Will - what does the solicitor need to know

[20secondstocomply]

My husband and I need to make a will, and I have a family member that is a solicitor and would do this for us. However, we both have a fairly significant amount of debt and I am not sure I am comfortable with the family member knowing this. So my question is, would the solicitor need to know all details of the debt?
Thanks in advance.

[mumblechum1]

No, the solicitor only needs to have a rough idea of the value of your joint estate sothat he or she can work out whether inheritance tax applies and advise on minimising it.

I'm a will writer and it may help if you know what you're likely to be asked:

Names and Addresses
Whether any previous will in existence
Marital status and if unmarried, whether marriage is on the horizon
Who is reliant on you financially
Who you want as your executors and trustees
Who you wish to appoint as your child(ren)s guardian
Whether the guardian can claim maintenance expenses from the trust
Any specific or pecuniary legacies
Funeral wishes
Your childrn's details
What real property you own,and how it's held
What you want to happen with your residuary estate, ie to each other or shared between other beneficiares
When you'd like your children to inherit, ie what age
What you would want to happen if the whole family died in an accident together

that's the basic list of questions, but it may be longer depending on the complexity of your circumstances.

[20secondstocomply]

Brilliant, thanks so much for your quick reply mumblechum1. That's good, I would want to use this person as will be cheaper (v. good for our situation!), but would rather they don't know all the details!
Really really stupid question, but what is included in 'estate' - property, savings etc?
Thanks for the list, that's really helpful and will save time when we do it.
Thanks again.

[mumblechum1]

The estate is everything except:

1. Property (bricks and mortar) abroad
   

1. Death in service benefits
   

1. Life insurance
   

(insurance/d.i.s benefits are held under entirely separate trusts for inheritance tax purposes).

[20secondstocomply]

Great, thanks so much for your help.