About wills (after reading another thread in Actives

The most important thing to do about wills is to make one. I have spent over a year now battling with banks, the Post Office, etc. to try to sort out my late, eccentric Uncle's 'Small Estate'. When alive he refused point blank to discuss either a will or funeral arrangements, saying that he couldn't care less what happened after he was gone as he would not be here. Nonetheless, I know that he would have hated his carefully hoarded state pension to lie forever in dormant accounts as if he had donated it back to the government.

This knowledge is what has kept me going throughout the process involving detective work, guess work and the intransigence of some financial institutions. For instance the Post Office demanded a Certificate of Confirmation (Scottish equivalent of Probate) BEFORE telling me how much money remained in Uncle's PO Card account. They said they were aware that the certificate could not be issued until all assets were listed, but still refused to reveal the amount to me until I had obtained the certificate??? This in spite of the fact that I was appointed second card holder on said account in order to pay Uncle's initial care home fees.

I could rave on for hours about the difficulties I encountered but suffice to say MAKE A WILL. If not for the benefit of those left behind, at least to ensure that your assets go to someone or a charity of your choosing. Otherwise they will simply moulder away in the vaults of some Bank or Insurance Company.

The Which offer sounds very good. And then you can store it with the Probate Service for twenty quid.