To think making a Will is pointless if yoyu have no assets?

[FunPartyIdeas]

Just that really. My husband and I have literally nothing so nothing to give away!!

Don't you have clothes, or sentimental items,or furniture?

Well you'll have to be disposed of in some way.... They can't just leave you to rot I'm afraid.

Best to make your preferences known, and pay in advance?

@OhNoooooooooooooooo All furniture second hand so could just be chucked. Clothes - cheap so again, just chuck. No sentimental items I can think of.

@OhNoooooooooooooooo How do I pay if I have no money to do so? All wages go on rent and bills.

You'll have to do all the paperwork to be the executor etc.

You have exactly 0p left at the end of the month?

You could save up for it you know.

@OhNoooooooooooooooo How does one save if every penny goes on rent and bills? It's not possible. Even less so when I hit retirement age eventually (but will still need to work).

Yes, it can be done without a will but it is a longer, more tedious admin process for your child. So again, why not just do one?

Appoint eldest child executor and then they can crack on with the admin much more easily.

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@MojoMoon If these are free then thank you - I agree and will look into them.

Fair enough. But I implore you that if you do ever have specific feelings about who gets what (even a few hundred pounds) then please write it down!

DHs Aunt told us ‘x isn’t to get anything, it’s really important’ and seemed to imply this was ‘all sorted’. She died, not suddenly so she did have time to write a will, and after the death it was discovered she had no will of any sort.

Child Y tried to keep any money from child X and got into legal trouble. He was very distressed at not ‘following what mum wants’ but it was tough shit. X was entitled that money. We’re talking less than £10k.

@MonteStory We currently don't have any spare money to give away, but if that ever changes then yes, we'd definitely specify.

If someone dies without leaving a will someone from the next of kin has to apply for a Grant of Letters of Administration. There are strict rules about who can be granted this, starting with the surviving spouse (if any), then the surviving children, then grandchildren. The grant is given to a specific, named person who takes on the legal obligation of administering the estate. Note that unmarried partners have no right to be granted this - even a long-term partner cannot apply if they are not married or not in a civil partnership.

This costs £526 if the estate is worth more than £5,000, but is free under that level. Applications typically take 3 months or so to be processed.

There are charities that assist in will writing (for a donation) and even going to a solicitor for a simple will is likely to cost less than that.

@Havanananana It would be free for my son to do, no problem at all. But if anything changes we will of course look into this as, even though he is well off, no way would I want him to incur any expenses.

They might not need to get probate if you haven't anything, you can check the thresholds on the accounts you have, some are quite high but some like Premium Bonds are low at just a £5k holding needing it.

@summater Thank you. We don't have anything like Premium Bonds or anything like that. Just spending accounts.

I would definitely suggest you need power of attorneys set up if nothing else. My grandad died and my grandma has dementia and without someone having financial and health power of attorney it would be very difficult to manage things for her. She can’t manage her bank account at all and needs my mum to manage all that for her.

Yes, a will is important. Especially if you don't want anyone to get specific things. Everyone has something

I agree with you, OP. If your situation is straightforward and you’re happy with what would happen if you die intestate, you don’t need a will.

My husband and I don’t have wills. Our house is held as joint tenants and my estate is low enough that it would all go to my spouse anyway. We only have one child so no arguments over sentimental possessions. So no point having a will to say exactly what would happen if I didn’t have one.

Ah, personally I won't really be grieving so that will help, I am excellent at admin have been my mothers unpaid pa for all my life so that doesn't bother me. I could do her one from a template I suppose. But you saying about distributing the estate as per intestacy laws - there is only me. My dad didn't have one either and I did all the admin, death cert, registering death, closing accounts , transferring house into her name etc. My mother does not do admin, it's beneath her!

So you have outlined here a whole bunch of things you do and don't want to happen, what your kids do and don't each want and so on.

You've basically outlined a Will in bits and pieces, but not bothered to do the last couple of steps so your family can carry out those wishes with the force and authority of British Law behind them, as quickly and painlessly as possible while they are grieving you.

You have a really crappy attitude to something you can do in an hour or two then not ever worry about again; vs leaving your kids to potentially go through a right old mess at a horrendous time. You have cared enough to ask on MN, why not care enough to finish the job?

Also everyone really needs to sign a power of attorney form, which can give your appointed attorney the power to make decisions for you if you loose capacity. So in matters of health and welfare and finance. An attorney can access your bank accounts- you may be getting a pension or benefits and the attorney can use those to say, pay for carers. In matters of health , you might not wish to be resuscitated if you have zero quality of life, you can let your attorneys know this. Your children could do this for you. This as important as a will.

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OP you might find this book helpful- it's about the practicalities of death and how you can make things easier for whoever deals with your affairs- and there will be things to do, even if you don't have a lot of material possessions. A basic will might take you 20 mins to do and get witnessed and might then save your kids weeks of hassle.

Do any of you have life insurance? My mum died without a will. ( she wasn't married so just me and sister) She had roughly 800 in the bank and a 10k life insurance policy. She lived in a council house which to be fair we just contracted them and cleared the house out. Access to her bank account wasnt easy. Thankfully the bank manager informed us that the most easy and coat effective way was just to bring in her funeral bill and he then transferred the 800 to the funeral directors. The life insurance was the tricky one as we had to go though legal channels. Me and my sister eventually got a cheque for 3k each so must've cost 4k with fees etc to deal with it

@firstlove2009 No - no life insurance.

@singthing No I haven't? We have nothing to give so nothing to worry about dishing out - fairly or otherwise.