Wills

A Will is one of the most important legal documents you make in your lifetime. It is an opportunity to provide clarity about your wishes and to ensure that you provide for your chosen beneficiaries.

A Will is a legal document which details who will inherit your assets when you die. It also usually sets out who will be legally in charge of administering your estate. 

There are many reasons it is sensible to have an up to date Will in place. First and foremost, you want to ensure your assets pass to who you intend them to. This might not be the case without a Will. 

Wills deal with many important matters, including:

• If you have young children your Will can detail who you would like to look after them if you are not able to do so.  
• If you have young or vulnerable beneficiaries the provisions of the Will can be drafted with a view to ensuring that your beneficiaries receive their inheritance at the right time and in the right circumstances and that their inheritance is looked after by someone you trust.
• If you have children from a previous relationship but have a new partner you may need to provide for someone during their lifetime but ensure that assets ultimately pass to a different person – this can be incorporated into your Will.
• They can be an essential part of an Inheritance Tax planning strategy.
• They can be drafted in a way to protect your assets from passing to third parties.
• A professionally drafted Will can often be crucial in avoiding disputes on your death.
• Wills are also essential when individuals have business/farming assets.

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Types of Wills:

Simple Will – This type of Will would usually involve leaving your estate directly to one or more beneficiaries – for example, leaving all your assets to your spouse or children. You may also wish to leave gifts of items or fixed amounts of money. 

House Trust Will – This Will would enable you to leave your house (or share of a house) so that someone can live in the property for the rest of their life, but also allow you to choose who ultimately benefits. For example, allowing a spouse or partner to live in a property but with it ultimately passing to your children. 

Asset Protection Trust Will – This type of Will would include a trust to help protect beneficiaries against unforeseen circumstances such as financial difficulties, bankruptcy or relationship breakdown.

Vulnerable Person Trust – This type of Will would include a trust to help protect vulnerable beneficiaries, for example those with certain disabilities.

Business and Agricultural Wills – This type of Will enables you to pass on your business and/or farm in a tax efficient manner.

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While we prepare Wills for clients we are also happy to comprehensively review existing Wills and ensure that those Wills are fit for purpose. 

Having an out of date Will can sometimes be more problematic than not having a Will in place at all. Further, our experience in dealing with disputed Will cases allows us to pre-empt many problems and to plan for them at an early stage to reduce the risk of disputes arising after death.

Our experienced team regularly advise on and prepare a wide range of Wills.  We can provide the relevant advice to you and tailor your Will to your specific requirements to ensure that your beneficiaries are provided for in the most appropriate way.

Wills Questionnaire:

Lasting Powers of Attorney Document: