Own Hand written Will in plain English

No doubt many people have DIY wills which are legal as they've followed the correct procedure and all turns out well, but in addition to the document itself what I was paying a solicitor for was her legal advice, also her experience so she was able to ask if I'd thought of this or that.

They might be legal but they can leave problems as we well know.

Germanshepherdsmum
May I ask a question.
A friend's father died about three years ago, his mother the year previously.
Friend was named as executor and the estate was to be divided between him and his siblings.
He said he had to list every item in the house as part of his duties as executor and get them valued. They were just normal household items, not antiques.
Is this part of his legal duties as executor?

I thought they could have just divided the house contents and personal items between themselves amicably.

Ps there was a will, I think dividing the assets after the house sale between the siblings.

No, he doesn’t have to go to those lengths! He does however need to put a value on the estate for the purpose of paying inheritance tax. In the absence of things like antiques, silver, jewellery and paintings it’s a sad fact that most of our household stuff has little monetary value and is destined for the charity shop or skip. He can ask a local valuer to give him a ‘probate valuation’ (which is also on the low side) and the fee will come out of the estate.

Always, not also.

Thanks FSM

No, I doubt the estate was above the inheritance tax level but I don't know for sure. It was something he said he had to do, I thought he said the solicitor had said it was necessary to list everything.

GSM sorry

We’ve appointed our solicitor as executor as neither my OH or I have any close relatives and do not feel we can ask any of our friends to take on responsibility.

1 tin opener
2 colanders
1 whisk
2 wooden spoons …

No way!

We have dealt with the estates of 4 sets of relatives and have never listed and valued every individual item.

We do dabble at the bottom end of the antique market and go to auctions regularly, but we just highlighted and photographed, any item that could possibly have a value ( a wedgewood dinner service for example, which theoretically should be of significant value but isn't because they are out of fashion.) We checked ebay for valuations of similar items and printed them out, then did estimates for the theoretical value of everything else. £500 for all the contents of a kitchen, which was a gross overestimate bcause everything went to the tip or a chairty shop.

Providing you put in a figure looks reasonable, there will not be any queries. I think we put a figure like £5,000 as the value of the contents of my parents large 2 bedroomed bungalow. It was a gross over estimate , but £5,000 one way or another, was not going to make much difference to the amount of inheritance tax we paid.

Germanshepherdsmum

Norah

Whether you need a will if you have little of monetary value depends on what your estate is worth and what the assets consist of. It used to be the case that you didn’t need a probated will to distribute an estate worth not more than £5k but that figure may have changed. If only cash in the bank is involved, many banks will release the deceased’s money to the next of kin on proof of death, but they all have their own rules on how much they will release without seeing a probated will. People also need to consider who their next of kin is for the purposes of distributing an intestate estate - there are strict rules as to the order of participation. If for instance you have no spouse or children but have more than one sibling you may favour one in particular but they will be equally entitled. If you have no close family then make a will leaving what you have to a friend or to charity - otherwise it will go to distant relatives (minus the cost of tracing them) or to the Crown. Charities are grateful for the smallest of gifts.

As to whether you could fill in a printed will form, yes you could but whether you end up with a valid will depends on whether you have completely understood the accompanying instructions, filled in and signed the will entirely in accordance with them, and expressed your wishes clearly and unambiguously. You might think that what you’ve written is crystal clear because you knew what you meant when writing it. Someone looking at your will after you have died might consider that your wishes are capable of more than one interpretation. It’s a fact that we recognise others’ mistakes more readily than our own. Don’t risk it for the sake of paying a solicitor to make sure your will says what you mean it to.

I'd assumed there was an 'estate worth' below which people needed no will and no solicitor. I'd hate to think anyone felt they couldn't use a hand written will in a very low asset situation.

We didn't have wills the first 5 yrs married, for example.

You always answer so well and clearly. Thank you for explaining.

A lot of charities work with solicitors pro bono, and ask either for a reasonable donation or a bequest in the will. As so many folk have said, it's a good idea to get it legally drawn up, and if possible register it with a solicitor. My late mother in law had told us many times that her and her husband's joint will bequeathed everything to my husband and his son, her only child and grandchild. When her husband died, the will had mysteriously disappeared, and his long estranged son got everything.

Try this one but be quick.
www.sovereignplanning.co.uk/localwills/?sid=110667119&msclkid=d1ed179c7a5011047a4d744e08fbbf9f

It’s an unregulated will writing company effalump. Please don’t try it!

A friend has just been informed that the will making company she used is closing down. She has no idea what will happen to her will, lodged with them.

Fortunately she has a copy - but not the original.

She’d better contact them pdq to get the original. If it were a solicitors’ firm the Law Society would appoint another law firm to take custody of papers but these will writing firms are unregulated.

Thanks, GSM, for quite separate reasons she is going to rewrite it and will use a solicitor.

That’s good,