No will, No control. Make your wishes known by making a will.
FAQs
To make your wishes known and make tax efficient plans and gifts. To appoint legal guardians for minors. To consider trusted people who will look after your pets.
After an initial discussion with you, together we can determine your requirements. The most important question is who do you want to benefit from your assets?
Who do you want to be your executors?
At what age should beneficiaries inherit your wealth?
This is your decision, the Will Writing Firm Staff can help guide you through this. As well as listing who you want to be included, the Will Writing Firm will also ask who you don’t want included.
Your estate will be shared out following the intestacy laws, it may not be what you want. Your whole estate may not go to your spouse or your partner. Worse, it could go to someone you divorced years ago.
Through an initial discussion of your requirements, we can determine if you need a trust and potential tax implications. Trusts can allow for money and assets to pass to minor children later such as an 18th, 21st or 25th Birthday.
If your children are minors (under 18 years of age in England and Wales) a will is the only way to appoint Guardians of your choice.
They should be people that you feel you can trust. You can appoint one or up to a maximum of four Executors. They can act alone or jointly.
An LPA is where you have someone making financial and health decisions on your behalf if you have impaired mental capacity. At the time of making an LPA, you must have full mental capacity. Contact us to draw up your LPA now.
Depending on the country, overseas property may not be covered by your Will. You may need a UK Will and a Foreign Will. Your property abroad may be liable to UK tax, foreign tax and inheritance laws.
Should you own land and property jointly or as tenants in common. This depends if you are in a relationship and if you have a spouse/partner. We can advise you on this depending on your present and future requirements.
Should your investment be in a limited company or not? This depends on your circumstances and would require further discussion with us.
It is as important to know who you want to exclude as include, and how to word this. See our example case study which highlights writing someone out of a will.
For a will to be valid there are some people that cannot act as witnesses such as beneficiaries of gifts and legacies. If required, our staff can act as your witnesses. For the will to be valid it must be witnessed correctly.
Relationships in general and making your intentions clear
Problems are unlikely to arise when you (known as the testator) refer to beneficiaries by name, such as my son John or my sister Elizabeth.
Often however the testator uses a ‘class gift’ (this is a gift distributed to a group of people rather than to a specific person) such as my children.
Care must be taken when drafting a will to ensure what is intended is reflected in the drafting. A gift to my nephews can be construed as including only your nephews and not those of your spouse, civil partner or partners side of the family. Although you have treated them as your own and may have meant for them to be included. A will is a legal document and doesn’t surmise ambiguities.
Be specific as to who you want to be a beneficiary. A gift to your children would not include any stepchildren.
Writing someone out of a Will
It is as important to consider who you want to exclude from your will as include in a will.
Documenting your reasons for disinheriting someone increases the likelihood of your wishes being followed and any challenges not being upheld.
The case study below illustrates how someone estranged for several years and disinherited can challenge a testator’s wishes.
Case Study: Ilott vs Mitson
This case is significant as it shows that a testator must clearly explain or demonstrate their reasons for disinheriting a child.
The case concerned Melita Jackson who decided to leave the bulk of her estate to charity. Her daughter Heather Ilott appealed this decision.
The Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 allows for family and dependants to apply for provision from the estate of someone who has passed away, if they can show that it is needed for their maintenance (and that the estate can provide for it).
After her death in 2004, Melita left nothing to her estranged daughter Heather Ilot.
After leaving to live with her boyfriend (now husband) at the age 17, Heather who was Melita’s only child became estranged from her mother. Melita never forgave her daughter and disinherited her. Melita explained the reason via a letter why she left her estate of £486,000 to three animal charities.
After her mother’s death, Heather contested the will. Heather contested on the grounds that her mother had not made “reasonable provision”. Heather’s argument was based on the grounds that she should receive a share of her mother’s estate. The courts agreed initially awarding her £50,000 in 2007.
In 2009, a cross appeal by the charities concerned resulted in having this ruling overturned, meaning Heather would receive nothing. Clearly Heather was not prepared to accept this and after a further appeal in 2011 the £50,000 was reinstated. Heather was still not happy and went back to the Court of Appeal in 2015 who ruled that Heather should receive £164,000, enough to buy her housing association home and leave her with £20,000 to supplement her household income.
The charities named in Melita’s will were not happy with the Court of Appeal ruling and the impact it could have on legacy donations. They commented:
“Charities rely upon income from legacies and the outcome of this case could have serious ramifications for the future of the charity sector as a whole”.
The charities pursued the case, which was heard in the UK Supreme Court in 2016, who overturned the decision by the Court of Appeal to increase Heathers claim to £164,000 but upheld the original court decision of awarding her £50,000.
The judges decided that despite her mother’s objections, Heather should receive some provision from the estate.
A determining and key factor behind the decision was Melita’s lack of connection to the charities named who stood to benefit from her will. If Melita worked with or donated to the charities during her life, it may have made a difference.
Regardless of her mother’s wishes, Heather believed that her father (who died before she was born) would have wanted her to benefit from the estate. This was money her mother inherited because of her father’s death.
Regardless of how her mother felt about her daughter, Heather strongly believed he would have wanted provisions made for her.
This ruling means that people can still disinherit their children but:
- You will have to show a good reason
- You will be able to explain what connects them to the people or organisations that they have included in their wills instead.
Good advice and drafting may have ensured that Melita’s wishes were granted. This Estate was tied up in court for many years and most of the wealth was used up in legal fees.
One way of avoiding challenges is by making a trust instead of a will. Heather’s challenge was brought under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 – this act does not cover assets and money contained in a trust.
A trust can be used to specify beneficiaries after you die and cannot be challenged in the same way as a will.