If you have made a will, do you have anything unusual in it?

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I have to make a will - mine was previously a mirror of my STBXH but now I need to make one in my own right.

My solicitor has sent me a form which seems to be very “I leave the lot to the kids” but I’m now wondering about special instructions - I have some nice furniture I’d like to leave to my friend, and what to do with my jewellery etc?
Or should I keep it simple and leave it all to the kids?

I haven't made a will before. I intend to make one, and I intend to leave certain possessions to my siblings. The rest of my stuff would go to dc. I thought it would be normal to say you wanted a particular friend or relative to have certain belongings.

My dc are arguing over who won't get my ddogs. None of them want them!!.

If you have items you want left to specific people, put it in the will. No room for ambiguity then. We have done this.

My parents have seen people fall out over who gets what in the wills, so their mirror wills mention a letter that states who gets specific items.

My will is 50/50 to my children at the moment (lone parent).

When they’re adults I’m going to change it so various friends get things as well.

How much does it cost to get solicitor's help with a will roughly? I just wondered. I keep putting it off and shouldn't really.

I've listed what jewellery and personal items go where eg book collections and ornaments. I've also listed the charity I want my dog to be rehomed with as I don't believe my family members homes are suitable. I've nominated my eldest to copy and distribute family photos to any requesters.

Weirdest things I’ve seen in a Will (in a professional capacity)

1. A requirement that a doctor severs their jugular vein with a scalpel to ensure they are actually dead before they are buried

1. Ashes to be scattered at famous football ground (significantly less weird than 1!)

@35andThriving If you want to make a will, but are worried about costs, you could look at free charity wills. You are not obliged to leave a large legacy, but it's kind to leave something (% or fixed amount) if they are picking up the tab for you making the will!

1. A requirement that a doctor severs their jugular vein with a scalpel to ensure they are actually dead before they are buried

I hope they’ve already done all the recruitment and planning and paying for this in advance as it isn’t going to just happen as simply as they’re hoping

Not in my will but a neighbour has told me she has left me all her linen and towels in her will!

I did a placement on a ward where an end of life patient had requested his throat be slit to ensure he was dead. The doctors were adamant they would not be doing it.

DH has requested a willow coffin 😁

travailtotravel, thanks for that . Definitely worth considering.

It's not in her will but I've promised my mum I'll REALLY make sure she's dead before she goes in a coffin / body bag /morgue drawer.

I've specified certain jewellery to DD and remainder jewellery to DGD, and a small cash amount to best friend.

@APurpleSquirrel

DH has requested a willow coffin 😁

For requests like this, I'd suggest making a "funeral wishes" document , since often wills are not read until after the funeral. Tell your NOK where your funeral wishes are kept so they know to look for that as soon as you are deceased.

@MrsFionaCharming

I did a placement on a ward where an end of life patient had requested his throat be slit to ensure he was dead. The doctors were adamant they would not be doing it.

I've requested that the doc simply do an ECG to make sure I'm dead. Nobody needs to slit a person's throat to make sure !

I remember being told to put specific bequests in a letter of wishes as that’s easier than rewriting the whole will. Also that the probate office/taxman only see the will so they only know about specific valuables in that (not sure of the truth of that but who knows).

Obv letter of wishes is not then legally enforceable but if you don’t trust you executors you do what you want then don’t have them!!!

I have left a letter of wishes which includes a list of friends to come and choose something to remember me by - if they want to, that is.
I have lost some dear friends over the years and I would love something to remember them - nothing valuable, obvs, just a tooth mug or an ashtray or whatever.
Also my mother was extremely secretive about her will though occasionally let things slip (which turned out not to be true) so I have been completely open with my dc and have shown them the document.

@starrynight21

That’s not a foolproof plan either as the “dead” rhythms are still ones we’d work on and continue to follow the Advanced Life Support algorithm on in a lot of cases.

Also, getting a doctor to do an ECG 🙈 apart from very rare consultants in emergency medicine, I’ve never met a doctor who took himself off to do an ECG on a patient. That’s a nurses or HCA’s job.

Our original wills were drawn up when we made a house purchase and weren’t married. We decided to get married abroad and a fair part of the family incl parents a d siblings came along too. Our will had to be rewritten to be valid after the marriage in case the plane went down on the way back and we all died. We wanted to make sure everything would have gone to a grandparent rather than a dim and distant relative on my side (me being younger so it would have been assumed I died after DH, my parents and DHs parents).

My mum has left £10,000 to dog’s trust. My siblings and I are still very wtf.

She doesn’t like dogs that much.

I hope your mum's pulling your leg, intheenddoesitreallymatter!

My auntie left me 10k. To her carer she left her 350 k home.
Her money. Her choice.