Tell Co-op Legal Services about your experiences with making a will - £300 voucher to be won! NOW CLOSED

[EmmaMumsnet]

If you and your partner have children together, thinking ahead to a time when the unimaginable has happened and both you and your partner have passed away, leaving your child (or children) in need of a Legal Guardian, is an awful conversation to think about, let alone have. However, Co-op Legal Services know that if you make formal arrangements in relation to a will, you are able to name the Legal Guardians of your children instead of the Court making a decision you might not have wished for. With that in mind, Co-op Legal Services would like to know your experiences with making a will.

James Antoniou, Head of Wills at Co-op Legal Services, says: “As parents, we recognise the need to protect our children throughout our lifetimes. Making a will and providing for guardianship is an extension of that protection, ensuring that our wishes are clear about who will be responsible for their upbringing.

If you are interested in starting your wills journey with the Co-op, start your will online now"

Do you currently have a will? Or is it still an ongoing process? How did you go about making some of the important decisions that a will requires? Do you have the conversations surrounding a will with your family?

So whether you’ve set up one already or looking to begin making one, share your experiences below and you will be entered into a prize draw to win a £300 voucher of your choice (from a list).

Thanks, and good luck

MNHQ

Standard Insight T&Cs apply

We made a will after two of our four offspring finally made their dream moves to live in Australia with their husbands and children. It was quite a simple process and there are lots of websites where you can get will docs to use at a fraction of a cost of using a solicitor

made one in 1989, just made another this April, named a local Solicitor as executor with one of my younger relatives. Straight forward

We have not made one yet we need to talk about it and get an appointment, I have spoke to my family about who would raise our children if we both pass away.

Not written one; don't think anyone will be fighting over my overdraft

i have discussed with my family and hope to get mine sorted soon

i have recently moved in with my partner so we are discussing wills at the moment and i have made it a priority to get it sorted

My husband and I have 3 children aged 5, 4 and 22 months. I have previously thought about making a will however it is not a priority with our budget. I have not discussed any provisions after I die with anyone, not even my husband. We have no property or savings so that would not be an issue. The only thing we would need to worry about is posessions and the care of our children.

no - keep meaning to - may try free will week when it comes up next

We had to make a will as soon as the children were born. In case of an accident, we had to specify who would look after our children. The matter was complicated by the fact that I am French, and my husband had no suitable relatives in this country.

I haven't started a will yet but am becoming increasingly conscious it is something I must do sooner rather than later. I want to ensure I pass what I can on to my DC

I really do need to sort mine out soon - I think I might wait until one of those charity months where the solicitors allocate a certain number and you donate £100 to a good cause.

Yes. Both me and my partner have a will naming who will be our child's guardian should anything happen to us. And everything left to our children and will be updated should we have another child or something happens that means guardian has to change.

I found this very difficult but learnt from family members passing and how difficult it was so mine is as clear as possible and used a solicitor

It goes without saying that a child's living parent can challenge any guardianship arrangements made in the will of their deceased parent.

We did recently do a joint will, it is not the easiest thing to have to do but essential if you have property or have children. Our problem is one of our children has Severe Learning Difficulties and we have no family close at hand. It is difficult finding Social Workers due to finance, no sooner do we get assigned one than she is taken away and we have to go through the process again.
So what happens when we go? It frightens the both of us when we think of it.

I don't really have anything to leave.

We had our son before buying our first home so we didnt really think about a will. Later when he was 2 we bought our first home and got life insurance so thought about what would happen if we both died and what would happen to our son. The Solicitors we used offered a free will so we did that. This gave us peace of mind that our son would be looked after if we died together.

We have mirror wills x2 here. Guardianship got our children was the hardest and most important element for us. Possessions are easy to divide for our families.

We have done ours. It was not that hard to do, as we did not have any bequests to leave. The process was quite straight forward, and once done, gives you some peace of mind (about this at least).

I've got a will and so has my partner, they have been updated when required. We talked everything through and worked out all eventualities! I have also talked about this with my Dad on many occasions because I really wanted him to sort out some fairly complicated things rather than leave me in a real mess when the time comes! Everyone should do it rather than leave the consequences for someone else to have to deal with when they're already struggling with grief!

I have a will and have changed it as circumstances change. I have always had one and although it is quite a large expense it feels like the only way to ensure my children are protected should I unexpectedly die. I found it a useful experience and helped me formalise who I would want to take over childcare etc should anything happen.

I have one but have not updated it in 15 years... I will be looking to do a new one in the future as so many of my circumstances have changed it is the right way to go.

The main part of the will was straightforward in that of course our children will be the beneficiaries. Our biggest task was determining who would be guardians but we have a wonderful reciprocal agreement with our best friends to take on the guardianship of our children should the worst happen.

I got one free at work though I'm.not sure how great it is and actually reading this it would probably be best if we both got one of these mirror wills. Obviously it was easy deciding who would get everything but then I'm wondering if something happened to us both would my wishes as to who cares for my child be granted or would we both have to have said the same?

We have not got round to doing a will as yet, it is on our to do list though!