Do I really need a will?

[repeater]

I'm divorced and have 1 DC. I own my home outright and have several thousand pounds in savings. Do I really need a will?

Yes. It makes it much easier if anything should happen.

Yes yes yes! If you die intestate you create so many unnecessary problems for your child.

If you have any assets, and your house and money are assets, then you had best make a Will.
You need to decide who you want to benefit from these.
Your DC could be faced with a lot of heartache as well as a financial burden in sorting out your estate if there is no Will.
Your child may not benefit from these assets if you don’t make specific instructions in the form of a Will.
Don’t assume you’ll die when you are old, anyone can die at any time so it’s best to have your affairs in order.

Yes - it is quick and easy to do and will make life so much easier for everyone

Thank you for the replies.

What unnecessary problems?
Why might there be a financial burden to my DC?
Why might my DC not benefit?

How old is your DC? Do you need to consider guardianship preferences?

Inheritance wise it is fairly simple if you die before your DC. But what if you don't? What other family would your estate automatically go to?

Is your DC an adult?

And do you work? If so, check your DC is beneficiary to any death in service type benefit (lots of these attached to normal pensions I think - some are very generous, ours is 5x annual salary) and make sure they have easy instructions of what to do/how to access accounts.

You'll create a lot more admin for your children at a time when they'll be at their most distressed. It doesn't cost much to do a simple Wil leaving everything to your children and appointing an executor. Doing it is a kindness to your children.

Or a child as you have one. Same principle.

I can't workout if this is actually a real question or not. Surely nobody is dense enough to have a child and significant assets and not have a will.

What happens if you and your child die at the same time for example.

What if your child dies before you, then it all goes to the state.
What if you and dc die together.
What if your dc has children in the future, would you like to leave grandchildren some money
If you die when dc is young What are the custody arrangements

@repeater why don’t you want one?

are they adults if not get a guardian in place becuase otherwise social services will be involved

it is much more of a headache for those left behind than if you have a will

it takes no time at all and you clearly know whst you want

They have to apply for probate with a different process. They won’t be able to access things like your pension info which require a will or probate.

You would be creating extra stress and admin for your grieving child for the sake of spending £200 and half an hour to write a will.

It basically makes life an awful lot easier for the person dealing with your estate if there is a will.
Even things like speaking to your bank, pension company etc it’s the first thing they ask…
Is there a will? Once it’s provided it cuts down on so much admin. Which is less stress for whoever has to deal with everything.
As it’s you leaving your estate to your children, it’s easy to do. I went to a solicitor in the end, didn’t take me long, and it’s filed with them and I have a copy.
Of course, you may want to change/alter in the future, but just having one makes all the difference. Trust me!

I once met a very swish retired female lawyer who has spent the latter half of her career doing speaking circuits on this very topic. She said huge numbers of otherwise clever and capable women had not got their affairs in order. She was very compelling about the risks and must have motivated a great many middle aged women to rush to their solicitors to get things sorted. What happens if you and your partner die suddenly, who will look after the kids and how will it be financed? Things like that. Good luck op, you will leave your DC in a very fortunate position.

DC is almost 18. My only other family is my mum.

I haven't said I don't want one, I'm just trying to understand the consequences of not having one.

The money would not go to the state. If you are going to offer advice at least make sure there is a modicum of accuracy.

The Will provides certainty - that's the crucial thing - on who will administer the estate ie deal with collecting in and distributing the assets (executors), and on will inherit your estate (beneficiaries) and if more than one beneficiary then your will can state the split them.

Your will can appoint substitute executors/beneficiaries if your chosen executors can't act either because they die before you/ lose capacity or your beneficiaries can't inherit because they die before you.

The value of your assets isn't the determining factor for making a will, although it is also important.

Also you can appoint guardians and plan how your children will be looked after if you die before they reach adulthood.

And don't skimp on it. Pay for proper legal advice, not some internet offer which sounds too good to be true because it probably is.

What if your child dies before you, then it all goes to the state.

This is outright nonsense. Of course it doesn't. The intestacy laws would give the entire estate to the OP's child if there isn't a will. It goes to the state in the case that the deceased has no children, no grandchildren, no spouse or civil partner, no parents, no siblings, no nieces or nephews, no first cousins, probably even more distant relatives as well. You have to exhaust the family tree before the state gets it.

Yes, you need a will. Your son also needs power of attorney in case you become incapacitated.

I need to do one too op! Don’t want to pay a solicitor as apparently not necessary. You just need to type it up and have two witnesses to your signature that are not in the will. Is that right?

Unnecessarily unkind post.

OP has a question which many people will ask. Her affairs and family situation are not complicated so it it's understandable for her to ask what a Will assists with.

You'd have to be very confident that you have written the will in a way that's legally binding and with no possibility for confusion. You need to think very carefully through every possibility of who dies first and in what order and who you want your estate to go to in each eventuality. I'd pay a solicitor, personally.

Having just had to deal with an intestate estate in the family I'm evangelical about the need for a will. Everything is so much more complex to sort out without a will because without an executor there is no one with automatic authority to sort out your affairs. A simple will takes very little time and saves both time and money for the person who is trying to sort out your estate whilst dealing with their own grief.