|
It is important to recognise that without a Will, the state decides who inherits
your property and your relatives and friends may therefore
receive nothing at all. Also your unmarried partner and step
children will not automatically benefit if you do not leave
a Will. The process of preparing a Will need not be complicated
or expensive but does need to be expertly handled to ensure
that it is effective and provides for your beneficiaries in
a tax efficient way.
Sometimes 'Do It Yourself' (DIY) Wills can create more problems
than they solve. For example the Will may prove to be difficult
to interpret or is sometimes not even valid. As a result,
the family of the deceased may face lengthy and expensive
proceedings to finalise the deceased's affairs. To avoid such
complications, speak to us (we will give you a quotation over
the telephone) and allow a specialist solicitor to write your
Last Will and Testament for you. Please do remember that any
discussion you have with a Solicitor is confidential.
We are very willing to undertake home or hospital visits
for those who are infirm or unwell and therefore unable to
come to the office for an appointment.
To speak to a Solicitor about writing
a Last Will and Testament, please call us on 020 8686 5344
or contact us by email.
Reviewing your existing Will
It is recommended that you review your Will on a regular basis,
say every 3 years, to keep abreast of small changes in your
circumstances.
Significant changes in your circumstances may make it necessary
to make a new Will. This is particularly important in changes
relating to marital status. In many cases, marriage, children
and divorce may affect the validity of a Will. (In fact it
is important to note that getting married will invalidate
any Will made before marriage).
It is easy to make a new Will to account for altered circumstances
but you must remember that when you write your will, you should
state that it is your last Will – and that any previous
Wills and Codicils are revoked.
NB. Altering your will by crossing out or adding words may
invalidate it in the eyes of the law.
For minor alterations, you may just need to add a Codicil.
A Codicil is simply an addition or alteration to the existing
will so you can add extra gifts or alter amounts being shared
without making a completely new Will. This is particularly
relevant if you decide you wish to leave a legacy to a charity.
If you are considering making a bequest to a charity in your
Will, you may wish to consider one of the following charities,
that we as a firm try to support:-
The Orpheus Centre - www.orpheus.org.uk
CHASE Hospice -
www.chasecare.org.uk
Probate and the Administration
of Estates
When a person dies, someone must deal with the administration
of the estate and where the deceased has left a Will, a Grant
of Probate is the Court’s authority to the executors
to administer the deceased person’s affairs.
We are happy to assist executors in this task and make the
application for the Grant of Probate. We also deal with the
administration of a deceased’s estate where there was
no Will made (called an intestacy). The legal costs will depend
on the complexity and size of the deceased’s estate
but we will give you an estimate to cover all the work we
are instructed to do. If it becomes necessary to revise this
estimate for any reason, we will let you know as soon as it
appears likely to be an issue.
back to top
|
