If you die without having a Will in place, your estate will be governed by the Rules of Intestacy. These decide that your estate passes to your spouse or children if you don’t have one. If you have neither everything will pass to your closest living relative. You may be okay with this, but if you want control over who receives what and how it is divided, you will need to write a Will.
Only 45% of people have a valid Will. This could be because they feel they have nothing valuable to leave, or because they are okay with the intestacy laws. With a Will, you are more likely to avoid legal or personal complications when they die.
Of course you can choose to write your Will yourself. However we believe it is more effective to use an Estate Planner or a Solicitor to write your Will. If you have very straightforward circumstances, such as if you’re married and you know you only want to pass everything onto them and your children.
However if you have a more complicated situation it is best to contact a solicitor or estate planner as you may need a Trust. Trusts can be used to protect parts of your estate from people and inheritance tax. Lasting Powers of Attorney are also a very important thing to have. They make decisions on your behalf if you become incapacitated.
Although using an estate planner may seem like the expensive option at the time, in the long run it will save you a lot of money on things like taxes, court fees and probate. We will also save you a lot of time and hassle, as we will handle all the drafting needed. Whenever laws change we can keep you updated and inform you in what we think is the best thing to do.
Having an estate planner or solicitor write your Will means we can also store it for you, storing it in a safe secure place is incredibly important. Any will that is lost or damaged means your Will is voided.
We believe Estate Planners are the way to go if you are seeking professional assistance in writing your Will, as we feel Solicitors can charge an extortionate amount.
For more information and to find out how we can help, click Apply Today!
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