Making A Will

[bennibenj]

I was having a discussion with my wife earlier, she seems to be under the impression that if anything was to happen to us both that our young children would then be subject to be placed with whoever the authorities choose, before considering family, unless that is we have a Will to state whom whould have guardianship.

Does anyone know if this in fact true, as a friend of hers advised us it is. Of course, in that case I would want to get one produced (any good solictors on here ?)

Cheers in advance

 

[Rugrat]

Regardless of anything, once children are on the scene a will is a must have

 

[bennibenj]

Yeah, hadn't even crossed my mind until today, will have to look into it

 

[Early Doors]

I was having a discussion with my wife earlier, she seems to be under the impression that if anything was to happen to us both that our young children would then be subject to be placed with whoever the authorities choose, before considering family, unless that is we have a Will to state whom whould have guardianship.

Does anyone know if this in fact true, as a friend of hers advised us it is. Of course, in that case I would want to get one produced (any good solictors on here ?)

Cheers in advance

I believe that is true, and that the only way to 100% choose who your children are placed with is, as your wife said, state it in a will.

I'm not a solicitor, so I'm not 100%, but I am fairly confident that is the case.

If you want to get a will produced, PM me as I know a very good will writer who will take care of it for you.

 

[beorhthelm]

my understanding is that while this is true, the authorties would look to place with family and account for any stated perference you've made - even just a passing conversation counts. they'd much rather a child remain in the family, with grandparants, aunts/uncles that can support them. the trouble comes where there's an estate that effectively goes with child in trust as they would likley become the trustees of that. so if you got anything of value (ie house) and relatives that might like to pick over your bones (hey, we're being frank here), get a will, otherwise its probably not worth the expense. the mid point of course is to buy one of those packs in WH Smith.

 

[South Stand Bonfire]

Not 100% sure but if you had close relatives then I am sure they would be considered. The point of a will though is that it should automatically short circuit a potentially long winded Court process regarding child custody and who gets your assets. It doesn't take long and for a few hundred quid you will get some beneficial advice from an experienced solicitor.

I was having a discussion with my wife earlier, she seems to be under the impression that if anything was to happen to us both that our young children would then be subject to be placed with whoever the authorities choose, before considering family, unless that is we have a Will to state whom whould have guardianship.

Does anyone know if this in fact true, as a friend of hers advised us it is. Of course, in that case I would want to get one produced (any good solictors on here ?)

Cheers in advance

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

If you can wait until November, you might like to consider this...

Will Aid

I got mine done through Will Aid else I expect I'd never have got round to it.

When my brother died, we were asked by the executor if he'd left a will, or any kind of written expression of wishes at all, didn't have to be an 'official' will. The theory being that some idea of a person's wishes after they died was better than nothing at all. So in theory you could write your wishes down on a bit of paper, sign and date it, and get it witnessed by a 'professional person'. Would only recommend that as a stop-gap until you get it done properly though.

 

[Alex Alex Dawson oo! oo!]

If you die without leaving a will (it's known as dying intestate) then there are legal rules for deciding who will inherit your estate. Assuming your wife/civil partner survives you (I think for a minimum of 28 days) then it will be divided s follows:

1. Where the net estate is not more than £250,000 – Everything to spouse/ civil partner

2. Where the net estate is over £250,000 – the first £250,000 plus personal possessions to the spouse/civil partner. Half of the rest is shared equally amongst the children .
The spouse/civil partner gets the income or interest on the other half during his/her lifetime, and when the spouse or civil partner dies, the capital goes to the deceased’s children equally.

If the two of you are unmarried or not in a registered civil partnership then your partner will get nothing and your entire estate will be divided equally amongst the children.

From personal experience, sorting out the affairs of someone who's died without leaving a will can also be a real pain for the poor sod who ends up doing this - my father died intestate and I was the administrator of his estate (equivalent of a will executor). Things would have been easier for me and much less stressful for my mother had he left a will.
I've posted a relevant link below but anyone who says that there's no point in, or it's not worth having a will is just talking crap. Tbh, I don't know what the legal position would with the guardianship of surviving children (ie should both parents be dead); however, from our own experience, you should not assume that the most obvious candidates will either want, or be able, to take this on. We had all this agreed up front when the kids were young, put it in the will and, as they grew older (ie >18yo), changed the will accordingly.

Why make a will?

 

[emphyrian]

a friend of mine helps people with wills for her living. if you want her number ill PM it over to you.

 

[Aadam]

Also, it doesn't hurt to looking into inheritance tax planning.

 

[Normal Rob]

we made our will a few years ago during will-aid month. It still runs now and allows you to make a charitable donation (you decide how much - suggested min £90 nowadays) in return for your will being professionally drawn up for you.

Will Aid

just seen the above post on this subject - just taken this as an additional endorsement of Will aid!

 

[Shropshire Seagull]

I don't think you can bequeth you children in a will.
However, what we did [with a will specialist] solicitor is include a seperate document with our will called "Expresion of Wishes". In here we recorded things like cremation / burial preference and where the children were to go should they survive me and Mrs. The EofW is not enforcable but allows the executor to do things in the knowlege that they were your wishes and so long as they are practical and legal, are most often carried out [we were told].

Seek professional advice - but also talk through in clear detail with the person(s) you intended to nominate to "inherit" your kids - its a big undertaking in very difficult circumstances but almost certainly better than the alternative "in to care" option.

 

[dragonred]

my firm in Hove do Wills, and we offer a discount on normal rates for Albion season ticket holders and NSC members - Crosby & Moore and quote B&HA or NSC. Hope that helps! Not blowing a lawyers own trumpet but I've seen home made DIY or WHS £12 Wills go disastrously wrong and end up costing 10 more to sort out!

 

[Kazenga <3]

oooh will

 

[lighthouse]

When my brother died, we were asked by the executor if he'd left a will, or any kind of written expression of wishes at all, didn't have to be an 'official' will. The theory being that some idea of a person's wishes after they died was better than nothing at all. So in theory you could write your wishes down on a bit of paper, sign and date it, and get it witnessed by a 'professional person'. Would only recommend that as a stop-gap until you get it done properly though.

I hope that nobody has been tempted to follow this 'advice'. It is complete bo!!ocks.

Notes on a bit of paper, signed and dated with one witness is worthless. The last 5 words of your post constitute good advice.

By the way, an Executor is appointed under the terms of a will. If there was no will, there is no executor. Who was this person

 

[drew]

Also, it doesn't hurt to looking into inheritance tax planning.

Remember though that the current threshold is £325k and you can double this if a spouse passed away and everything went to the surviving spouse (who has now subsequently died).

I don't think you can bequeth you children in a will.
However, what we did [with a will specialist] solicitor is include a seperate document with our will called "Expresion of Wishes". In here we recorded things like cremation / burial preference and where the children were to go should they survive me and Mrs. The EofW is not enforcable but allows the executor to do things in the knowlege that they were your wishes and so long as they are practical and legal, are most often carried out [we were told].

You're not bequeathing your children. You are stating who is to be their legal guardian. My wife and I never had a will until we had our daughter. We decided which relative would be the best guardian and therefore also be trustee of our estate until our daughter was 18.

Seek professional advice - but also talk through in clear detail with the person(s) you intended to nominate to "inherit" your kids - its a big undertaking in very difficult circumstances but almost certainly better than the alternative "in to care" option.

Exactly, as not only are you entrusting them with the upbringing of your child, they will proabably also be Trustees for your estate which no doubt you will leave to your child but who is probably too young to know what to do with it, other than a massive Toy's R Us spending spree!!!

One thing to bear in mind is that if you are a union member (including the RCN) they normally have a free will writing service which is worth pursuing.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

I hope that nobody has been tempted to follow this 'advice'. It is complete bo!!ocks.

Notes on a bit of paper, signed and dated with one witness is worthless. The last 5 words of your post constitute good advice.

By the way, an Executor is appointed under the terms of a will. If there was no will, there is no executor. Who was this person

A solicitor, cos none of our family had the foggiest idea how to go about it. Excuse me if I got some of the terminology wrong, its the first time I've had to deal with a dead brother. My mistake, I'm sure. And the solicitor/executor definitely said that thing about a note with expression of wishes, complete bollocks or not.