Where to keep a Will?

[Murdochcat]

No, they aren't, unless you have nothing to leave to no one in particular.

You are involved in a vehicle crash, you are pronounced dead on scene & your spouse is pronounced dead 40mins later at the hospital. You both have children from previous relationships. You left a will but your spouse didn't . . . . . . What do your kids get?

That rather depends on what your will says

 

[Dork Lard]

If you make your solicitor your executor, they can be rather expensive.

Also beware of many of the so called "Will Writing Services". Writing the will is not very profitable for them, writing themselves in as 'executors' however is extremely profitable.

 

[Mottie]

I made a Will recently, the original is with the solicitor and I have a copy, it got me thinking, instead of my next of kin taking proof of identity to release the Will after my death, maybe I should keep the original at home to make it easy for them after I am gone . Do most people keep the original with the solicitor?

We have a copy of our wills at home but are in the process of having our wills updated. I saw this in a letter from the solicitor last week informing us of this:

 

[motorbiking]

No, they aren't, unless you have nothing to leave to no one in particular.

You are involved in a vehicle crash, you are pronounced dead on scene & your spouse is pronounced dead 40mins later at the hospital. You both have children from previous relationships. You left a will but your spouse didn't . . . . . . What do your kids get?

Nothing complex about that - standard survival clause.

Distribution of Residue
...
To receive any gift or property under this Will a beneficiary must survive me for thirty (30) days...
...

Then you have a wipeout clause to cater for the scenario, that everyone you left a share to dies.

It really is the most simple thing to deal with in law. It only gets complex when you have trusts or people with disabilities and benefits.

 

[Dork Lard]

Nothing complex about that - standard survival clause.

Distribution of Residue
...
To receive any gift or property under this Will a beneficiary must survive me for thirty (30) days...
...

Then you have a wipeout clause to cater for the scenario, that everyone you left a share to dies.

It really is the most simple thing to deal with in law. It only gets complex when you have trusts or people with disabilities and benefits.

That's OK if you have nothing of much to leave to no one in particular, but I'd talk to your solicitor about whether such a clause is a good thing in many possible scenario's, if I were you . . . .

 

[motorbiking]

We have a copy of our wills at home but are in the process of having our wills updated. I saw this in a letter from the solicitor last week informing us of this:

View attachment 310719

Don't think you need to be a lawyer to use that service £30. Please don't be fooled by the name. It's just a company that did a deal with the law society.

Helper - Register a Will Q1 - The National Will Register

www.nationalwillregister.co.uk

 

[Mottie]

Don't think you need to be a lawyer to use that service £30. Please don't be fooled by the name. It's just a company that did a deal with the law society.

Helper - Register a Will Q1 - The National Will Register

www.nationalwillregister.co.uk

That right. All they do is notify the solicitor that somebody is asking about the will. It’s up to the solicitor to get in touch with that person if they consider they have a genuine interest. In any case, the copy of the will that you keep at home will have the solicitors details on it. You could also notify any beneficiaries who your solicitor is. Unless you lose touch with your beneficiaries, do t tell them about a will, move abroad and live the life of a hermit, it wouldn’t be too hard to locate a will if one had been made and the person wanted it to be found.

 

[motorbiking]

That's OK if you have nothing of much to leave to no one in particular, but I'd talk to your solicitor about whether such a clause is a good thing in many possible scenario's, if I were you . . . .

As I said, it's really only the tax element that needs to be considered. As long as you update your Will regularly as circumstances change, there are no issues that a lay person cannot deal with using a standard document. Even if you pay £300+ its still going to be the junior legal exec that does all the work, using a standard template.

 

[Dork Lard]

As I said, it's really only the tax element that needs to be considered.

So, something incredibly simple can now become something that's incredibly complex . . . . .

What percentage of the country lives in houses worth £500,000+? That's an awfully large amount of free money & it might make contesting a will very attractive to your spouse's offspring !

 

[Rodders53]

We collected our wills from our Solicitor when we moved away from the area. Stored in a fire safe in the house.

One alternative is to store with https://www.gov.uk/government/publi.../how-to-store-a-will-with-the-probate-service Costs £20.

Withdrawal seems a tad tricky and slow (4 weeks).

A proper solicitor is always advised (STEP qualified if complex affairs) rather than any will writing paralegal types. The what if's they can consider and cover off.

MoneySavingExpert Forums have plenty of threads on the problems of poorly written diy wills, families falling out over wills, familial greed and problems of merged families and wills gone wrong to make one weep. But whatever you have done, badly or well, is only discovered "after the event" of course.

 

[motorbiking]

Depending on how many people you leave a share to, an estate worth a couple of mil is not complex. If you suspect a family member who you are leaving nothing to, may contest the will, name them in the Will.

Even if you go to the supervising partner of a solicitors, I can assure that it will the legal exec with a CILEX doing the drafting.

 

[Rodders53]

Depending

being the killer.

 

[Alec_t]

If you make your solicitor your executor, they can be rather expensive.

..... and so can a Bank!

 

[Justin Passing]

Better get round to a will sometime I suppose.
Assuming she survives me, wifey gets it, which is fairly simple. If we go together then it doesn't matter.
Gov gets almost 40% anyway.
The cat's 20, so he won't need much for long.
I have a brother but he's also ok, and lives well within his means so doesn't need money. I hardly see him.
A uncle died intestate and I was executor. I remember waiting a while for things but a will wouldn't have made much difference.
Passwords will be more of a problem.

Now someone will correct me I expect.

 

[Dork Lard]

A uncle died intestate and I was executor.

Oxymoron alert.

Please stop making it up as you go along. You don't know what you don't know & this is why we employ professionals. OK, I know that for lots of folk it doesn't matter where it all goes, 'cos when you dead you dead & nothing much will matter to you anymore. If you have not much to leave as your legacy then you probably don't care much for where it all goes.

I would certainly roll in my grave & I would certainly try my bestest to break out as a zombie if the current Mrs. Lards offspring inherited any of my lifes work.