Making a Will
- Thread starter Tengu
- Start date
Contact an attorney for help.
Far easiest way to do it.
Make a list of what you have and who you want it to go to.
Pick an executor to handle your estate.
I believe there are on line tutorials to help you do it yourself.
Make sure to have it modernised and filed with the appropriate court
Authority.
Far easiest way to do it.
Make a list of what you have and who you want it to go to.
Pick an executor to handle your estate.
I believe there are on line tutorials to help you do it yourself.
Make sure to have it modernised and filed with the appropriate court
Authority.
There's an old fella in the mall of a local town who writes wills for people. He sits all day on a chair in front of a basic sign with an A4 refill pad and some pens. Always thought that most people would be as good at writing one as he would be, with a little research and the commonly obtainable forms.
I would ignore the above posts.
All you really need are my bank account details.
All you really need are my bank account details.
Which? wills online are currently doing them for £84.50 (half price).
willsoffers.which.co.uk
It takes about half an hour and there's plenty of help. However, I have not used them so have no first hand experience.
Which? Wills
Make sure your money, possessions and property go to the right people. Which? Wills are experts, and can help tailor the best Will for your needs.
willsoffers.which.co.uk
It takes about half an hour and there's plenty of help. However, I have not used them so have no first hand experience.
Just avoid Redstone Wills.
I tried to use them, for £150, after becoming a home owner. They made a total hash of writing my will, three separate times. They used the name of my executor as my mother, (I, my dad and my mum all share our last name...and my executor was a male Indian friend)! They didn't tell me what to do with my letter of wishes, but tried to incorporate it into the will and made a huge mess of that, they got the division of funds wrong, on and on. I would return forms to them with all the corrections, having written exactly what I wanted, and they would re-write, not what I wanted, and even manage to introduce errors to areas that had been fine.
The whole thing took so long that eventually we all just gave up. I spent £150 and didn't get a usable will, and they spent way more hours than £150 would have paid for. I am convinced they either had the wills written by (dumb) computers, or by non-English speakers, possibly in India.
To this day I do not know how to leave a record of what I would want to have done with possessions which do not have easy conversion to a monetary value. Houses, cars, furniture, all pretty easy. Tools, camping gear and similar hobby materials/supplies probably have a lot of ££ tied up in them in aggregate, but they are fiddly to sell at a good price. Maybe you would rather they go to friends...and that is where it is hard, apparently. There is also the issue that if you try to go too fine in doling out possessions, what if you no longer have them by the time you go? Seems like you need to bundle...all workshop tools to X, all camping gear to Y, all furniture to auction proceeds to Z.
Best of luck!
I tried to use them, for £150, after becoming a home owner. They made a total hash of writing my will, three separate times. They used the name of my executor as my mother, (I, my dad and my mum all share our last name...and my executor was a male Indian friend)! They didn't tell me what to do with my letter of wishes, but tried to incorporate it into the will and made a huge mess of that, they got the division of funds wrong, on and on. I would return forms to them with all the corrections, having written exactly what I wanted, and they would re-write, not what I wanted, and even manage to introduce errors to areas that had been fine.
The whole thing took so long that eventually we all just gave up. I spent £150 and didn't get a usable will, and they spent way more hours than £150 would have paid for. I am convinced they either had the wills written by (dumb) computers, or by non-English speakers, possibly in India.
To this day I do not know how to leave a record of what I would want to have done with possessions which do not have easy conversion to a monetary value. Houses, cars, furniture, all pretty easy. Tools, camping gear and similar hobby materials/supplies probably have a lot of ££ tied up in them in aggregate, but they are fiddly to sell at a good price. Maybe you would rather they go to friends...and that is where it is hard, apparently. There is also the issue that if you try to go too fine in doling out possessions, what if you no longer have them by the time you go? Seems like you need to bundle...all workshop tools to X, all camping gear to Y, all furniture to auction proceeds to Z.
Best of luck!
If you want to be buried on land of a property you actually Own - Not a problem.
If you want to be buried on Land of a property you 'MIGHT' one day own - Then you will need to write a secondary will to update it.
This is a link to a free will. I would think long and hard about what you currently own and how or where you want it to go.
Also don't make TOO many wills , I was recently involved in a situation where it became apparent that 7 wills were in existence and its not as obvious as the last dated will is the one with most clarity.
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Our laws are likely quite different from yours so I’ll only offer general advise that should pertain almost anywhere:
1) You have previously said you own a house. That likely makes your estate larger and more complicated than I’d trust on a self made or “kit” will. Use a solicitor. As best I remember from when I was stationed over there a solicitor isn’t especially expensive and it’s worth it if only for your peace of mind.
2) Choose an executor you trust. In fact also choose at least one alternate (Having an executor might prove futile if he/she happens to be with you in the same fatal car crash, house fire, etc.———not uncommon if your executor is a close friend or family member)
3) Once it’s done have a face to face meeting with your executors and go over it with them thoroughly. Do this every year or two.
4) Keep it with all documents you executors may need such as property deeds, insurance policies, bank account numbers, etc.
5) Keep all the above in a place that’s both safe and accessible by your executor. In my case it’s a safe deposit box but I had to be sure my executors are also listed on the bank’s records as co-owners of the box: otherwise they would have to wait until the will was settled before having access to the will.
1) You have previously said you own a house. That likely makes your estate larger and more complicated than I’d trust on a self made or “kit” will. Use a solicitor. As best I remember from when I was stationed over there a solicitor isn’t especially expensive and it’s worth it if only for your peace of mind.
2) Choose an executor you trust. In fact also choose at least one alternate (Having an executor might prove futile if he/she happens to be with you in the same fatal car crash, house fire, etc.———not uncommon if your executor is a close friend or family member)
3) Once it’s done have a face to face meeting with your executors and go over it with them thoroughly. Do this every year or two.
4) Keep it with all documents you executors may need such as property deeds, insurance policies, bank account numbers, etc.
5) Keep all the above in a place that’s both safe and accessible by your executor. In my case it’s a safe deposit box but I had to be sure my executors are also listed on the bank’s records as co-owners of the box: otherwise they would have to wait until the will was settled before having access to the will.
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If you have a Solicitor, usually called a Solicitor and Notary, then you can ask them to be your executor. They will also hold your will if required. That means that you don't need to keep it someplace safe, just make sure that it is known that your Solicitor is your executor and holds your will.
If you own your own house, you will have deeds. The deeds are usually held by your Solicitor too. You may well have a copy but the original documents are kept in a fire and flood safe place. If this is so then you already have a Solicitor, why not use their services ?
It's not free to ask for your Solicitor to write your will, but it's very much worth it for the clarity of the advice, the dotting the i's and stroking the t's kind of thing, to make sure that what you actually want is what is written and recorded in your Will.
I know it's very possible to DIY and still be legally your last will and testament, so long as it's witnessed re the date, etc., but sometimes that is not always the best way to do things. I suspect in your case, with your insistence re burial, that you might well need to consult a Solicitor anyway.
If you own your own house, you will have deeds. The deeds are usually held by your Solicitor too. You may well have a copy but the original documents are kept in a fire and flood safe place. If this is so then you already have a Solicitor, why not use their services ?
It's not free to ask for your Solicitor to write your will, but it's very much worth it for the clarity of the advice, the dotting the i's and stroking the t's kind of thing, to make sure that what you actually want is what is written and recorded in your Will.
I know it's very possible to DIY and still be legally your last will and testament, so long as it's witnessed re the date, etc., but sometimes that is not always the best way to do things. I suspect in your case, with your insistence re burial, that you might well need to consult a Solicitor anyway.
Presumably if your father pre-deceases you then you'll have enough extra to pay to do the job properly.
You have younger family though, cousins and the like.
In the meantime, just write out what you want and have two folks (I think you need one, but two makes it more assured) sign to witness.
That is your Will.
Whether that will is actually possible to execute is another matter. Can you be buried where you want ? Bye laws and the like are quite restrictive about human burials in many areas. Certainly you're able to research and work out where to find such information, but you still need to make sure that you have 'all' the relevant information and not just the stuff you might think is applicable to you.
That's why we pay Solicitors.
Personally I think it's worth paying for, or in your case selling stuff and saving up to pay for, but that's up to yourself.
Chris has already written of the pitfalls of trying to do the job cheaply, and what you are suggesting your executor do with your remains makes it very much not a simple will.
M
You have younger family though, cousins and the like.
In the meantime, just write out what you want and have two folks (I think you need one, but two makes it more assured) sign to witness.
That is your Will.
Whether that will is actually possible to execute is another matter. Can you be buried where you want ? Bye laws and the like are quite restrictive about human burials in many areas. Certainly you're able to research and work out where to find such information, but you still need to make sure that you have 'all' the relevant information and not just the stuff you might think is applicable to you.
That's why we pay Solicitors.
Personally I think it's worth paying for, or in your case selling stuff and saving up to pay for, but that's up to yourself.
Chris has already written of the pitfalls of trying to do the job cheaply, and what you are suggesting your executor do with your remains makes it very much not a simple will.
M
Very sensible to have a will; a huge number of people don't. I review mine every few years and revise as appropriate.
If you are thinking about a will then you may like to consider making an Advance Directive (or Living Will) too. They are legally enforceable, in the UK at least.
See Compassion in Dying's website, and elsewhere on the Interweb.
If you are thinking about a will then you may like to consider making an Advance Directive (or Living Will) too. They are legally enforceable, in the UK at least.
See Compassion in Dying's website, and elsewhere on the Interweb.
The forms from the post office aren’t a legal document.
My late uncle did one with me as executor but it wasn’t legal when he passed!
Go to a solicitor and do one properly!
My late uncle did one with me as executor but it wasn’t legal when he passed!
Go to a solicitor and do one properly!
Really?? I'm very surprised then. Surely an organisation as large and long standing as the P.O ( with all its attached infrastructure and special laws ) would have a fairly strong designated legal team to ensure what they are offering is up to spec? I'll dig further on this - just suprised.
Yes,we did the po will form in 2011 in the presence of a witness.
On the form was his clear wishes of his finances.When he passed away in 2019 the form was taken to a solicitor to be told it wasn’t legal...this made his affairs very complicated and painful at a time when I was grieving.
The last thing anyone wants after a passing is aggravation so I would strongly recommend making a valid will!
On the form was his clear wishes of his finances.When he passed away in 2019 the form was taken to a solicitor to be told it wasn’t legal...this made his affairs very complicated and painful at a time when I was grieving.
The last thing anyone wants after a passing is aggravation so I would strongly recommend making a valid will!
There are many charities that will make you a will providing you leave them something in the wiil, and it doesn't have to be a large amount.
A will is a simple document, especially if you don't have a lot to leave, the only exception to that is your wish to be buried on land you own (owned), you will need to find out what this would cost, and this is not going to be cheap, it would also be needed to be recorded onto the deeds of the property, and may affect its value.
There is a lot of info on the net about all this, there is also a natural burial site at Pont Mill between St Blasey and Lostwithiel, where you are interred in a whicker basket etc, this may be a good alternative, i am assuming you would bequeath the land to someone who may not like the idea of you being buried there, and as it would not be a licensed site, it could be developed in the future, so it is a bit risky, I have known people being buried in their own back garden, which you can do, but there is nothing to say your remains would be respected..
A will is a simple document, especially if you don't have a lot to leave, the only exception to that is your wish to be buried on land you own (owned), you will need to find out what this would cost, and this is not going to be cheap, it would also be needed to be recorded onto the deeds of the property, and may affect its value.
There is a lot of info on the net about all this, there is also a natural burial site at Pont Mill between St Blasey and Lostwithiel, where you are interred in a whicker basket etc, this may be a good alternative, i am assuming you would bequeath the land to someone who may not like the idea of you being buried there, and as it would not be a licensed site, it could be developed in the future, so it is a bit risky, I have known people being buried in their own back garden, which you can do, but there is nothing to say your remains would be respected..
This is as much a question as a comment: Is a will really the best place to put burial instructions? I ask because here the will usually isn’t read and probate begun until after the funeral when it’s too late. I mean I just have visions of them opening the will to discover you want to be buried on the property after your next of kin has already had you cremated and your ashes scattered.
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