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

[Smallredclip]

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?

Ooo I could leave instructions that all my possessions are to be sold and the proceeds go to providing for my ddogs.
And the dc have to have them on a rota or I will come back and haunt them all!!

[quote travailtotravel]@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![/quote]
By all means leave a fixed amount but don't leave a % to a charity. They are notorious for making sure they get very single penny of that %, it can cause real problems if every little thing has a perceived value and 'sentimental trinkets' can't be shared amongst loved ones.

@Roselilly36

We have just updated our wills, DH & I all assets to surviving partner, should we die together, split between our children equally, if one of our children pass away, their share goes to any of their surviving children equally. Should the worse happen & we are all wiped out spilt between nieces, nephews and two charities that we hold dear. Our wills be held in our solicitors strong room until the day comes. So we can forget about it now, but at least our children won’t experience hassle of their parents dying intestate. Everyone should have a legally binding will.

We have also referred to what happens if we, as a family, die in total calamity. The reason for that was so that one relative does not inherit a penny so we have named the relatives we do want to inherit our estate. I wonder if many would think that far or just as far as if they and their spouse die.

We will be changing ours in a few months as older kids will be adults so won't need guardians. I'll probably knock off a few named beneficiaries at that point from the list of beneficiaries if we all die. It's a long list

I've said all my jewellery goes to dd.

I have a letter of wishes on the go in my head which I must get round to committing to paper. I want to leave books to a local library, paintings to a museum and money to continue a small annual prize we give at a school.

@filka

At my old school, one James St. Amand left a large bequest in the 1750s. But the condition attached to it was that at every annual meeting of the school governors a miniature painting of James was produced for the assembled governors to view and an extract of his will was read out loud. The procedure is followed to this day!

Jeremy Bentham, a famous philosopher, had his body preserved and left to the university with the stipulation it must be displayed which it still is. The head is wax and his real head is kept elsewhere after some students nicked it for a footy match.

londonist.com/london/jeremy-bentham-ucl-body-auto-icon-where

My mother has told me that she is leaving a substantial sum of money to my cousin, who is “the daughter she never had.” Well, thanks for that, Mum.

We were supposed to be getting a family charm for getting rid of warts! A cousin wrote it down in her will and for ages the solicitor wouldn't take it seriously. She had to get cross about it before they would add it!! Now the succession line has changed and we won't get it! Often wonder about it!! We are not at all magical and have no other family remedies!!

My sister is currently having chemo for cancer. Not the best odds of success so the subject of dying has come up a lot. She has decided that when she dies her body is to be used for medical science - all for a bit of recycling! She has contacted the relevant organisation and signed papers to that effect. After they’ve finished with her they cremate her and dispose of her ashes. Feels a bit weird, no funeral but that’s what she wants so that is what we will do.

I have left specific things to our dd and dh has done the same for our ds x 2.

Money is to be released should dd or ds2 need treatment.

Who my half goes to should all of us die together.

Who is not to benefit in any way.

I did my will with Marlow Wills - it's a mumsnetter called @mumblechum01 I think, or @mumblechum1.

She was great and talked me through my will.

@MrsSchadenfreude

My mother has told me that she is leaving a substantial sum of money to my cousin, who is “the daughter she never had.” Well, thanks for that, Mum.

That's awful!

Poor you!

I haven’t made an actual will (and really need to get around to it) but DP has a list of weird and unusual things I have instructed him to bury me with, like amulets and stuff.
You can usually make a list of your funeral wishes with a local funeral director as well (even if you don’t take out a funeral plan)

@Pyewackect

A patient left me all her jewelry in her will. I had to check with the Trust and a solicitor to ensure this was OK. I kept it in a box on top of my wardrobe in case a relative contacted me but nobody ever has. I had it valued for insurance purposes and its now stored safety in the vault of my local bank. I really don’t know what to do it with it.

Can’t you wear it? I mean on occasions you have to look smart.

@Pyewackect
Can't you sell it?

AKAanothername - Thanks for the warning

Do I need a will if I don't own property?

I think that you should consider if there is anything that could cause arguments between your children, or of sentimental value that could be discarded. So I think making a specific request about your jewellery is a good idea.

Shehasadiamondinthesky I’m going to copy your cat idea. I already feel comforted thinking I will spend all eternity with the one true love of my life, my cat.

Ours are mirror wills.
I have left £1000 to Bedlington terrier rescue.
Our only DD will get 3 rental houses plus our family home which is currently worth around 750k.
She makes poor life choices so it’s going to become a trust which gives her a monthly allowance as she would buy a speedboat or hovercraft or something equally daft if she got her grubby mitts on it ow. It will be reviiewed annually.
We Borg have health plans including do not resuscitate and funeral wishes.

Out of curiosity why do so many people stipulate do not resuscitate? I really have no idea why you would wish for that. Are there effects I'm not aware of?

Well because if you have to have cardiac resuscitation, your chances of leaving hospital alive are 18%, and that’s across the entire patient population regardless of your state of Heath of any other bits of your body. Cardiac resuscitation is brutal, and with such low odds, for the very unwell it’s not always a great option. Added to that, if you do manage to survive then it’s safe to assume you’re on a ventilator and if things don’t go to plan there then the family are left with the further decision of when to switch off.

@Mydogisagentleman I never thought about a trust fund. If I died tomorrow my estate is about a million. Would that mean that my ex husband, as the father of my children, would control that?

@Smallredclip I have no idea I’m afraid, it would pay you to consult a solicitor.
Our wills and 2 power of attorney each costed around £800.

Yes I have specific pieces of jewelry left to my daughter's and goddaughters.
I don't own a lot, but I don't want arguments!

Stupid question...

DH and I still need to make Wills, when you make them, does the solicitor advise you? Or simply you tell them what you want?

Not a hugely unusual scenario but in our position , we plan to leave everything to our sons - however DS1 is DH's step son. He's brought him up since he was 2, so he treats him like his own.
Is there anything we need to put into the Will to protect DS1's inheritance? Is there anything that could happen if I died first and DH died second? Could DS2 claim it all?

Obviously we don't expect DS2 to do anything!

I just wonder if this is something the solicitor will advise us on, or do we need to find out for ourself in advance?