Making a Will

The vast majority of people put off making a Will for a variety of reasons, either believing that the people they would wish to inherit will automatically do so, or because they don’t think it is relevant to them at this particular time.

The reality is that you can put off making a Will until it is too late. This poses all sorts of problems for the people left behind and could mean that some, or all, of your inheritance either goes to the wrong person, or to the state.

Firstly and most importantly is the peace of mind making a Will provides.

Making a Will enables you to plan exactly what will happen to your property (estate) following your demise. This ensures that those you would like to benefit, actually do so, in accordance with your wishes and at the same time avoiding any possible disputes between relatives.

The answer is everyone. In particular, anyone with dependent relatives, (children under the age of 18, elderly relatives or relatives with a disability who have special needs), anyone who owns property or has any type of asset which you would wish relatives, friends or charities to benefit from.

This is a common misconception and dependant on the size of your estate, there are set rules which will be applied to determine who inherits and how much if you do not make a Will.

This is called dying intestate. There are specific rules of intestacy which set out who will inherit and by how much if you do not leave a valid will, this may not be what you would have wished and in the worse-case scenarios where relatives cannot be traced, your assets will be taken by the Crown.

It is obviously important when you make a Will to understand what your Will does. It may appear to make sense when you sign it, but was your Will explained to you, so you fully understood it? It can often be more important to understand what your Will does not do!! Getting it wrong could mean you inadvertently disinherit your intended beneficiaries.

If you have an existing Will, which perhaps you have not looked at for some time, Lifecare offer a Free Will Review Service, to give you the peace of mind that your Will does exactly what you intended.

For any enquiries, guidance or quotes please get in touch and our team will assist you through the process.