The R Us Group

If you fail to make a last will and testament, then who determines who gets what? Things may not proceed how you would have liked. To be certain your preferences are followed, you should to make a last will and testament.

If you perish without writing a will it’s the courts that dictates how your estate is divided. The intestacy rules are used and it will not be how you will have hoped or wanted.

If your currently married or have a civil partner but are without children and your estate is worth a predefined threshold or under then your spouse will get the entirety of the property including any life insurance cover . If the property is worth above this threshold and you have existing family, your spouse will still get this amount, in addition to half of the remainder. There is an priority in which relatives will inherit, with surviving parents situated at the head of the list, followed by brothers and sisters and so on.

If you have a spouse and children then your spouse will receive the predefined amount as above and 50% of the excess. The children will receive half of the sum over the threshold right away and the remaining 50% on the death of your partner.

Should you have offspring but no legal spouse, then your children would share the inheritance. This might not be what you would have wished. You could have a partner who depends on you and who you will have intended to inherit at least share of your assets, who would receive nothing.

To remove all potential worry about your property, however straightforward it may seem, it would be prudent to draw up a will. There are many options for this. You may make it yourself or hire a skilled will service or a solicitor.

Often people make their own last will and testament, mostly using a form which you can buy from the post office. Take care if you proceed down this route – it’s very easy to make a mistake and you could potentially find it void. The expense of having a will drawn up, particularly a comparatively basic one, is not exorbitant and you can be definite that your wishes will be carried out.

A skilled will writer or a solicitor will be used to dealing with all types of questions and will be able to help you. There could be questions regarding setting up trusts and perhaps inheritance tax.
Having written your last will and testament, it’s a sensible decision to inspect it from time to time, as circumstances change. If you decide to change it, then it’s probably better to nullify your earlier one and have it remade. If the amendments are minimal, it could be easier to draw up a codicil to form a part of the will and to be used in partnership with it. Any codicil will have to be constructed in the same method as the will in relevance signatures and witnesses.

Please be aware that any medical insurance cover will terminate on the death of the will holder and no value will be attributed to It in the will.