National Will Week - 3 in 4 people in England have not made a will!

[Hulababy]

Quote:
Does everyone know what?s happening with your money and belongings when you die?

That?s a question being asked as part of National Will Week.

A new survey shows that less than 3 quarters of us living in England don?t have a will.

Have you?

The article on MN (see the article in the box at top of this page) gives lot of reasons as to why you should make a will. I personally think this is so important.

However my normal warning DO NOT use home made wills, or will writer wills. Use a proper, qualified and experiences solicitor, ideally one specialising in this ear of law (Wills and Probate).

Hope it is okay to post this - not advertising, although as many of you know DH wrte that article - just reminding every one of this ever so important thing to do. Especially as it is, this week, National Will Week. Another thread reminded me of it!

Actually kama, my dilemma was more to do with guardianship of our children than assets, hence my earlier thread.

i have no money and no one loves my kids enough to look after them if i die - so am kinda holding off death hopefully for the both of us for at least 2 years until my oldest son is 18. then hes got responsability if we pop our clogs.

Hulababy am I right in thinking that a "will writer will" is one of those people who come round to your house and do it for about £50 for two people? If so why is it not a good idea to use one of these? We have one of these people coming to do ours in a few weeks

You could also use a 'will writer', who may charge less, but if you do, ask to see evidence of their indemnity insurance. Many solicitors take a dim view of will writers, as they don't need any professional qualifications to set up in business.

DH makes more money from sorting out "will writer wills" and DIY wills during probate than producing a decent will in the first place. Will writers do not need qualifications or experience. This is a really important document. You get what you pay for.

Will writers are also usually trying to sell another service eg will storage or funeral planning. They also have a knack of ensuring that your will is written in such a way that you will have to pay for it to be updated frequently (eg doesn't all for future offspring etc).

Custy - Whilst I'm sure that your 18yo will be delighted to fight for custody, Social Services will be involved first, and his case would be stronger if you did have a will!

I often seem to come in on the back of one of Hula's exhortations to make a will to urge people to do so. Think of it like insurance - you hope you won't ever have to call on it, but, if you do need to, you'll be soooo glad that you took it out in the first place. Although with a will it will be the people left behind who are grateful, not you!

Do think of those left behind and think how difficult it will be for loved ones to sort out a mess rather than just follow your detailed instructions as to what you want to see happen with your estate/children. Even if you think you don't have much to leave, you'd be surprised at how much is involved after a person has died.

And I agree that you should get an experienced solicitor who specialises in probate. They know what they are doing and will sort a will out for you which means that things will be so much easier for those left behind.

Will writers - and those Wills by post things are absolutely bollocks - avoid like the plague - it's taken just over 1yr for Grans "will" to be sorted out - something my 92yr old grandad shouldn't have been worrying about. It was written by one of these wills by post cr*p companies and although it was written several years ago - it was only after she died that they realised that they hadn't been signed

oh and agree with them flogging funeral plans too - they sold one to my grandparents when they got the will done..........but my grandad still had to fork out £600 for the funeral as the plan didn't cover it

ladymuck - even at 18? they would be 14

I understood that they had to have a legal guardian until they were 18 (even though they can leave home at 16!). So yes, without a will and no other responsible rellies in place, the first move would be foster care unless your 18 year old managed to sort things out pronto (ie within 24 hours!).

Yours is exactly the position where you would want a will to be drawn up - especially if God forbid anything happened to you within the next 2 years.

Well, we went on Friday morning feeling quite stressed as we hadn't a clue what to expect, but it really wasn't as complicated as we thought and the solicitor clearly knew what she was on about. The will will be drafted over the next week or so. I feel a certain peace of mind about it, particularly as dh travels a lot more now - not that misfortune couldn't happen to either of us nearer home, but somehow sorting it out has relieved me somewhat. The cost was around £150 - seems a lot, but not so in the grand scheme of things.

can you get one from the post office and have an independant witness or something - 150 squid ush is money we dont have?

I really wouldn't/couldn't recommend it. DIY wills are probab;ly even worse that will writer wills.

You best bet is to look out for the Will Aid wills, etc. Drawn up and prepared by proper solicitors - who run the scheme, but they are heavily subsidised or free. Not all solicitors run this scheme though.

Would second hulababy's suggestion - get a deal during Will Aid week. If you haven't got any cash (ie no fancy tax planning is involved) you should be able to shop around for something cheap (£50 for 2 "mirror wills").

Only if you are absolutely sure that you haven't got any money, so no-one is going to argue over your estate should you even consider going down the diy will route. And even then, I'm not sure that I would trust them if children (or even stropp teenagers) were involved.