DO IT YOURSELF WILLS

Hi,

My husband and myself are wanting to write mirror wills. We do not own a property but have some savings. It is simply everything to go to our only daughter. I am going to buy a will pack from W.H. Smith. Any views and comments would be appreciated. I've also been told that Probate will store our wills for about £20. Any advice would be appreciated.

I was made aware of unlikely but possible pitfalls after a childless aunt died, leaving everything very straightforwardly to be split equally between several nieces and nephews.

She had evidently consulted a solicitor, because it added that in the event of any of the heirs pre-deceasing her, their share should be divided equally between their children, whether natural or adopted, legitimate or illegitimate.

Must say I wouldn’t have thought of that, but could see that it might have avoided any disputes, e.g. a widow or widower thinking it should go to him/her instead.

We're currently drawing up wills and POA docs. I'm actually we're going through it with a solicitor. She was VG. There were so many possibilities we hadn't thought of.

Missed out 'glad'!

Do use a solicitor. Have you thought for instance of who would inherit in the awful situation of your daughter dying before you? You/one of you might not then have mental capacity to make new wills and your money can end up going to a distant relative you’ve never heard of! Ever seen Heir Hunters on tv?! In that situation there might be grandchildren or a charity you would want your money to go to. Also consider making powers of attorney to enable your finances to be dealt with, and health decisions made for you, if you become mentally incapable. That saves huge difficulty, heartache and expense for whoever has to look after those things. Believe me, it’s money well spent and gives you peace of mind. Solicitors make more money sorting out the trail of devastation left by home made wills than from writing them! It won’t surprise you when I say I’m a retired solicitor!

My family have spent the last 18 months trying to sort out a relative’s home made will. Meanwhile we’ve had to find money for the upkeep of the house, the horses, insurance on stuff etc, etc.

All for one badly worded sentence and a circumstance that hadn’t been foreseen.

If you want to save money, use a charity to write it for you free with the hope that you make a bequest (donation on the will). Lots of charities are doing this.
Worthwhile reading Martin Lewis’ information about this
www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/free-cheap-wills/

We used a Will pack I bought on Amazon when my husband was diagnosed with a terminal illness and given a very short time to live. We'd always meant to make Wills, but just never got round to it.
Anyway, this was the best we could do, specially with the Covid restrictions. It was easy to do a basic, leaving everything to me Will for him in the time we had.
I intend making mine through the lawyer as it will be a little more involved, and I can get a POA sorted at the same time.

My DM did her own Will from a WHSmith pack.

Instead of leaving half to me and half to my Brother she wanted his money to go to her GCs (his children that he deserted) but she messed up somewhere and even though there was a letter to us explaining her reasons, which she signed and dated, it wasn’t accepted and my brother got his share and refused to give any to his children.
Please get a Solicitor.

DH and I wrote our own, based on one that DD had done for her family. It worked simply enough when DH died. Everything was jointly owned and passed seamlessly to me. Anything I have left (doing my best to get through it!) will be split between the two children .

Deeda or presumably their heirs if they pre decease you and you aren’t capable of making a new Will.
We put a clause into ours that anything left would go to Blood Relatives only, not their spouses.
As a side issue, when DD got divorced her exes Solicitor asked her what she could expect from our Estate when we died, she told him in no uncertain terms to F off.