If you choose not to make a last will and testament, then who decides who receives what? It may not proceed how you would have liked. To make sure your desires are fulfilled, you should to build a last will and testament.
Should you perish without creating a will it’s the law that dictates how your estate is divided. The intestacy laws will be applied and it may not be how you’d have hoped or wanted.
If your legally married or have a civil partner but no children and your estate is worth a predefined figure or under then your civil partner would get the total of the estate including any life cover . If the estate is worth at more than this threshold and you have existing family, your spouse will still receive this figure, in addition to half of the surplus. There is an order in which family would inherit, with surviving parents being at the start of the list, followed by siblings and so on.
Should you have a civil partner and offspring then your partner would gain the set amount as above and half of the surplus. The offspring will receive 50% of the amount over the excess right away and the remaining 50% on the death of your spouse.
Should you have offspring but no lawful spouse, then your offspring would share the inheritance. This may not be as you would have wished. You could have a companion who depends on you and who you might have wanted to inherit at least a proportion of your estate, who would receive nothing.
To avoid all possible anxiety about your estate, however simple it may seem, it would be prudent to construct a will. There are several ways to do this. You may make it yourself or use a trained will agent or a solicitor.
Many people construct their own last will and testament, mostly using a template which you can acquire from stationers. Be wary should you proceed down this route – it’s surprisingly easy to make an error and you could even find it invalid. The price of having a will written, especially a relatively basic one, is not exorbitant and you can be sure that your intentions will be carried out.
A skilled will agent or a solicitor will be experienced with handling all types of queries and will be able to assist you. You might have enquiries to do with setting up trust funds and maybe inheritance tax.
Now you’ve constructed your last will and testament, it’s a sensible decision to review it on occasion, as your situation changes. If you decide to amend it, then it is a smart move to revoke your previous one and have it remade. If the amendments are minor, it may be easier to draw up a codicil to make a section of the will and to be read in association with it. Any codicil will have to be written in the same way as the will in relevance signatures and witnesses.
Please be aware that any health insurance will terminate on the death of the will holder and no value will be attributed to It in the will.
