Making a will

[RobK]

Now I've got a wife & kids I suppose I ought to think about making a will. Where is the best place to get one done? I see those will-writing companies advertising in shopping centres sometimes but are they any good? Should I just find a local solicitor to do it or what?

[sitas3]

depends on what you've got to leave behind and to whom. As you are married I think your estate will automatically go to your Mrs if you don't leave a will. Only see a solicitor if you have complex financial affairs or want to leave estate in trust etc etc. Otherwise if simple you can pretty much write one yourself on a piece of A4..

[Simon690]

depends on what you've got to leave behind and to whom. As you are married I think your estate will automatically go to your Mrs if you don't leave a will.

This is a myth, if you die without leaving a will (intestate) then all your assests are frozen an some poor fecker is appointed as the executor and has to sort it all out. In the meantime your family has to find the cash to pay the death duties and they can't touch what was yours.

Only see a solicitor if you have complex financial affairs or want to leave estate in trust etc etc. Otherwise if simple you can pretty much write one yourself on a piece of A4..

You can get DIY packs from WHSmith. The main thing is that whatever you do you must get two independant (i.e. non-beneficiaries) to witness you signing it. They don't have to be solicitors.

And while you're at it get the Mrs to do a will as well.

[Calm Chris]

IHT isn't an issue to the wife, but it can be to the kids.

Most wills seem to be about financial plainning. Provision for kids / grand kids futures and the odd friend bequest.

If you are loaded, net estate £0.6m + and / or want to make sure things are done the way you want them- either seek pro advice or at the least, read up on the subjects (IHT, bequests, kids / trusts, insurance, property)

Imagine a situation where kids get thrown out the family home at 18 since the wife found a new man and is besotted and wants to be free ?

Imagine the kids going off the rails due to bequests of funds from your estate ?

Imagine the tax man cashing in on bequests given that have IHT considerations ?

Bit of a mine field, but a necessary one to sort

[Andy_Bangle]

If you are going to pay a Pro to do you Will then consider - one of the Charity services

For example Will Aid. Will Aid is a charity that provide a will writing service employing the skills of volunteer solicitors. In return they ask that you consider not paying them, but making a donation to one or more of the nine charities they represent. For further information see: Will Aid: Will Makers Charities included in the scheme include The Red Cross, NSPCC and Save the Children.

Some local charity hospices and national charity's offer this service too.

FreeWill Service: Cancer Research UK charity legacy

[Simon690]

IHT can be an issue if there is no will and it takes longer than 6 months to sort out the estate which is likely as getting all wrapped up in 12 would be a challenge. You have to pay some IHT to be recognised as the executor and the rest is due after 6 months, if there is no will then this has to be paid but your spouse can claim it back later. Anything that goes to your kids (and they will get a share if there is no will) then they have to pay IHT.

For reference the IHT threashold is currently £325K and this includes all your assets e.g. house, cars, cash. etc.

Wills don't have to be complicated, I've had a few rewrites of mine over the years and I've always managed to keep it to a single side of A4 although I did have to reduce the font on that last one:o My life got a bit more complicated once I was divorced but I have a will that ensures that my partner and my kids get what I want them to and not what an executor or court might decide. If I died intestate my partner would not be entitled to anything under intestate law.

[Calm Chris]

For reference the IHT threashold is currently £325K and this includes all your assets e.g. house, cars, cash. etc.

Don't forget the 1st death transfer rule, here's an article from the net in 2007, the allowances are now set at £325k EACH

[quote

Around 12m married couples and civil partners are set to benefit from inheritance tax (IHT) changes, after the Chancellor kept the individual starting point for inheritance tax at £300,000 but allowed couples to automatically transfer this allowance between them.

As a result, couples will effectively benefit from a double allowance of £600,000, previously possible only for those who planned ahead, by passing on assets or writing trusts into their wills.

By 2010, the combined tax-free allowance for couples will rise to £700,000.

Transfers of assets between married couples and civil partners are already exempt from IHT, which is otherwise payable at 40pc on the value of estates worth more than the nil-rate IHT band, set at £300,000 for this tax year.

Many people therefore leave all their assets to their spouse or civil partner, and do not take advantage of their individual tax-free allowance.

Typically half the people dying in any year have not even made a will, let alone incorporated IHT planning.

Now, with immediate effect, any portion of the nil-rate band not used when the first partner dies can be transferred to the remaining spouse or civil partner.

John Riches, from the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners, said: "Middle England will breathe a sigh of relief at the Chancellor's reforms, which undo a large part of the impact of house price inflation in dragging couples into IHT.

"Under these proposals, couples will now be able to benefit fully from both partners' exemptions without the need for complex planning on the first death."

Andrew Tailby-Faulkes, tax partner at accountants Ernst & Young, said: "It is quite a clever way of responding to Conservative proposals to raise the nil-rate band to £1m, but what is really interesting is that you can look back at spouses who have died, and bring their allowance forward into your own estate."

The change is backdated to benefit 3m living widows, widowers and bereaved civil partners who have already lost their other half, according to the Treasury.

Mike Warburton, senior tax partner at accountants Grant Thornton, said: "Generously, the proposals allow the widow or widower to add the unused proportion based on the nil-rate band at the time of the second death – not the lower threshold when the first partner died."

For example, if the first spouse used half their nil-rate band to leave money to their children, then when the second partner died, they would benefit from a tax-free allowance worth half as much again. If the second spouse died this year, they could therefore leave £450,000 without paying IHT, rather than £300,000.

[Milo]

For something as important as a will, I'd strongly recommend employing professionals to write it. Why mess about with DIY kits when for £150 you can get it done professionally by someone who knows exactly what they're doing and how far rules can be bent.

My mother-in-law died on Monday and as my father-in-law recently had to go into residential care, she wanted to re-write her will when she was told 3 weeks ago there was nothing more the doctors could do to help her. It could prove to be the best £200 (it included visits to the hospice she was in) the family have ever spent.

[davidhodgkinson]

What ever you do get one sorted, my grandad died a few weeks ago and my mother is having a very difficult time to sort his financial affairs (on top of her father dying) :mad:

[scooby_simon]

Take advice if you have more than a few 100K and some nice stuff you want to pass on to particular people.

I'm afraid you do have to think thru some fairly nasty senarios as well as you may want to modify the "standard rules" on mutiple deaths.

You might want to word the will, so that no entitlement is "earned" until the persons survive you by 30 / 60 or 90 days; this gets "around" the problems of mutiple deaths in a single incident where the one 1/2 of the marraige dies, thus estate transfers (tax point) to spouce who also dies; estate then passes (and tax point) to children and then onwards. If the worst happens, you MAY get hit for mutiple IHT's.

You also need to take care that if you want to leave certain things to certain people that it is done in a way that allows this to happen.

Classic example is where someone states that 60% goes to wife and 20% to each child, but the wife gets the Car, Child 1 gets the "Rolex" and child 2 gets the "Corum". This means that the will cannot be dispersed without valuations;

Word it correctly and the "keepsakes" can be dispersed more easily before the full work of "asset valuation" has to take place.

You also might wish to make donations to charity and this needs to be done "without laibility for duty"

You may also need to structure in such a way that the executors can pay any duties out of the estate before it is dispersed (so keeping tax simpler )

IT is a nightmare if you have more than the numbers set out above to leave, or have collections or high value items you wish to go to someone (without liability for duty) get advice. Doing it wrong can leave those who sort it out a whole shed load of hassle just when people want to think about other things.

[saab]

I saw an advert for a local solicitor in the local paper who were offering home visit service. Their will writer came round to the house one evening at 8pm, stayed for an hour taking all the details and explaining various options to me and my mrs. A week later the wills arrived for checking and signature. Total charge £100 ish - would have been a bit more if we had any complicated circumstances or provision. Great service, simple and hassle free so no excuse for not having a will!

[saab]

Or you could see if the BBC will do it for you for free....

Want to have your will drafted for nowt? BBC2 is looking for volunteers - MoneySavingExpert.com Forums

[Three_Mile]

It's the both parents die at the same time situation that needs to be covered.

Who's going to look after the kids? If the estate is going into trust for them until they are older (18/21) who is going to administer it?

Best to seek a solicitors advice.

[RobK]

Some great advice in this thread, thanks everyone

I think I'll look for a local solicitor to do it for us.

[mb]

One piece of advice I was given was to just name the beneficiaries & sketch out your intentions as the will can be varied after death (for I think 2 years) with the agreement of all beneficiaries so this saves needing to change all the time. If the beneficiaries are children that you want to exclude an inheritance til later then will need a lot of careful wording & as I understand it is almost impossible to delay past 18 now