The Law About Wills

What Is A Will?

A will is a legal document, which describes how you want your property to be disposed of after your death. As long as you are sane at the time of writing a will, you can make it almost anything you like. A will must always be in written form - oral promises are not acceptable. All monies which you leave to people are subject to tax. See Inheritance Tax for more details.

Who Can Make A Will?

Anyone can make a will, provided that they are of sound mind, and over the legal age to make a will. This age is 18 in England and Wales, and 12 in Scotland. However, in special circumstances, where a child under the legal age of will making possesses large amounts of money, they may be granted permission by the courts to make a will.

How Often Should I Rewrite My Will?

You should review and rewrite your will whenever a major event happens, such as you get married or have children. You should also rewrite your will when you come into a large sum of money, or acquire specific additional assets. Other than that, it is good practice to review your will every 2 or 3 years.

It is important to note, that you MUST make a will after marriage, as any wills made previous to you being married are invalidated by marriage. If you make a will, marry, and then die before you make another will, the courts will dispose of your property as if you hadn't made a will.

Making A Will

When you make a will, there are 3 routes which you can take, and as one might expect, they increase in expense and the quality of the work, but in many cases, the simplest and cheapest options may suffice.

Make The Will Yourself

This is the simplest way, and you can either write the entire will yourself or purchase a ready-made will template, in which you fill in the blank spaces provided for personal details and legacies.

Although this is the simplest way to make a will, it is also the most dangerous, as it is easy to make a mistake in assigning the legacies or to invalidate the will. Wills which are invalidated will be dismissed on your death, and your estate will be divided as if you left no will (see dying without a will).

Visit A Will Writer

Although not a qualified lawyer, a will writer specialises in the law concerning wills, and will be able to make a will for substantial or complicated legacies, and avoid common tax problems. You should always check out the experience which a will writer has, as well as any insurance which they may have.

Get A Solicitor To Do It

This is the safest and best option and should be taken whenever you want to leave a lot of money, your legacies are very complicated or specific, or there are conditions to people inheriting things.

Solicitors take out insurance cover for will writing, and so any mistakes they may make will be covered.