Tell Co-op Legal Services about your experiences with making a will - £300 voucher to be won! NOW CLOSED

[EmmaMumsnet]

If you and your partner have children together, thinking ahead to a time when the unimaginable has happened and both you and your partner have passed away, leaving your child (or children) in need of a Legal Guardian, is an awful conversation to think about, let alone have. However, Co-op Legal Services know that if you make formal arrangements in relation to a will, you are able to name the Legal Guardians of your children instead of the Court making a decision you might not have wished for. With that in mind, Co-op Legal Services would like to know your experiences with making a will.

James Antoniou, Head of Wills at Co-op Legal Services, says: “As parents, we recognise the need to protect our children throughout our lifetimes. Making a will and providing for guardianship is an extension of that protection, ensuring that our wishes are clear about who will be responsible for their upbringing.

If you are interested in starting your wills journey with the Co-op, start your will online now"

Do you currently have a will? Or is it still an ongoing process? How did you go about making some of the important decisions that a will requires? Do you have the conversations surrounding a will with your family?

So whether you’ve set up one already or looking to begin making one, share your experiences below and you will be entered into a prize draw to win a £300 voucher of your choice (from a list).

Thanks, and good luck

MNHQ

Standard Insight T&Cs apply

[mummy81]

We had a mirror will completed on the interests when I had my first child. That was six years ago and we should really update it now. We discussed who would look after our kids and how we would split everything. It was quite amicable. The process online was quick and simple.

[WhosTakingDeHorseToFrance]

We've had discussions after a family friend died in an accident, 4 children and their partner survived a horrible crash. It was a sobering reminder to us. We need to update it as we've since had another child.

[InvisibleKittenAttack]

Rather embarrassingly we don't have one yet. DH and I can't agree on who gets the dcs, so we keep shelving the discussion for "later", but never quite get round to sorting a time to have the argument. maybe it should be a "new school year resolution".

[PoppyPopcorn]

We made our will about 10 years ago - it's a mirror will which basically means mine and my husband's are identical. The process was very simple - we made an appointment at the local solicitor's and they ran us through the basics of what we needed to consider. I think it cost about £100 which was well worth the money for the peace of mind - hasn't every family got stories about people falling out over wills?

[Falconhoof1]

My union at work give a free week service so I used that. It's dead easy- just a basic template where you choose options, send it off and they send you it back to sign. I can also get a free one for my DH so this has reminded me to get that sorted.

[Hs2Issue]

DH really didn't want to think about making wills but after we bought a house last year I saw in the solicitors they were part of will week so we finally had wills drawn up then. We'd already agreed on who would have DD and I really wanted that writing down.

[WhatILoved]

We did our Will with the coop it was an incredibly easy procedure and it was nice to be able to do it over the phone at home. We were able to do this as it was a simple mirror will. Was surprised at how uncomplicated the whole thing was

[theresamustgo]

Must do this....had a talk about it when we bought our house but never followed up. Perhaps the CoOp is a good place. Could book funeral at same time!

[DuskPanda]

Has been on the to do list for the last 10 years. Spoken a lot about it with DH but no action as yet. Every year when Make a will month comes round where lawyers will assist for a charitable contribution the intention is there but somehow its ended by the time i get round to making that phone call. Some of the delay is because we can't decide on Guardians.

[sharond101]

I've not done one but should. My parents did theirs lots of years ago and I recall it being a long process with several appointments and amendments.

[honeyandginger48]

I also have mirror will with my husband. I took advantage of a free will writing service through my employer. It was written a number of years ago and as our children are now older teenagers it could do with updating. Although the will was free, we do pay an annual fee to the firm of solicitors to 'house' the will safely which includes a free annual update.

[jimijack]

Yes we did it about 3 years ago.
Mirror will, guardianship clause. Also clause (can't remember the posh term) which means our assets are passed to the surviving spouse if either of us needs lifelong care. House is not used to pay for care.

Great sense of calm and security having done this. Didn't cost a fortune and worth doing for us and our kids.

[Beach11]

We haven't made ours yet which is really bad as we have very young children. I know we must get it done asap.

[ClaireJ89]

We are currently drawing up a will, which is a difficult and emotional process for us. Namely the discussion of what were to happen to our four very young children should my husband an I pass away,m. We have consulted with family thoroughly, although some did not enjoy or actively involve themselves in the process. It's really really emotive!

[pinkunicornsarefluffy]

I previously had a mirror will with my ex husband. We appointed a guardian for our child.

After divorce I did a new will leaving everything to my daughter or my family if we go together so that ex H does not benefit in any way.

Wills are very important and make things easier for your family to sort out.

I think it should be compulsory to have one as not everybody will face up to it and do one.

Mine was easy and only cost around £75 to do.

[AuntieStella]

What happened to mumblechum

Is she still on MN?

[watfordmummy]

Ah and I did ours for the FIRST time last year , with Co-op legal services. We'd been married for 18 years at that point with DSS of 16 & 13.

We'd just never got round to it!! It was easily done and I have slept far more soundly since we did 😃😃

[GhostsToMonsoon]

We have a will (a mirror will) but haven't updated it since having children (oldest is now 6) so I really must do so this year. We used Goodwills, who come to your house and draw up the will then store it securely. I think a solicitor might have been better. Also they tried to sell us all sorts of other stuff like Power of Attorney which I read recently is not always a good idea.

I don't know who we would have as legal guardians. My parents are probably too old and DH's are dead. Maybe siblings. I think we'd just put a list of people and they could decide between themselves and we could specify that money from our estate could be used to pay for a nanny/childcare. Anyway, now both children are at school I really must sort it out and get the will person to come to our house and update it.

[HannahLI]

We made a will with a Will writer a few years ago. I found it quite complicated and there are lots of things to think about and lots of decisions to make. I would have liked it to have been simplier to be honest. Its also quite hard talking to someone you know about the decisions you are making. On the will the person we allocated to look after the kids will be brilliant but I really wanted to add in that I wanted them to be supported by my mum or for the kids to have the choice between, but that wasn't allowed apparently. I found it very hard to be black and white about a grey area!

[MakeTeaNotWar]

We did mirror wills after the birth of our first child and updated it when no 2 came along. It was very simple and not very expensive. We did it via email with a lady recommended on many Mumsnet forums - she was very professional and the whole process was simple, very glad to have it all taken care of.

[pinkunicornsarefluffy]

The important things to think about are

Assets including pension, house, life insurance etc
Child guardians if under 18
specific bequests of jewellery or other items
Executors

Also I would get a one off will done. I have s friend who pays £8 a month to some willwriting/holding company and I think it's a total ripoff.

[UpOnDown]

I still need to do one, it's so confusing.

[AngelwingsPetlamb]

I had to redo my will following divorce and nominate guardians for my dc too. I also bequeathed jewellery separately and nominated executors. It didn't take long to do but I found it impersonal and a bit complicated. There were some things I wanted to put in my will which weren't included and I was advised instead to write them in a letter of wishes.
I'm surprised how little some people have said making their will has cost them because I want to update mine and the cost is putting me off at the moment.

[RueDeDay]

In the process of doing one now, made more complicated as during to a bad divorce I would want all assets in trust if I died, rather than going straight to DD. It's a faff to do but very necessary, and it'll be good to have it done.