Writing my will - what do I need to consider?

[Muchtoomuchtodo]

DH and I are finally going to get our wills sorted. We have 2 teenage dc.

we’ve been putting it off for ages - mainly because we don’t know how to sort things should both of us die at the same time.

Can anyone give me some simple tips about what we need to consider?

Go with a will writer, they tell you all the stuff you need to consider.

I used a lady called Gill at the 'will guys' (free for NHS) and she was fab. Re did my life insurance too

I hate to be boringly obvious but you need to speak to a solicitor.

I'm long divorced with adult children - a few years back I had a new will done by a very good local solicitor. Other than my property I don't have much - the bulk of the estate goes to my two sons equally and then a smaller sum to my sister and brother.

The solicitor came up with a few things that I'd never thought of e.g. if a son pre-deceased me and then I died before revisiting the will, did I want that son's share to go to his children, or be distributed between other three beneficiaries.

This was important as one son currently has no children, the other has two but was separating from his partner around this time.

Professional advice is best.

Do you own a home together? Ask about mutual wills, which mean you each leave what you have to each other but the survivor would leave the house to your children.

(call me bitter and cynical but I have seen too many men be tragically widowed or divorced, re-marry a younger woman who outlives him, and leave everything to her, so the children of his first wife get nothing)

Get POA done at the same time?

If you have private or other defined contribution pensions, have you named each other as beneficiaries? (Pensions are not counted as part of your estate in a will)

A trust arrangement should you both go before your Dc are 18?

Marlow Wills is run by a MNer, really helpful and not expensive. Much cheaper than the high street solicitors we spoke to, and an actual solicitor, unlike some budget services. www.marlowwills.co.uk

We do have an appointment with a solicitor but they’ve asked us to ‘have a think about everything’ before we meet next week. I should have asked for clarification but was so impressed at myself for finally getting in touch with them that I didn’t!

I’m still at a bit of a loss. Ideally this will will last for a good amount of time. Neither dc are in relationships and I’d be amazed if grandchildren are on the cards any time soon. Should this will anticipate things like this or do we rewrite it as circumstances of family members change?

Spare a thought for the Mumsnet message boards and write a will that will disadvantage one sibling over the other. Just a 5% difference split in assets will keep a thread ticking over for days, a full disinheritance with no explanation will keep the clicks active for a whole week.

Yes I would try to anticipate some unfortunate and hopefully never likely to happen circumstances like one of your children passing away before their time. You might not get round to updating your Will after such events. I think a good solicitor should ask what you want to happen to a beneficiaries share if they have passed away.

Lots of things can be built in to future proof a will.

E.g Mine says my estate goes to Dc. If any Dc predecease me or do not survive me by 28 days, their share goes to their children if they have them. If they don’t, first to my other children. If both Dc deceased, to my sister and niece and nephew..

@euff good point. It’s making me think about things I don’t want to think about and that’s why I’ve put it off for so long.

I assume you'll do mirror wills, everything to each other then your kids.
Should you both get wiped out in a car accident who would you want to be guardian of your children.

Personally I wouldn't even consider the prospect of DGC at this stage, or really at any stage, I see little point in the average family of skipping generations.

The Solicitor should be able to explain the type of things you are asking about such as future proofing. They are really just asking whether other than your children are there any others you want to leave something or some cash to, who you would like as executors and ask those people ahead of time and potential guardians if your children are young (again ask these ahead of time).