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MNHQ

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

307 replies

EmmaMumsnet · 05/09/2017 17:21

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

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Tell Co-op Legal Services about your experiences with making a will - £300 voucher to be won! NOW CLOSED
OP posts:
hannahbjm · 09/09/2017 07:54

I definitely need to start thinking about doing one. It does really confuse me so wouldn't know where to start!

kateandme · 09/09/2017 07:55

agreed on who would have the children.allthough this had to be changed!unfortunaely the family meber in question clearly as the children came into the world and gre up was NOT a child,family person.
its a hard conversation to have.i think it gets hard when people start to be more independent from eacohter these days.for my parents it was a more what mine is yours things so it was easier to decide I think.this then make things more daunting and what is offered more confusing.
I also think it get harder with current world climate.you might start to think more of leaving things to the kids wheras before id have been more confident that all would be ok.life tough for them now.

defineme · 09/09/2017 07:59

Our wills are mirror wills, but a little complicated by ds1's disability because it means we had to provide for him beyond just splitting everything between our 3 dc. Our local solicitors were very helpful with it. We discussed guardians and discussed it with who we had named too...family members who were fine with it.

PussCatTheGoldfish · 09/09/2017 08:26

We made ours after the DC were born. We saw a solicitor, discussed who we would like the children's guardians to be and who the executors would be.

The solicitor advised us not to leave a % to a charity as they can become rather hard nosed in relation to liquidising the assets to ensure they get every last penny they are entitled to. Instead do a fixed sum, or let your nearest and dearest know your wishes.

The last thing in the will is what we wanted to happen to our bodily remains- burial or cremation. DH is to be buried. I was undecided so left that for whoever sorts it out.

I can't remember how much it cost, it may have been in Wills Week, but I was very relieved to get it sorted.

NeverTwerkNaked · 09/09/2017 09:28

I haven't made one yet, and I know I need to. What makes it even more shameful is that I used to write wills as part of one of my first jobs (solicitor) Blush. I guess part of it that my life has been in flux for so long. But it is slowly moving its way up my "to do" list now

AR2012 · 09/09/2017 10:04

Need to get one done.

Jade5093 · 09/09/2017 10:09

I'm pregnant with my 3rd and we have said we really need to sort one out

JemIsMyNameNooneElseIsTheSame · 09/09/2017 10:15

I'm of the 'really must do one' camp too.

bubbleybooboo · 09/09/2017 10:22

Ive never really thought about making a will. Its something i dont know much about but i really should do one because you never know when it will be needed

Yaracuy · 09/09/2017 10:23

I keep thinking I ought to write a will, but for some reson I postpone it as if it were of no importance. It might be fear of the future or something I cannot fathom yet.

Rosehips · 09/09/2017 11:28

We don't, we keep thinking about doing it but can't think anyone we'd want to have our childrem

devito92 · 09/09/2017 11:57

I went to a will making charity, low cost and always nice to leave something for a charity you support

Theimpossiblegirl · 09/09/2017 12:22

This is something we need to do so watching this thread with interest.
Mirror wills sound sensible and money saving and the spouse property clause is a must.

iut044 · 09/09/2017 12:54

I have not made one yet .

Marg2k8 · 09/09/2017 14:51

We made our wills about 20 years ago and they are still valid.

Summergarden · 09/09/2017 15:29

We set up 'mirror wills' with a local solicitor when DC1 was a newborn. Was glad we did see a solicitor as they brought up different scenarios that we hadn't considered.

Really need to update them soon as have had another DC.

carolacr · 09/09/2017 15:55

I'm always talking about getting my will sorted but never do anything about it. I really must get 1 done. I've seen families torn apart by family wills.

Teddygirlonce · 09/09/2017 16:24

We haven't written a will either Blush. Same issue - no agreement on which side of the family would have our DC... Need to do it though.

ClashCityRocker · 09/09/2017 17:03

In the process of updating mine now due to various changes in circumstances.

One thing I learned was that marriage invalidates your will - so my dm would have ended up with everything, and whilst I would hope she would redistribute, who knows?

Other than that, it's been quite straightforward. We have kept it very private as whilst it's the right will for now, it might not be in the future.

purplepandas · 09/09/2017 17:09

We have one. I am really paranoid about financial security and wanted to know that our children would be okay if done thing happened to both of us. We did it in a will charity fortnight thing so money went to charity when we paid the solicitor.

spottypjs · 09/09/2017 18:02

I haven't got one but recently I've started thinking I should really make one. I don't know where to start though.

freefan · 09/09/2017 18:17

It is something we have talked about but never got around to actually doing.... we really should but I've heard it is an expensive experience and one of our friends actually fell out with their partner over what they wanted to put in theirs so that really put me off.
Guess no one likes to think that one day they won't be here any more.

Auntiedahlia · 09/09/2017 18:18

We have mirror wills and regularly update them. If a new member of the family joins us, or we acquire new property for instance.

mynellie · 09/09/2017 18:25

We did mirror wills but also incorporated what would happen with our son if we both died so who would bring him up and who would handle the money so that not just one person had control of everything so that would then hopefully cut out finger pointing as we have seen some spectacular family fall outs when it comes to death and money so purposefully tried to avoid that happening

daydreambeliever21 · 09/09/2017 18:47

This is something I need to stop burying my head in the sand over. I have a copy of my sister's will and also my MIL's but I haven't read either of them and don't want to. It almost seems like tempting fate.
But it is important and I guess I'd better look into it.