Click Legal Advice ::

 Free Legal Advice

21/06/2011 10:53:56 www.clicklegalservices.co.uk Administrator Posts: 374

“I hereby leave everything of which I die possess, to the current government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and that it be at their complete disposal to do with as they wish.” You wouldn’t write this into you will, so why run the risk of it becoming reality. Unfortunately, around 61% of people die each year without making a will. It really isn’t that difficult and you don’t need to be retired in order to make one. A will can be as simple or complex as you want it to be, it’s all about you and your wishes. You don’t have to tell anyone about it, not even the people named in it. In order to help your solicitor draft a Will that is effective and clearly puts your wishes across to your executor, it’s useful to take half an hour and just think about what you have, and how you want to leave your property. A few useful things to do are: List who you want your beneficiary or beneficiaries to be and what you want them to have. Who do you want to be your executor? This can be a member of your family or a friend. It would be useful if they are fairly au fait with financial matters, but don’t worry if not. You can have more than one executor, one of which can be a professional person e.g. your solicitor. Do you want to leave a particular item to anybody? You should write this down and make sure you still have it! Think about what you want to do if the item is sold or goes missing, it might be useful to name a substitute gift.Make a family tree of all the people who are alive in your immediate and extended family. Think about:Are any of them dependant on you financially?If yes, do you think you should make provision for them in your will?If no, and you do not want your Estate to continue to support them, make a note of why and give a reason. This is necessary to rebut any claim they may try and bring against your estate. You should think about people who are not in your family as well. Do you provide financial support to anyone who may expect it to continue after your death?Think about tax planning. You should know approximately how much your estate is worth, and if it falls under £325,000.00, you may not have to worry about Inheritance Tax. If your estate is worth more than £325,000.00, it might be useful to start thinking about how to minimise your potential Inheritance tax burden later on down the line.In order to make sure your will is distributed in accordance with your wishes; it is prudent for your solicitor to put in a default clause. This means that if every gift, bequest, legacy or whatever else you have in your will fails, then instead of your estate being distributed in accordance with the intestacy rules or going to the crown, you can leave your estate to a charity. Be sensible in this choice and be fairly sure that your chosen charity is likely to still be in existence when your Will has affect. A well established charity is always a good idea, such as the RSPCA or Cancer Research UK. We have only scratched the surface here, but have these preliminary points in mind and you’ll have the beginnings of a Will that really sits up and works!

• permalink • reply with quote

---