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
Standard Insight T&Cs apply
Which? Wills prize T&Cs

[MonkeyBarKid]

Mumblechum1 (Marlow Wills) did ours and was fab. Evening appointment over the phone and v reasonable. She has an ad in classifieds

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/small_business_ads/2566138-Top-Rated-Will-Writers-Marlow-Wills-Special-Offer-for-Mumsnetters?

[clairedunphy]

We're another who haven't done it through inertia and indecision about how best to go about it. I'll be putting it on my to do list (again!) now though.

[Maddaddam]

What prompted me was that we didn't want to get married but were buying a house together and wanted our finances organised. Then we did another will after we'd had children because we know how much difference it can make.
The first will we paid a solicitor to check but they didn't change much. The second we just did in line with the first, without a solicitor, but our family structure and finances are quite straightforward.

[asuwere]

I have all the details for a will written but never got round to going to solicitor to get it done officially. We have guardian set up for DC though, that was done as soon as they were born (and updated with each child). The guardian is also set up as benefactor of our life insurance. We don't really have many assets so very little chance of problems which is why its easy to put off the will.

[CrotchetQuaverMinim]

What puts me off is not knowing who to choose as executor, as family is abroad. and I keep hoping that things in my circumstances will change, like buying property or finding a partner, and kept thinking I would wait til then to do it, but I really should just do it anyway and change if needed. then I also don't know how to split things, really it's just to parents, siblings, and nieces/nephews, but that's who it would go to anyway I think even if I didn't have one; I kind of want to give to charities as well, but not sure which ones, or whether money amounts or percents (I've been told money amounts is much less hassle, but then I have no idea how much I might have when I die, and can't imagine constantly revising it all the time). So it remains on the back burner as one of those things I will get around to doing soon.

[PetraDelphiki]

Just a nudge to all of you who are delaying making one because it's too hard to decide who to leave stuff to...it's a hell of a lot better to maybe not leave everything to the perfect destinations than to leave it all in limbo for people to fight over. And that particularly applies to guardianship - better for the kids to go to a less than perfect person you know than through a court battle between families or into care. We've changed guardians 3 times - it's easy enough to write a will then change guardians in a codicil.

[stripyeyes]

We don't have one- never find the time somehow. But both sets of families know our wishes that all money split equally between kids but we do have our custody wishes written down and witnessed. We were told that's enough but not sure if that's true?

[TomHaverford]

Our DD is 9 months now which has spurred us on to sort out a will. When it was just the two of us it didnt really seem to matter as I assumed everything would go to my husband if I died. I want to make it clear that we want DD to go to my parents but if they feel that they cant for any reason, to our friends. Funnily enough I signed up for Which magazine a couple of weeks ago and after the trial month they sent us a voucher for a free simple will which I havent yet gotten round to doing!

[Mummageddon]

I've never got round to it and I need a big kick up the arse to get it done. I'm well aware of how important it is having been an executor for a close relative.
I've got another child on the way so plan to draw up wills after they arrive.

[Badders123]

Wittery...if you die intestate then your Dh will get 50% of your estate and any other member of your family can make a claim.
If your Dh then remarries and had more children your children could end up with nothing.
Not nice things to think about but it happens :(
(See the current news re Linda bellinghams children contesting her will)

[Badders123]

I used mumblechum too
Losing my dad promoted us to update our will and also get a joint bank account. Upon death a persons bank account is frozen so if you haven't got a joint one you're stuffed

[iwantavuvezela]

Yes I would agree that having a child spurred me on. I remember my father's brother dying (when I was around 10) and although there was hardly anything to be distributed, he died without a will, and it took years to clear everything up.
I wanted to make sure that if anything happened to one of us, that at least the other would be spared the absolute nightmare of trying to settle financial affairs, grieving, and having to do a lot of adminstration, work and legal advice.
ours is quite a basic will, we paid to have it drawn up, it lists each other as benefactors, and of course our daughter gets everything from both of us. It also allows for money to go to some charities that we both wanted to benefit.
This, now that we have a family, a house we are paying off was a priority to do, in line with life assurance.

[TensionWheelsCoolHeels]

I've looked into this recently. Meant to do something years ago but I have a not-straight-forward situation & I couldn't find anything that would help me work through how to sort everything out the way I wanted/needed it. The delay in getting things sorted has resolved a few of those issues & I took advantage of a free drop in service recently provided by solicitors linked to my place of work. I've still got some digging to do, to sort through paperwork & get everything laid out to put in a will. But I'm closer to sorting it out now than ever The cost was also prohibitive for me, 'til now, but I'm hoping to have it nailed down in the next month or so.

For me, the issue was not being able to find information relevant to my situation/circumstances & not being able to work out how to address that. I've now got a clearer idea in my mind on what to do, following the drop in session, and without that is still be struggling to work out what to do.

[ButterflyOfFreedom]

Neither me or DH have a will though it is something we have mentioned a few times as we know it is something we need to do at some point.
We have 2 DC now so I think this will spur us on to get them sorted sooner rather than later.
I guess it's hard to know where to start and not necessarily a 'happy' topic to think about!

[voyager50]

I finally got around to doing my will last year - I used the free service offered by my union. It was very simple to do as I have no property or major assets.

My partner has still not got around to doing his despite me talking to him about it a lot and the fact he can also get a free one as we are in the same union.

[sulalovesbing]

We have a will which we got free with my Union. We got it when our first child was born. Now we have another I'd like to update our will. We don't have enough money to do that. I was thinking of going through a charity to do it.

[sharond101]

I should make one but haven't yet. I don't know where to start.

[SuburbanRhonda]

We were very conscientious about getting a will written when DD was born. Twenty years and another DC later and we haven't updated it - this thread has made me resolve to do it!

[Jitterybug]

We desperately need to sort our will out, as we're unmarried and a blended family. It is one of those things we keep meaning to do, but just don't get round to doing. The cost puts me off and lack of knowledge about how it could all work.

It's on the list of things to do in 2016.

[Mumblechum1]

Thanks for the plugs MonkeyBarKid and Badders !

[dottypotter]

We did a will some years ago and have now updated it. Its important to keep it updated too. My parents always had a will and always gave their children a copy so everyone was informed and knew what was what. It is very important to make one and also to tell people where it can be found. I would hate to die not knowing I hadn't made provision for loved ones etc nor would I be impressed if my parents hadn't got it sorted out properly.

[marymanc]

We made our will when my daughter was born, it was a free will writing with a solicitor we got for working with the NHS. When we had our son my husband did lots of research and then we made our own wills with indications of who would look after the children if something happens to us both..

[Catsgowoof]

it's something o've been meaning to get round to. my main concern would be who gets our children

[BreconBeBuggered]

Another procrastinator here. Neither of us has any assets that aren't jointly owned, and all insurance/pension arrangements name DH/me as beneficiaries. Bit slack not to tie things up properly, though. DC know where to find all the paperwork if we both get run over by a bus.