Share your thoughts on Wills with Which? Win £300 voucher or free Will! NOW CLOSED

[RebeccaEMumsnet]

Writing a Will is something that many of us put off, as it’s never a nice subject to talk about and the process can seem confusing, but Which? Wills is hoping to change all that with their online Will writing and Power of Attorney service.

They would love to hear your experience of how you got your Will sorted, or, if you haven’t got around to it yet, what’s putting you off? It would be great to hear your stories of how you decided how you would write your Will, and your tips to those who have yet to do it.

Here’s what Alex Neil, at Which? has to say: "It's important to make a will to ensure that your assets, including your home, savings and belongings, are distributed according to your wishes. It can be very difficult for loved ones to do this if you pass away without having made a will.”

Did the birth of your DCs prompt you to write your Will? Do you think that it’s important to have a Will as a parent, and if so, why?

Whatever your experience (or lack of experience!) of Will writing, we’d love to hear your story so that other Mumsnetters can take advice.

Everyone who posts on this thread will be entered into a prize draw, and one MNer will win either a £300 Love2Shop voucher or a free Which? Will Writing Service (T&Cs below).

Thanks,

MNHQ
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I am planning to do this very soon :)!!!

This is yet another reminder that my husband & I need to make time to write our wills! It's something we've talked about often, & said we must do - but it keeps falling off our to-do list! I'm putting it back on the list right now & will check back on this thread for tips on will-writing! I know how important it is, especially as we have a little one - I guess the thought that's always at the back of my head is that I think (& I hope) that our wills will never to be consulted, not for many, many years anyway - but we need to do it, just in case.

I think wills are important but i've never got round to doing one just yet, I feel like I need to be able to get my assets organised before I can organise a will.

Everyone need to make a will so your family knows whats what

My mother made a very precise will, through a solicitor, leaving her estate to be divided between me and my brother (no other children). In spite of this, he was totally unreasonable and I dread to think what it would have been like had she died intestate. We're not speaking now, 8 years on.

I'm currently supporting a friend who has already waited 2 years for an inheritance because charities who are the residual beneficiaries are blocking probate. This has shocked me and I tell everyone that if they want to leave money to charities, they should state a specific amount (I think this is called pecuniary beneficiary) as they then can't block. This particular will was drawn up by a solicitor too.

I hope Which includes advice about this sort of thing.

We've never got round to it. I know it's very important especially as we have a child. But it seems so expensive and complicated. I don't want to get ripped off.

I knew I had to get a will after the birth of my twins - I sorted it out relatively easily and I'm glad I did!

We got life insurance and started to write wills whilst expecting our first child, given the small but very real risk of death in childbirth (it surprises me how many people wait til after the baby is here). We used a will management and storage company and paid for executor assistance so everything would be as easy as possible for those left behind.

The first bit was easy - married, one child, mirror wills. Harder was what to do if we died 'en famille'. We wanted to leave everything to siblings, but should we each leave our share split between our own siblings? (One has more than the other). Or split evenly between individuals? Some are richer than others. Also one sibling is married to a sibling on the other side, so that family unit would inherit twice, IYSWIM. Anyhow, it's done now, and they know we did it with the best intentions so hopefully there wont be squabbling.

The thing that the personal will service was useful for (that i wouldnt have know doing our own wills) was about the tenants in common thing - if you do it one way, after the death of one person, the house can be sold to pay for care for the other person, and your child has no inheritance. If you do it the other way, your child inherits half the house.

Yes we switched to tenants in common to ensure that regardless of what happens our dc will get the half of the house from the first parent to die, even if there are second families eyc

Making a Will is high on my To Do List, but I have been delaying because of the cost, which I was quoted at £400 to £500 although my Will would be pretty straightforward.

Also I'm unsure about who would witness it, or do the administration after my death, and what would the costs for that be, and where would it be stored?
I do feel I should tackle all these questions but feel it is very daunting, so something that makes it easier is to be welcomed.

I really need to stop proscrastinating and sort out a will, I often mention it to my husband but we always put it off without any good reason but after reading this I will start to put the wheels in motion and organise our wills.

Does anyone know what is the situation regarding bequests ? The situation I'm thinking if is if someone leaves a friend, say, £10,000, and the remainder (several hundred thousand) divided between their children. But after making the will, the person needs nursing care which uses up all their money bar £23K left (which I believe you are entitled to retain). So friend gets £10K, but dcs share £13K less funeral expenses.

As you may guess, this is a real right-now situation...

Children made us more responsible with life insurances and wills. Guardianship was another deciding factor

Discuss what you'd like now with your spouse or partner

Best advice I ever had was from my Gran "There's no such thing as common law wife/husband " too many people fall into this trap and death will leave them ill provided for

I think about it more as I get older but still haven't done my Will. It's not something I like to think about!

I believe it's essential to have your wishes stipulated to avoid any potential fallouts between DCs IF you are in the fortunate position to have assets to leave. There are too many families who have been torn apart through there being no will. I actually know of two situations where the relative passed and family members ransacked the house within days. A combination of greed and grief is unhealthy, so it would be very wise to leave a will.

Not having a will can be really stressful for those left behind - your property and assets can be tied up meaning funeral costs may have to be covered by relatives rather than your estate. It's also worth making a note in your will of social media accounts because unless you leave specific instructions they can be shut down losing all things like photos and videos. It might seem like an expense, but if the worst was to happen you want your family to know your wishes - especially on things like funerals/ cremations/ songs etc

A charity close to our hearts was doing the will for a donation thing, we had been meaning to do them for years but this prompted us to get it done. A proper solicitor came out and did it all for us and then you donate to the charity as payment. There isn't a set amount but we paid what it would have cost us, but the charity got it all instead

I have a 10 week old baby.. When she was around 8 weeks old I let my mother in law have her for a few hour when me and my partner went visiting,, she lives 80 miles away.. She said that she is taking my baby for a walk to see her mother it's not far at all so I didn't mind.. But when we got back she had also been to her friends house a man and woman that I have never met I wasn't happy about it but I didn't say anything.. Today I let her have her again I told my partner can you tell her not to take our baby in the car I tell him everytime.. She has never been in the car without me or my partner there.. But his mother took her in the car to her mams then her friends she didn't tell us until it was too late.. I'm really not happy as its my baby she not a doll and she passes her around people as is she's a little ornament to look at.. She also insults her clothes and she said its stupid how much she has.. I really don't know how to handle this any advice please as its really stressing me out..

Not having a will is something we know we need to do - we've talked about it but there are some difficult decisions to make and I think having to face that plus the expense has made it easier to put it off. I worry about it though - we must get it done.

Writing a will was something I continually put off. The turning point was when I adopted my little one, partly as it was something social workers asked me to do - but I also realised it was time to grow up, and talking about dying wasn't going to make it happen!! It was actually very straightforward, despite setting up a discretionary trust fund for my child. Writing additional letters of wishes really put my mind at ease (and gives me chance to 'haunt' my relatives!!) Was a hard thing to think about, but now a weight off my mind and can carry on enjoying life now.

Need to be written definitely as soon as you have any kids - need to set in stone, who you want to look after them, if anything happens to you, but make sure you talk it through with other parties 1st

I don't have anything like that yet but I know it's something I need to think about for the future. I just think there needs to be better advice on this type of thing, I remember my grandparents getting advice but then never committing to anything so when they sadly passed away, everything was left to the family to arrange.

I think its massively important to have a will. You don't want to think about it, but you are saving people you love an awful lot of hassle

I think wills are very important especially if you have children. Saying that, I still haven't written a will yet.

I have no money or assets so it hasn't seemed necessary up to now. But I would like to express my wishes about who takes care of my child should I pass away, so may consider a will for this purpose.