Making A Will

Making A Will Is Easy - We Are Here To Support You

How We Can Help You

We offer a face to face service either in our office, at your home or at a hospital if necessary. As well as advising you on your Will, we can also provide advice and support with on Inheritance Tax, Trusts for minor’s and Disabled beneficiaries.

We also offer storage of Wills and Deeds in our strong room, so you can have peace of mind that your important documents are safe.

Making A Will

Why Make A Will?

Wills are not just for elderly people or sick people, as the uncertain nature of life and death, means a will should be incorporated into future planning. Making a will gives you and your family peace of mind and will relieve them of the stress of Intestacy (which is the legal rules governing a person’s estate when they don’t leave a Will), when they will already be grieving your loss.

From the age of 18, you are able to make a Will and if you have a bank account with money, a pension, a property or possessions you should make legally binding decisions about who you would like to be your beneficiaries. Even if you don’t have many assets, if you have a young family, you should still consider making a will to appoint Legal Guardians for your children.

If you do not make a Will, the Laws of Intestacy will decide who will become a beneficiary of your estate. The rules of Intestacy affect who inherits and how your estate is distributed after your death. In today’s society, the traditional nuclear family is changing with rising numbers of divorces, remarriages, same sex couples, lone parent families and stepfamilies.

Guardianship

If you are married and have small children, you may wish to appoint Guardians in the event of you and your partner dying. Equally if you are unmarried and live with your partner it is particularly important, as the law does not recognise partners who live together as having the same rights as a spouse, unless you have a civil partnership.

Appointing a guardian in your Will to look after your children, enables you to have some control over the care of your children if you die.

Marriage

Getting married or entering into a civil partnership voids any previous will. However, a divorce doesn’t automatically void your existing will. For inheritance purposes your ex-spouse will be treated as being predeceased. Anything you leave to your ex -spouse in your original will is revoked and automatically given to other beneficiaries. Divorce usually revokes the appointments of a former spouse as Executor or Trustee.

  • You can leave a provision in your Will for someone you trust to take care of your pet. You can leave money for the upkeep of your dog for food, vet bills and grooming.
  • Funeral provisions.
  • Specific gifts for example family heirlooms, a wedding ring or a watch. You can also leave cash gifts, or you could choose cash gifts for charity donations.
  • Protecting your inheritance from people you do not wish to benefit from your estate for example estranged family members or an ex-partner. It is possible your will could be contested, so it is important to set out your wishes so if a claim was made, they would not be successful in contesting the will.
  • Property is important to consider in your will. If you and a partner own your home as ‘joint tenants’ and you died, your partner would automatically own your home in their sole name. Also, the whole value would then be means tested where care costs are assessed. However, if you own the property jointly as ‘tenants in common’ your share of the property would form part of your estate and would pass to your beneficiaries in accordance with your Will or the intestacy rules. This would assist with reducing the amount of the property exposed to the cost of care fees.
  • Rights can also be included in Wills to allow for individuals to be able to live in a property for specified periods of time. This could provide security for them to be able to live in the property whilst also ensuring the asset ultimately passes to your chosen beneficiaries.
  • Protecting your inheritance from people you do not wish to benefit from your estate, for example estranged family members or an ex-partner.
  • This could provide security for them to be able to live in the property, whilst also ensuring the asset ultimately passes to your chosen beneficiaries.

Call our office on 0115 939 3360 or email us at [email protected] to book an appointment to make a Will or if you would like your existing Will changing.

For emergency wills only contact Fiona on 07929449492

We offer a 24-hour service for emergency Wills, home visits, hospital appointments, evening and weekend appointments. Our office is situated in the heart of Stapleford.