Understandably, when you initially make your will, then chances are that you felt perfectly happy with how it was written, and what it meant for your loved ones. However, as time passes, and life changes, we must not underestimate the importance of regularly reviewing and updating your will so that it properly recently your current situation and wishes. Many of us have fast-moving lives, and regular life changes that could affect the wishes outlined in a will. 

 

 

In blended families, many times partners will consider their step-children as their own, and wish for their will to reflect this in how their step-children benefit from their will. However, this is an assumption that cannot be made in writing your will, and if you state for ‘my children’ in the will, this will not automatically include any step children, or your partner’s children. 

 

In order for step-children to be included in your will, you must explicitly mention them by name to be beneficiaries to the will. 

When writing your will, it is easy to think in the short-term, and about assets that you currently own at the time of writing your will. For example, the specific car that you own at the time, or the specific jewellery that you own, or artwork. However, life is constantly changing, and the chances are that your assets could well change throughout your life. 

 

Because of this, naming specific assets in your will, such as the ‘white BMW car’ to go to one of your children, this could lead to problems if your car has changed by the time your relatives come to distribute your will. Further, if you name a specific diamond ring, or piece of jewellery, that you don’t happen to own at the time you pass away, then your jewellery may not be passed onto your children or loved ones as you had wanted it to be. When you work with our specialist solicitors for wills on writing your will, we will ensure that your will is worded correctly, and with the right amount of specificity, to prevent confusion and potential disputes regarding your will. 

The most damaging mistake that our solicitors for Wills see in our clients that come to us, is not having a will in place at all. This is the biggest mistake possible. If you were to die without having a valid will in place, then this is known as having died intestate. Intestacy, or the estate of a person who has died without having a valid will in place, follows a set of rules which determine how the estate must be administered and distributed. Learn more on this here. 

 

Under this process, there is a set hierarchy of who should benefit from the estate. Still, no two families are the same, and there is no clear-cut way as to how you would like your estate to be distributed. 

 

The only way to ensure that your wishes are met, is to write a valid will that can ensure that your estate is distributed as you would like. To start the process of writing your will, with expert legal assistance, simply get in touch with our fixed-fee solicitors for wills online here, to learn more about how we can help. Or email us today at wills@mglegal.co.uk , or give us a call on 01772 783 314 to speak to a solicitor for wills today. 

Another common question that our professional solicitors for wills come across, is whether a Will that is signed but not witnessed, or is only witnessed by one person, is valid. 

 

If a Will is not signed and witnessed correctly, it is not valid. Our team of solicitors for wills are unable to simply check a DIY Will has been signed correctly. To ensure it has been, a thorough investigation of the circumstances surrounding the signature of the Will would be required, as well as verifying that the witnesses were present, etc. This is not a service that MG Legal offer and the fees for undertaking this work would likely exceed the cost of making a new Will, in any event. 

You might think that your simply worded Will should be fine. However, one minor mistake with drafting or a lack of provision, and you could find that your loved ones are left picking up the pieces and facing costly legal procedures. There are certain legal provisions that are included in a Will and laws that apply to Wills, that you may not be aware of. For example, under s33 of the Wills Act, where a Will contains a gift to a child (or remoter descendant) of the testator – the person making the Will – and the intended beneficiary dies before receiving the gift, their child would be entitled to receive the gift. 

Let’s take the fictional Mr Smith. In his Will, he divides his residuary estate equally between his children, John and Jane. Jane dies before Mr Smith. Mr Smith doesn’t have any idea about s33 of the Wills Act. He presumes that the survivor of his children, John, would receive the whole of his estate so he doesn’t update his Will. However, due to the way Mr Smith has worded his Will, Jane’s children receive her share of the estate. Mr Smith isn’t close to his grandchildren and would not have wanted them to inherit. However, as he didn’t receive professional legal advice about his Will, he wasn’t aware of this provision in law and therefore his true wishes were not followed. 

 

Other common issues that occur with DIY Wills are ambiguities in the Wills, which mean that the executors appointed are unable to effectively distribute part or whole of the estate. Because the executors do not understand some of the provisions, and a legal professional is often unable to ascertain the intention of the deceased (if they had not taken Will instructions and drafted the deceased’s Will), an application to the Court will be required. The Court will decide the outcome for the beneficiaries, and the application itself can be costly, as legal guidance would usually be required to deal with the preparation of the application, required case law and representation at any hearings. The Court may require further evidence before reaching a decision and more than one hearing may be required, especially if there is any disagreement between the parties. 

 

For example, if a beneficiary believes that the deceased intended one thing but the executors believe there was another intention, the Court may need hearings and lots of evidence before reaching a decision.