Writing A Will
Who should I leave my assets to?
With regards to writing a will, it's your choice as to who you leave your assets to. Obviously, most people will be thinking of their family, but its friends, relatives, charities, whoever you want to leave your assets to.
What is usually included in a will?
The will appoints your executors and trustees. The will may deal with your burial or cremation wishes. You can put those in a will, but they have no legally binding significance, they don't bind the executors or trustees to deal with the disposal of your last remains in accordance with your wishes. There might be various legacies specified in the will, small financial gifts, there might be gifts of specific items (jewelry, whatever) to another member of the family specified in the will. In general terms, what the wills then say is that all the assets are left to the people administering the will, by the executors and trustees, who are charged with converting those assets into cash as far as they deem it necessary. They pay debts on your investor expenses, and then the will goes on to say, that the balance or the remainder of the estate, after that, is spit up in percentage terms amongst the family, or may be left entirely to the widow or widower.
What is an executor?
An executor is a person who's appointed in the will to execute the will, to carry out the deceased's wishes with regard to the distribution of his assets. Normally, you have an executive with a very simple will, but you will have an executor and a trustee. Most wills involve very simple little trusts, even if it's a trust just to convert assets into money to distribute.
Who should I choose as my executor?
Normally, if you're a married person, you would choose your husband or wife as an executor. Failing that, a good choice would somebody that you trust. Normally, we advise clients that they should appoint somebody who's younger than they are. Not for any particular reason other than the practical reason that a younger person will out live and older person. You don't want to remake your will because your executor trustee has predeceased you.
Do I need an executor?
Every will needs an executor. If the will is drawn up by a solicitor, it will have an executor trustee. It becomes more problematic and more expensive if for some reason nobody is appointed to administer the assets of the deceased person. If it's highly important, then the court will always appoint somebody to act as executor, another family member or friend perhaps, whoever happens to be appropriate.
What is a beneficiary?
When writing a will, a beneficiary is simply a person who benefits under the will of a person, it could be a spouse, any family member, whoever. They have an asset left, and whether it happens to be a legacy of cash or an heirloom, a house or a portion of the residual estate.
What is a witness?
The law requires that in order for a will to be valid, it has to be signed by the testator and the testator's signature has to be witnessed by two adult witnesses who sign the will in the presence of each other and in the presence of the testator. The will can be voided if a witness is also a beneficiary. All that would be voided is that the benefit to the beneficiary, if he is a witness, may be void and may not happen.
How many witnesses do I need?
A will requires that there should be two witness both of whom are adults.
Do I have to sign my will to make it legally binding?
Your will has to be signed for it to be binding. The testator should sign the will. People who cannot read or write properly add their mark instead of signing. Some people may be blind; they have difficulty in signing for that reason. There are ways of dealing with these situations, but the will must be signed.
What is a guardian?
When writing a will, a guardian is a person who looks after a person who is under the age of 18 years. They're appointed by the maker of the will, normally to look after the deceased's children. They simply carry out the roles of a guardian as you and I understand these terms in general English language: look after the child, make decisions for them that a parent would otherwise make.
What happens if my children are under 18 when I die?
If your children are under 18 hopefully there will be provisions in a will which provide that money can be advanced for maintenance, education and benefits of the child until such time as it inherits, which will probably be at the age of 18. A guardian may be appointed under the will if there is no surviving spouse. The surviving spouse obviously has care and control, guardianship, parental control of the children. It's only on the death of the surviving spouse, while the children are still children (infants) - by that I mean under the age of 18, that the guardian has a role to play in looking after the children until they obtain their majority.
What is a trust?
A trust can be complicated. It can be simple. In many instances a trust is purely and simply where it will say in the will, "I leave my assets to my executors, trustees, to convert into cash to pay debts, such as funeral and burial expenses and to distribute the balance". The assets are left to the executors, trustees in the will, not for their benefit but purely to administer. During the course of the administration they are the legal owners of those assets left in the will, but, they then distribute the assets in accordance with whatever trust is set out in the will. The trust I just described in my answer is a trust which is called a trust for sale, whereby the trustees convert such assets as they see fit into cash to you distribute. But there are other types of trusts. A very commonly used trust is a discretionary trust which is a type of trust used in connection with inheritance tax planning.
Do I need a solicitor to make a will?
You don't need a solicitor to make a will for you. There are will writing services who I believe advertise and call on you at home and you can also go down to High Street Stationers and get do-it-yourself will forms which you can complete. A solicitor is trained to draw up wills, has a knowledge of taxation law and other aspects of the law which involve wills. Also, if you go to a solicitor and he makes your will and he makes a mistake, he's insured.
Where can I get a DIY will kit?
With regards to writing a will, you can obtain DIY will kits in most high street stations.
Can I make a video will?
With regards to writing a will, you cannot make a video will. A will has to be in writing, signed and witnessed by two people.
Am I able to make a joint will with my partner?
When it comes to writing, normally what people do is that they make two wills which are simply back to back wills. The first will, will say, "I leave everything to my partner, spouse." The second will, by the other person, will simply be transposed substituting husband for wife one partner for the other, but just simply a mirror image.
