Have you made a will yet? If so, well done. Two-thirds of us have not bothered. Yet most of us claim not to want to leave loved ones struggling to work out who gets what (the default statutory rules in this area are complicated), or how the costs of the funeral will be met. So a good will is vital. Now for the bad news for anyone with a will – one in five aren’t watertight.
An investigation by the Legal Services Consumer Panel has left it shocked by the poor quality of the wills it examined. Of all those it inspected one in five were failed by its expert assessors. That’s startlingly high and has resulted in a call for greater regulation of will-writing services. Die with a good will and your relatives should be able to manage a relatively easy death-estate process. Die without a will, with an out-of-date will, or a badly written one, and your loved ones could end up facing an administrative nightmare.
For a will to be valid it must – at the very least – be in writing, and written voluntarily without undue pressure from anyone. It must then be signed and dated by you in the presence of two witnesses – neither of whom can be beneficiaries or married to beneficiaries of the will. That’s all pretty straightforward – which makes you wonder what on earth professional will-writers are doing in order to invalidate one in five of them. So how should you go about ensuring you have a valid, legally sound will? If your estate is small, uncomplicated and easy to divide and you don’t want to do anything complex in your will, you can always write one yourself. You can buy templates in several high-street shops that will take you through the steps involved.
But if you have even a slightly complicated estate or a complex family life it is well worth consulting a professional when making your will. As the Legal Services Consumer Panel has revealed, there are plenty of cowboys in the will-writing business. You can avoid them by consulting The Law Society, who can recommend a local solicitor for you. For around £200 you should be able to get a will written up by a legal professional.
However, be on your guard for any scams. The main problems seem to be pushy sales tactics and firms that want you to make them the joint or even sole executors of your will – some of the big high-street banks have been rapped on the knuckles for this. The former should be easy to deal with – if you aren’t comfortable with the person you are dealing with, find someone else. As for the latter, beware appointing a random third party (person or firm) as the executor of your will. In many cases they may charge your family a hefty fee after you’ve died. A far better option is to ask someone you know and trust – examples might include a family member (as long as they are over 18) or your local solicitor. Once you’ve set up your will, be careful where you store it. Make sure it is safe and your executors know where to find it. Any solicitor that draws one up will usually be happy to keep it for you.