If your current wills don't cover second death good time for a rethink.

The Wills are on paper, we hold a copy and the Solicitor holds a copy. I've no idea how to make them digital.

This is the problem, they do not cover the second death.

Plush offices notwithstanding, I would approach them and ask for new wills at a discounted price to cover the fact that you were poorly advised when you made these! 

Did they not ask you what you wanted to do on the 2nd death? Again, if they did, and you just couldn't make a decision, that's one thing, but if the question wasn't asked it's pretty poor ... 

Have a think about what you would like to happen on the 2nd death (especially if it may be different for each of you). Note that if you both die (effectively) together, there's a presumption that the eldest has died first, but you can write it to cover that eventuality. 

And remember that October is Free Wills Month: you may be too late to make an appointment this time, but some charities offer something similar all year round (just check they refer you to a solicitor and not a will-writer).

Keep_pedalling

Don’t cut corners here get new wills drafted with a local solicitor.

Are you married or civil partners? If not does your joint net worth exceed £650k? If so there is going to be an IHT liability on the first death, so you might like to think about changing your marital status as well as a new will.

74jax

I would get new wills with new solicitors.
Your old solicitors sound useless.

What happens if you die together (house fire / car crash). 

I'd be dropping an email of concern to the company and asking another solicitor in the company to check them over for any other obvious mistakes - just in case there are some and you don't know it. 

Linda32

Hello all,

Thank you very much for taking the time to reply. I very much appreciate it.

To answer all questions. Yes, I believe we were asked at the time (we both went to the appointment together) our wishes on the second death and I'm afraid we did say "one thing at a time" or something along those lines. In the Solicitors defense that is lessons leant on our part and hindsight being a wonderful thing. 

The firm of solicitors are the Executors. 

We do not believe we were given poor advise in the first place. The solicitors did as we asked them to be absolutely fair in this. However, we did use Will Aid Month last time, is there anything to read into that. 

We are not married, nor do we have a civil partnership. We are totally separate individuals, single, living together as a couple. No children. We own the property jointly. The Joint net worth does not exceed 650K.

I've thought myself this morning, that it would be simpler to write new wills. Detailing what should happen on the second death. I believe our wishes would be different as far as leaving money to Charities etc. Leaving money to family members I think would be similar. 

Thank you all, you have confirmed what I thought.

Keep_pedalling

Linda32 said:

Hello all,

Thank you very much for taking the time to reply. I very much appreciate it.

To answer all questions. Yes, I believe we were asked at the time (we both went to the appointment together) our wishes on the second death and I'm afraid we did say "one thing at a time" or something along those lines. In the Solicitors defense that is lessons leant on our part and hindsight being a wonderful thing. 

The firm of solicitors are the Executors. 

We do not believe we were given poor advise in the first place. The solicitors did as we asked them to be absolutely fair in this. However, we did use Will Aid Month last time, is there anything to read into that. 

We are not married, nor do we have a civil partnership. We are totally separate individuals, single, living together as a couple. No children. We own the property jointly. The Joint net worth does not exceed 650K.

I've thought myself this morning, that it would be simpler to write new wills. Detailing what should happen on the second death. I believe our wishes would be different as far as leaving money to Charities etc. Leaving money to family members I think would be similar. 

Thank you all, you have confirmed what I thought.

If you don’t have any suitable family or friends who could act as executors, then your better option is to appoint each other as executors with the solicitor as back-up. Do you have lasting powers of attorney in place? If not that should be near the top of your to do list.