Does a will actually cover everything?

hyperlemon

Hi all,

Bit of a question — I’ve seen a lot of families run into trouble even when a will is in place. Things like:

• Lost pensions or savings no one knew about

• Important documents scattered everywhere

• Executors spending months (and hundreds of hours) sorting it all out

It made me wonder: do most people actually plan properly, or just stop at the will?

I’m working on a project around this, so I’d love to hear from people here:

• Have you had to deal with an estate where things were missing or unclear?

• Would you find it useful to have one place that keeps everything together (not just the will)?

Really interested in the MSE community’s views — especially what you’d trust (or not trust) if you were using something new.

Thanks,
Nick

probate_slave

You are planning a kind of online locker to store personal financial information along with perhaps a copy of the will? I'm not sure that anyone could be persuaded to trust it, having seen how easily M&S, the British Library and Synnovis were hacked recently, to name just a few. And with the additional insecurity of the online probate process.

Personally I find I have to spend hundreds of hours sorting out an estate regardless of whether I knew nothing about it beforehand or else had LPA for years and managed all the deceased's affairs myself. Fortunately there has always been plenty of paperwork retained. I'm not looking forward to the day when everything is digital.
It must be rare that someone has the capacity to plan ahead perfectly for their executor.

poseidon1

probate_slave said:

You are planning a kind of online locker to store personal financial information along with perhaps a copy of the will? I'm not sure that anyone could be persuaded to trust it, having seen how easily M&S, the British Library and Synnovis were hacked recently, to name just a few. And with the additional insecurity of the online probate process.

Personally I find I have to spend hundreds of hours sorting out an estate regardless of whether I knew nothing about it beforehand or else had LPA for years and managed all the deceased's affairs myself. Fortunately there has always been plenty of paperwork retained. I'm not looking forward to the day when everything is digital.
It must be rare that someone has the capacity to plan ahead perfectly for their executor.

There will certainly be considerable problems for younger generations who have already gone full on digital with their financial dealings ( bank accounts, credit cards, investment accounts, crypto etc), and have no paper statements  arriving in their homes to help trace who they have financial dealings with.

However, even for some of us retirees, that is already a reality.

 I have 18 different savings accounts, not to mention investment accounts, multiple current accounts, credit cards etc, all operated online, and none of these generate paperwork arriving in my home.

I keep track of all these arrangements via an app previously known as Moneyhub, but now operated by WPS Lifestrategy. The app also serves as an asset schedule, giving a running snapshot of gross asset value, useful for when the SIPP becomes IHT assessable in future.

Living alone, the best I can do for a future executor is supply password access to the app (assuming it remains in exsistence long term) with my Will. 

What is a real pain for DIY executors is finding a bank prepared to set up a properly identifiable executors' bank account to receive the myriad estate funds in future. This forum has identified the fact that high street banks seem reluctant to do so.

tacpot12

So, no-one can plan perfectly. Life often means that the well-organised records prepared by the deceased in the years before their death become increasingly out of date due to deteriorating health. But, as someone who does try to keep good records, I would hope that these records would be better than nothing and should get the administration of the estate off to a good start. 

Many people don't even have a Will, and those that do often stop preparing when they have made or updated their Will. 

There are things that can be done: 

1. Have just a few places where documents are stored. I have three - a fire safe for important stuff that would difficult/costly to replace, a filing cabinet for ordinary stuff that needs keeping and a basket in the kitchen where I dump everything before having a regular sort out and either binning stuff or moving it to the filing cabinet or safe (it's been a few years since I've added anything to the safe.)

2. Use a Password Manager for your user ids and passwords. I store the Master Password for this and the PIN for my phone in plain text in document that is hidden in the house, but I have told all my executors where it is.

3. Keep electronic notes/records of your assets and liabilities. You can use the Before Death spreadsheet available from https://tomhiskey.medium.com/why-i-spent-a-year-making-a-spreadsheet-to-help-families-after-a-death-2e1ba6946b00   However, I made my own. 

4. Write some notes to your executors. One reason I made some notes was because I vounteer with a couple of organisations, and have equipment that belongs to the organisations at home. If anything ever happened to me, my executors would need to know how to contact these organisations and what items needed to be returned to them. If you do write some notes, it is important that you don't include anything that can only go in your Will such as who inherits stuff.

Other things I mention in my notes: 
- Where my Will is (it's with a Solicitor and there is a copy in the fire safe).
- Where the records of gifts I have made in my lifetime are stored (for Inheritance Tax purposes). I have this on my "Before Death spreadsheet", along with a list of all my assets. 
- A list of insurance policies (e.g. Pet Insurance) that might end if direct debits from my bank accounts stop working. 


 

poseidon1

tacpot12 said:

So, no-one can plan perfectly. Life often means that the well-organised records prepared by the deceased in the years before their death become increasingly out of date due to deteriorating health. But, as someone who does try to keep good records, I would hope that these records would be better than nothing and should get the administration of the estate off to a good start. 

Many people don't even have a Will, and those that do often stop preparing when they have made or updated their Will. 

There are things that can be done: 

1. Have just a few places where documents are stored. I have three - a fire safe for important stuff that would difficult/costly to replace, a filing cabinet for ordinary stuff that needs keeping and a basket in the kitchen where I dump everything before having a regular sort out and either binning stuff or moving it to the filing cabinet or safe (it's been a few years since I've added anything to the safe.)

2. Use a Password Manager for your user ids and passwords. I store the Master Password for this and the PIN for my phone in plain text in document that is hidden in the house, but I have told all my executors where it is.

3. Keep electronic notes/records of your assets and liabilities. You can use the Before Death spreadsheet available from https://tomhiskey.medium.com/why-i-spent-a-year-making-a-spreadsheet-to-help-families-after-a-death-2e1ba6946b00   However, I made my own. 

4. Write some notes to your executors. One reason I made some notes was because I vounteer with a couple of organisations, and have equipment that belongs to the organisations at home. If anything ever happened to me, my executors would need to know how to contact these organisations and what items needed to be returned to them. If you do write some notes, it is important that you don't include anything that can only go in your Will such as who inherits stuff.

Other things I mention in my notes: 
- Where my Will is (it's with a Solicitor and there is a copy in the fire safe).
- Where the records of gifts I have made in my lifetime are stored (for Inheritance Tax purposes). I have this on my "Before Death spreadsheet", along with a list of all my assets. 
- A list of insurance policies (e.g. Pet Insurance) that might end if direct debits from my bank accounts stop working. 


 

I suspect you are an extremely  rare exception to the rule, in terms of your ultra state of preparedness for the benefit of your executors. Most of us would struggle to get anywhere near that level of pre death organisation.