60% of parents don’t have Wills in place
Without a Will in place the rules of intestacy dictate how your estate will be divided up.
In some cases, the consequence of an intestacy will produce the desired result, more by luck than judgement.
In the vast majority of cases though, and particularly where many people have more than one relationship in their lifetime, an intestacy will rarely achieve what you might want to happen if you have left this World and your children behind.
You can check the intestacy rules here
What you also need to take into account is…
What you also need to take into account, are the choices that you can make when you do put a Will in place to provide for your family; here are some examples.
- You can appoint legal guardians to ‘step into your shoes’ to bring up your children, the default alternative is Local Authority foster care whilst other family members will have to fight through the family court to get them back.
- If you have stepchildren, they will need to be specifically taken into account because they are not your children legally and will not benefit.
- At what age do you think your children should inherit?
- If you have a disabled or vulnerable child, you might want to protect their inheritance in a section 89 trust that can provide for them long term.
- You might want to leave specific items or family heirlooms to certain children (or stepchildren) like certain pieces of jewellery.
We can of course help you with all of the above and more. What you need to do is give some careful thought to what you want to happen if you die. List out your beneficiaries, assets and liabilities, and give us a call and we will guide you through the process.
Significant changes in life will mean updating your Will at times so it is comforting to know that we will update your Will for FREE providing you are using our safe and secure Will storage facility. Yes, there is a small annual fee to pay. It is a really good option to take and make sure that your Will is found after your death, imagine the consequences if cannot be…
Contact us for further help and advice…
We also offer FREE Will reviews, we won’t charge you but would ask you to make a donation to our charity of choice; The Bamboozle Theatre Company, who create multi-sensory theatre for severely disabled children.
