About
Your Will
Some important reasons to start writing your Last Will and Testament
- Keep your children safe and brought up by someone you trust
- In case of mental incapacity, ensuring your Will is of sound mind in case of the worse
- The flexiablity to have some control over your estate before and after your death
- Ensure your estate is distributed correctly and how you wanted it to be
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Having a Will is essential!
Dying Intestate (without a Will) can cause hardship and suffering for the ones you love; but can enrich people you may neither know nor like.
By not leaving a last Will and Testament you are adding extra stress and time to your family or loved ones. These people will need to deal with your estate after you have passed away, so why not make it easier?
To ensure that’s not the case, its essential to start writing your Will sooner rather than later. You can always make changes to your Will later down the line, nothing is set in stone after your Will is written. But having a Will in place before you pass will aid your family more than you may know.
Who needs a Will?
The short answer is everyone!
Regardless of age or wealth everyone should create a Will so that on death, their estate can be distributed as per their wishes. Your particular case might need to be reviewed; but it would be wiser to get professional advice in this important matter.
We’ve collected some questions that are frequently asked,
they should give you a better idea of why you need a Will.
What’s the benefit of a Last Will and Testament?
Everything should go to my spouse anyway.
We wish it was that easy. The problem is that people and situations can be complex, and it is not usually possible or wise to try to predict what might happen in future.
The cruellest example that we see is when the surviving partner forms a new association or relationship, it is then difficult to think about who will end up benefiting from the deceased’s often hard-earned money.
In some extreme cases, the children of the deceased parent have to take the surviving parent and their new partner to court.
How Can Estate Planning Protect me or my family?
Life is often full of surprises, so who knows what is around the corner for us. We often speak about dying earlier or before we are ready, but what about living longer than we expected.
Of course, there is only so much planning that one can do, but it is good practice to prepare the best you can while still enjoying your life with your family and loved ones. Simple instruments such as a Will, Lasting Powers of Attorney and Trusts can make a difference to the quality of your life.
For example, incorporating a Property Trust into a Will and ensuring that you choose Trustees and Attorneys that you can rely on can provide useful protection for the majority of circumstances.
What happens if you don’t have a Last Will and Testament.
This is called dying intestate. Settling intestacy can get complicated.
For instance, in the UK the Married or Civil partner may get to keep of the deceased’s assets up to £250,000. This could cut your children out of their inheritance, or leave no consideration for children of a previous relationship.
In Scotland and Wales, the outcome could be different from this example.
This can have some unpleasant consequences which are usually handled by expensive lawyers. Leading to a long and painful experience for everyone else involved.
Further reasons to start writing your Last Will and Testament
Ensure assets stay in the family
Most people know that they should make a Will. But many never get around to it for a variety of reasons including cost, complexity, ignorance of the consequences of not having one, or simply not wishing to acknowledge your mortality and running out of time.
There’s nothing we can do about the last points but we can make writing your Will simple and cost-effective for you.
Why a Will might be contested
Some people will try anything to get their hands on someone else assets.
A Last Will and Testament can only legally be contested if there are doubts about the validity of the Will or if the Will has been executed badly.
These grounds can be used in creative ways to bring a Will into contest.
Other complications to consider
- If a Will is contested, your assets could be frozen during probate.
- The courts don’t know if your family relationship was a good or a bad one.
- They may appoint fosterers and carers other than the people you would have chosen.
- Your spouse MAY NOT automatically inherit everything, other people may stake a claim on your estate for various reasons and contest your Will.
- It’s possible that the family home may have to be sold to settle the legal debts incurred meaning that everyone loses.
- Your unmarried partner’s position can be dreadful, or others may have priority claims on your estate.
- Your children may lose their inheritance completely if your surviving spouse/partner remarries.
- If you have no apparent heirs and die without a Will it is even possible that the state may claim your estate.
Why use Maidstone Wills?
- We've been preparing Wills and Trusts and providing estate planning service for over 15 years.
- We are also part of Eurowills, an association of Will Writers and Estate Planning with over 30 years of experience in the field.
- We are proud of our range of services which we offer and the most competitive prices to ensure that everyone can afford to have a Will.
- All Eurowills members are fully trained and all carry professional indemnity insurance for your peace of mind. Our aim is to make the process of making a Will as straightforward and painless as possible whilst offering a professional and reliable service.
- Unlike most solicitors, we can come to you to your home or take instructions over or via video call at a time to suit you.
- We will guide you throughout the entire process, from taking your instructions right through to production of the final documents and advice on how they should be signed and witnessed to make them legally valid.
- All our documents are of high quality and, as far as is legally possible, are written in plain English. They are checked to try and ensure that they will stand up to most contents or challenges.
- All documents are underwritten by our legal department.
- Most of our business is gnerated by referrals from satisfied customers, the only request we make of you is that if you like the service we provide then please recommend us to family and friends.
