Have you made a will ?

A solicitor will have dealt with almost every scenario before... choose your solicitor ... especially this month during "free" will month...
and just do it...
You will feel so much easier when you've made a start ...

One rainy day when DH & I couldn't go on the walk we'd planned, we decided to make a list of everything that our 2 children would need to know if we got 'run over by a bus tomorrow' (as my mum used to say). We got all our paperwork, insurance policies etc. sorted and grouped together - it was a very useful exercise in all respects.
We emailed each of our children with the necessary info to access everything they'd need to know, for them to file it away - pointing out that we were both fit & well and not to worry
One very alarming thing did come to light, our house deeds were not with our solicitor as we thought, but with the Woolich BS (which no longer exists) and still showing a 'charge' (money owed) to Barclays bank - a (very large) sum which we had repaid in full 13 years ago. Its taken a while to get this sorted out, which it is now, but it makes you think that if we hadn't checked up about the deeds (and that bus my mum was always worried about had hit us) our 2 children might have thought that we really did owe all that money!
I urge everyone to prepare for The Bus........

Ours dealt with us very sensibly and professionally and made similar suggestions to us...

I don't understand why it is not compulsory when you get a mortgage that a will should be made.

Also, make sure the wording is correct. I had a wonderful relationship with my in-laws (more like parents than in-laws). When my dear MIL died my FIL gave me all her jewellery (some good, some not so!). However shortly after he died my husband left me and my FIL's will left everything to him, apart from a bequest to our daughter, so I was left with nothing. All his family could not understand why I was not included until the solicitor told us that he had pointed this out, but my FIL had said that there was no need as our marriage was so strong!

annsixty I think you can do something if your DH has a diagnosis of dementia. Ask Citizens Advice or look at their website, or go to your solicitor.

I have not made a will. Unlike those replies above ( and like most of those on Heir Hunters) I have no family to mention.

If the one I know about outlives me, fine, he can pay the IH and have whats left. Otherwise they can go hunting for heirs of distant and unknown relatives or not. I really do not care. I have no charities I want to give anything to either. So that is my answer.

You asked for an answer. I have given you one. I am not going to enter into a debate about it.

We have mirror wills and youngest DD knows solicitor we used.
When my Mum made her will she left me her sewing machine - I hated sewing, although came from a family of seamstresses. After she died I couldn't find a copy of her will until my daughter told me it was hidden in the sewing machine .

Make sure you spend it all having a good time abbey!

We have mirror wills, very easy Solicitor just had a chat to us and then sorted everything out, we have had two members of the family die intestate and its very difficult trying to deal with that alongside everything else.

It's strange how many people think that they don't need to do a will until they are old! Once you have property and/or children a will is strongly advised. As far as I am aware the only situation that changes a will is marriage, but I could be wrong. The other thing that is important is Power of attorney. It saves so much trouble if something happens .

Anyone who hasn't got a Will and Lasting Powers of Attorney, ring a solicitor TODAY! I'm not religious, but there's a saying of JC, "Ye know not the day nor the hour", and that is still as true today as it was 2000 years ago. When I worked on the hospital wards, I often spoke to women (and sometimes men) whose OH had always handled the finances and because they'd had a stroke or some other life-changing illness, had no access to money, could not pay bills etc. which an LPA (Property and Affairs) would have sorted. As to Wills, it's much harder and costlier to sort out if you die without. Incidentally, people who have dementia or other conditions can still make a Will or LPA providing they still have the capacity to understand the principle of what they are doing. According to the Mental Capacity Act, each decision is taken on its own merit. Best to get a solicitor qualified to deal with the Affairs of the Elderly (I know!) Google SFE or STEP to find one near you.

No, I've not got a will, because I'm unsure what my circumstances will be. I can't be spending every few months changing it.

I really must change mine - DH and I currently have mirror wills, but we know I'll outlive him (he's sole beneficiary of MIL's estate - she doesn't want any of her estate to go to my DDs, now permanently estranged), so want to arrange for their share of my estate to be split between GC and to protect DS' interests - want to set up a trust for GC to try to force the girls into reconciliation with their half brother. Also have a local charity I want to give something to. Do not want the state to get any more than I can avoid - sooner leave to the cats' home!

Do you think if the government made a law that said that they would keep everything belonging to anyone who died intestate, it would make a lot of people suddenly very anxious to make a will?

My friend's cousin was contact by Heir Hunters about a inheritence from a half sister he knew nothing about. Heir Hunters took over half of what was left from the half sister.

There is nothing like a will or dying intestate to make even the closest of siblings to become sharp with each other. My uncle left a will fortunately but had told his neighbours that he had left them something and they must have searched the house after he died. They had keys. They also wanted items of his furniture which were polished within inch of their lives( highly carved and decorated overmantel and dresser) the rest was thick with dust which made me suspicious.
Luckily he had left me a letter of his intentions and where he had hidden his savings books. I took a perverse delight in telling the neighbours and saying I couldn't find his Rolex watch or where a small gatelegged table had vanished to. I asked them to give their keys to the lawyers . So please all those who think they will be ok with out a will think again it's difficult enough when there is a will.

It only goes as far as close relatives durhamgen eg immediate relatives of brothers and sisters and then the state does get it!

Do you think if the government made a law that said that they would keep everything belonging to anyone who died intestate, it would make a lot of people suddenly very anxious to make a will?

As I understand it one political party is already suggesting this - except they are saying that in fact, there will be no in inheritance at all. What you leave behind belongs to the government regardless. So unless you are thinking your demise will be within the next five years or so, I wouldnt bother.

quEEEniE - the heir hunters are operating a business, so not unreasonable for them to deduct a) the costs of their investigations and b) a fee for the job, surely? In the case you mention the deductions represented more than half the value of the estate, but it would vary according to size of the estate/amount of work involved. Without them, your friend's cousin would have inherited nothing at all!

My DH & I made our Wills just before he was going to have a major operation, mine was more complicated than his & I didn't own any property (our house was owned by DH & ex-wife). When we "downsized" we made new Wills to reflect our changed situation, everything going to my DD (his S-D) & nothing to his own DD & S as their DM was much better off than us & she would leave everything to them & their DC. DH wrote a letter to explain why they wouldn't inherit from him.

I really need to update mine now I am Widowed but everything will go to DD & DGSs.

My DD knows where everything is kept if the "bus" gets me, I also need to set up LPAs soon as well.

I think more people are now much more conscientious about making wills than used to be the case. In a lot of cases on Heir Hunters going back a long time, a lot of working people still rented their homes and probably did not give too much thought about any savings they had or personal items. Possibly now that many more people are home owners and we are all made much more aware of leaving our affairs in order it does seem strange to believe so many others did not. Also if someone did not have a Next of Kin or did not know if they had any extended family anyway they may have been unsure what to do. Not all people donate to charities ...and I can remember myself in my 20s & 30s there was nothing like the amount of charities around then as there is now. We are now swamped with them. It still makes an interesting programme, and even if a fee is deducted for their work, it is still better to find a heir, than letting it go to the government.

Abbey you don't have to make a will leaving an inheritance for family only, you could leave gifts, sums of money or whatever to friends. Surely making a will to direct where your estate is to go is better than it being frittered away by the government? I know it is not that simplistic, but would you rather have say, £50k go to a good friend, or a local charity or to the National Trust for example where your legacy will last and give pleasure to many, or have the MoD spend it on a shell to blast somewhere overseas to bits?

A lot of people do not like to face the fact that will die and writing a will confirms that it will happen.
Apparently, there are more people not to have a will than to have one.

DH and I planned out our wills in a pub in Staffordshire while on holiday a few years ago. The Co-op had a special offer on at the time, and with DH being staff, it seemed like the right time.

Unless you are thinking your demise will be within the next five years or so, Abbey?
My husband and I updated our wills in July 2011, when he was 65. The paperwork was sorted in August 2011, he was diagnosed with brain cancer in September 2011, was operated on in October 2011, and died in January 2012.

How does anyone know when they are going to die?