Making a will - pregnant, perhaps being led by hormones

[Adviceisfree]

Hi all,

Expecting my first little on early next year and thinking about how grown up it is going to make our lives(we are married and 28 but still...)

Has anyone made a will?? Has anyone done a DIY one??

I really don't know where to start, any advice would be great.

Many thanks

x

Yes it is worth writing a will, but a DIY will can be worse than no will. A mumsnetter Mumblechum has an ad in classifieds. She I'd mine and is well priced and I'd a good job.

I would not recommend a homemade will, they can be disastrous and also give you a false sense of security in that you think it has been done but really the 'will' hasn't been executed properly or you haven't covered some eventuality etc.

Make an appointment to see a solicitor who will guide you through what things you need to think about. Don't worry that your little one has not arrived yet, they can still be allowed for in a will. Most wills allow flexibility for future arrivals.

Adviceisfree the main reason that most of my clients make wills (I've done hundreds of MNers' wills), is that they want to specify who'd look after their children in the unlikely event that they died whilst the children were under 18.

The other reason to get your will written properly is that your spouse doesn't automatically inherit everything if there's no will, contrary to what a lot of people believe.

Your will should not name your child specifically, but say that your estate (when the second of you has died) would be divided between however many children survive you. That way, a child born after the will is signed won't be excluded simply because they weren't named specifically.

And how much does this cost? What happens if I cannot agree with my husband who I would like our children to be cared for?

I think I have opened a can of worms!!

We paid about £200 for mirror wills, done when I was about 8 months pregnant with DS. So it caused lots of tears!

Our wills name SIL to be the legal guardian of any surviving children. We made it very clear to her that does not mean we expect her to care for them - she may not be in a position to do so at the time. But she has the ultimate decision about who cares for them.

Money from the sale of our property would be put in trust and that trust has two trustees, one from each family - not SIL, who would decide how money could be spent. It can be spent on anything sensible for welfare of the children - education etc but also a bigger house if needed so SIL or another family member could look after our children without them being at massive financial burden.

Like I said, I cried a lot. Don't forget though, the death of you and your DH together is very unlikely to happen!

I used to charge £360 for a pair of mirror wills when I was in High Street practice but now I'm freelance only charge £150 as the overheads are very low.

not hormonal, just common sense. Not leaving a will just makes life really difficult for those left behind.

you are going to die at some point so plan for it, sort it and then forget it.

hopefully you will not die while your child is still dependent - but it may happen so that also needs planning for.